I love cabbage. It is available in the stores whole year, and it somehow manages to preserve such important nutrient as vitamin C (and some others) till late winter. This makes cabbage a good choice of food when your body particularly needs more vitamins.
I consider this a winter salad: cabbage is available any time in the store, as well as chicken and cheese; but it will also taste great when prepared from fresh young cabbage, which is much softer and more juicier.
Additionally, I usually season this salad with dry bread cubes right before serving. I prepare them myself from leftover bread: just dice it and dry in the oven (can’t call them croutons, as they don’t have any seasoning or oil added in the process of preparation). But I guess you can use croutons from the shop instead or skip this part all together.
Ingredients:
0.5lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1 lb white cabbage (about ½ of small head)
½ cup of shredded cheese (I’ve used mozzarella)
About cup of dried bread cubes or croutons (optional)
Mayonnaise
Salt to taste
How to prepare, step-by-step:
Prepare ingredients: I usually prepare bread cubes myself (I cut cubes out of leftover bread and dry them in the oven until crispy), but you can use croutons or skip them all together:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 1
Put chicken to salted boiling water and boil it for about 15-20 mins until ready:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 2
Then get chicken out of water and set it aside to cool down:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 3
Finely shred all cabbage (except stem part), put it to the deep bowl and season with salt:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 4
In most cases cabbage (even young one) is rough, even if you shred it fine. Pressing it with your fist will help to make cabbage softer:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 5
After this squeeze it with your hands until some juice appears; this will also make cabbage more tender and soft; then set cabbage aside for 10-15 mins:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 6
Wait until chicken is cooled down till room temperature, then dice it:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 7
Add chicken to the salad bowl:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 8
Add shredded cheese:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 9
Then mix:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 10
Dress with mayonnaise:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 11
And mix again:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 12
Serve for lunch or before dinner, leftover salad can be stored in the fridge:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 13
If you like, season salad with dried bread cubes right before serving (don’t mix bread into the salad – it will soak in salad juices and will stop being crunchy) or serve bread cubes separately on the table:
Cabbage and Chicken Salad
