Author Notes
Leftover chicken and rice never looked so nice. —Ali Slagle
Ingredients
- For the nuoc cham
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2 tablespoons
sugar
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3 tablespoons
fish sauce
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1 tablespoon
lime zest
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3 tablespoons
freshly squeezed lime juice
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1
garlic clove, sliced
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2
red or green Thai chiles, halved lengthwise, and sliced into half moons
- For the salad
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1
bunch radishes (about 12), cleaned, trimmed, and cut in quarters (or half if they're tiny)
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2 tablespoons
butter
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Salt and freshly ground pepper
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1 1/2 cups
shredded chicken (sometimes I buy a rotisserie chicken for this very purpose)
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1 cup
cooked long-grain brown rice
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2 cups
watercress, baby kale, or other spicy green
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1 cup
chopped cilantro leaves and stems
Directions
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To make the nuoc cham, in a jar, mix the sugar, fish sauce, lime zest, and lime juice with a fork or whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the garlic and chilies and a few grinds of black pepper, and let everything hang out for around 30 minutes (you can eat the nuoc cham immediately, but the flavors won't be as good of friends yet). Taste and adjust if necessary (if it's too puckery, add more sugar). This keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
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To make the salad, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the radishes, cut side down, and a pinch of salt, and sauté for 10 minutes, until they're tender and slightly browned. Turn off the heat.
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Lay out the spicy greens on a serving platter or in a bowl.
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Add 3 tablespoons nuoc chom to the skillet and stir to coat the radishes. Then add the chicken and brown rice and stir to combine. Immediately transfer it to the platter of greens, drizzling all the nuoc chom over the greens..
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Toss gently just to coat the leaves. If you need more dressing, add more. Sprinkle over the cilantro leaves and stems and serve.
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