Mango Cashew Slaw with Poached Chicken

I'm taking a french class and I'm supposed to be doing homework right now but instead of cracking open La Grammaire Progressive du Francais I'm posting Friday night's dinner here on my blog. I'm often inspired by the many food blogs that I follow as well as by the produce I see in the market. This week I bought two beautiful mangoes and had them sitting on my counter before reading the recipe for a delicious sounding slaw using mangoes, chicken and cashews at David Lebovitz. I went back to the market for cashew, chicken and some other ingredients to use in what became my adaption of his recipe. I'm also supposed to be playing in a golf tournament today but my son, Taylor came up for dinner last night and ended up spending the night so I opted to give him my place so he could play golf with his dad and they could have some father son bonding time. I'm actually enjoying some quiet time here at my kitchen table before I go visit my parents. We also enjoyed some delicious creamy zucchini soup from the Cookin' Canuck with our chicken salad, I'm going to share the soup and some cookies I baked with my parents. The zucchini soup is a cream soup made using coconut milk and I recommend trying it this summer. So there you have it not one but two healthy recipes to enjoy!

Ingredients for Mango Cashew Slaw with Poached Chicken
serves 6-8

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
Sparkling wine, enough to cover chicken in a saucepan, you could also use white wine
1 large mango
1 cup snap peas
1 small cucumber
1 cup raw cashews
1 medium head napa cabbage
1/2 medium size bunch cilantro
3 scallions
1 small jalapeno pepper
1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
3 teaspoons champagne vinegar
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Poach the chicken in sparkling wine, 20 minutes on low simmer and then let cool in the poaching liquid. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred the meat, set aside.

Cut the mango in cubes, set aside.

Blanch the snap peas and place in a bowl of ice water, drain when ready to add to the salad.

Chop the cucumber in small pieces, I used an unpeeled english cucumber, set aside.

Chop the raw cashews, set aside.

Slice the cabbage in thin bite size strips, set aside.

Wash and dry the cilantro, pick off the leaves from the stems and chop, set aside.

Slice the scallions, using part of the green stems, set aside.


Now for the dressing and putting together the salad

Mince the jalapeno pepper and the garlic, place in a large salad bowl. Add the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk the dressing together and add all the other ingredients, giving the whole thing a good stir to mix everything together, adjust seasonings. This is a simple salad to make and would be good for a potluck or picnic salad. I also like it the next day when the dressing has softened up the cabbage.