Thai Chopped Salad with Almond Butter Dressing

A delicious Thai Chopped Salad using green and purple cabbage, kale, broccoli, carrots, green onion, cilantro, mandarine oranges, and sliced almonds tossed in a simple almond butter dressing for a fresh and crispy plant-based meal!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Calphalon. The opinions and text are all mine. The product(s) used in this recipe was sent to me as a gift, thank you so much!

Hello my friends! Today I have a fun, informational post for you- something that I am excited to share about and then an amazing Thai Chopped Salad to go right along with my post so that you can practice and then enjoy this flavorful Thai-inspired salad!

I am not a formally trained chef, but one thing that I can tell you in my experience that makes the biggest difference when you’re cooking from scratch, and when you include a lot of produce in your diet, is having a great set of knives, particularly in recipes such as this Thai Chopped Salad.

So I’ve teamed up with Calphalon today to not only bring you a delicious salad recipe, but also to teach you a little kitchen skill to help you successfully make this salad on your own. Today we’re going to discuss chopping! Sounds basic, right? Maybe basic, but so handy to learn, and to do it safely using the best Calphalon Precision Cutlery.

The Knives I Use For The Easiest Chopping

Before we get to the skill of chopping, I’d love to take a moment to talk about why I love my 15pc Calphalon Precision Cutlery Set.
– They stay sharp. The knife set includes a wooden block that features SharpIN™ technology with built-in ceramic sharpeners that automatically sharpen straight edge knives every time you remove them from the block. Pretty inventive idea, huh?! Love it.
– The 15 pc set includes a full selection of knives for every culinary purpose, whether you’re chopping, slicing, mincing or dicing- and also contains kitchen shears which I use all the time.
– The knives are fully forged from high-carbon, no-stain German steel and feature a bolster and full tang for better balance and strength, while also having bar-riveted handles that are conveniently labeled on the end for easy identification in the block.

I mean, you want to talk about the Rolls-Royce of kitchen knives- this is it! I thought I was using good kitchen knives and then I started using the Calphalon knives and it was a total game changer. I was actually quite surprised at how much easier it make my meal prep. Dull knives are the worst, haha!

Included in the 15pc Calphalon Precision Cutlery Set is an 8” Chef’s Knife, 8” Bread Knife, 6” Santoku Knife, 6” Utility Knife, 3.5” Paring Knife, 8 Steak Knives, Kitchen Shears, Self-Sharpening Wood Knife Block.

How To Chop

Ok, so we’ve got our fantastic kitchen knives and have established how much it helps when chopping fresh produce in the kitchen, so let’s chat a little bit about the actual act of chopping. I’m sure you’ve heard the terms chopping, dicing, mincing, cutting, slicing, etc. They are in fact all different, but I find myself most often chopping- especially with this Thai Chopped Salad so I’m gonna dive right into that skill for today.

Select The Right Knife

My go-to knife is usually the 6″ Santoku knife. I find it’s the perfect size to cut most food items and it feels the most comfortable in my hand.

Secure Your Cutting Board

You want to make sure your cutting board is secure and not on a slippery surface. This will allow for safe chopping so the cutting board doesn’t accidentally slip and you cut your fingers!

Proper Knife Grip

Learning how to grip and use your knife properly can keep you and your fingers safe. With practice, it can also help you chop more quickly and efficiently, just like the pros! You’ll want to grip the handle where your entire hand is around the knife handle itself with the fingers tucked behind the bolster (back of the blade, where the metal meets the handle).

Chopping Size

When you chop, it usually means cutting your food item into larger pieces. I like to make sure the pieces aren’t too big, but not small enough to call a dice, but you can chop to your desire- the point here is chopping your food into smaller pieces either for sautéing or in this case, for easier bites. Also make sure to put the cut sides down for easier chopping.

The “Claw” Grip

Use the “claw grip” where you tuck the ends of your fingers under so you don’t accidentally chop your fingertip, stabilize your food, and keep those knives sharp so that chopping is a lot smoother and easier.

Remember to keep practicing and before you know it, chopping will come natural to you- and you might even find yourself enjoying more plant-based meals 😉 .

Thai Chopped Salad Ingredients

So now that we’ve mastered the art of chopping (yay!) let’s dive into to this delicious Thai Chopped Salad recipe, because it is a good one! This gorgeous, colorful salad features the freshest produce and is boasting with nutrients!

Cabbage. For this chopped salad recipe I am using both red and green cabbage. You can certainly just use one or the other, but I like the different colors having both bring to the salad. You will need 4 cups total, 2 cups red cabbage and two cups green cabbage.

What To Do With Leftover Cabbage

Try using any leftover cabbage you have in one of these delicious recipes!

Kale. I used curly kale in this salad recipe, but you can use another type of kale if desired, such as lacinato (dinosaur) kale. You will need 4 cups of chopped kale.

Broccoli. I recommend buying a whole head of broccoli, but in a time crunch you can also buy pre-cut broccoli florets. Do not use frozen broccoli. You will need 2 cups of chopped broccoli.

Cilantro. Cilantro adds a nice flavor paired with the Thai Almond Butter Dressing. You will need ½ cup of chopped cilantro.

Carrots. I buy pre-shredded carrots for this recipe for less prep work, but feel free to also chop/shred your own. You need 1 cup of sliced/shredded carrots.

Cucumber. This salad recipe calls for 2 cups of sliced cucumber, that is approximately 1 large cucumber or 4 mini cucumbers. I always buy mini cucumbers- they’re so cute! haha.

Mandarine oranges. I use canned mandarin oranges in this recipe. Be sure to buy the oranges in 100% juice or water, without any added high fructose corn syrup or other added sugars and dyes. You will drain the oranges and then add 1 ½ cups to the salad, which is about one 15 ounce can.

Almonds. You will need ½ cup of sliced or slivered almonds to garnish the salad with.

The Almond Butter Dressing

Almond butter. Try to use a natural almond butter without any added oils or sugars for best results.

Soy sauce. If you’re being mindful of your gluten intake, make sure you buy gluten-free soy sauce, also known as Tamari soy sauce, or you may also use liquid aminos (what I use) or coconut aminos for soy-free, although the coconut aminos would be a sweeter option and you may want to omit the maple syrup then.

Garlic. I used pre-minced garlic for ease, but feel free to mince a clove of garlic. Alternatively you can just add the whole clove to the blender since the dressing is blended anyway.

Rice Vinegar. Rice vinegar adds a well-balanced acidity and tang to the sweet, nutty almond butter dressing. Rice vinegar is commonly used in Asian cuisine and dressings.

Maple Syrup. The maple syrup adds just the right amount of natural sweetness to this dressing. I recommend adding 2 tablespoons.

Lime juice. The lime juice adds a little zing to this almond butter salad dressing. You can squeeze fresh limes or you can use bottle lime juice, just make sure it’s pure lime juice for the best tasting results.

Water. The water is used to thin the dressing. I added ¼ cup of water. You can start by adding a little and increase until you achieve the desired salad dressing consistency.

How To Make This Salad

First, make sure to wash all of your produce, then chop the produce.

Place the measured salad ingredients into a large bowl. Toss everything together, except for the sliced almonds and divide between bowls.

Make the dressing by blending all of the dressing ingredients together and pour over each individual salad as desired. Garnish with sliced almonds and enjoy!

Note: You can add the dressing to the large salad bowl and toss before serving if you think you will finish the salad in one sitting, but any leftover salad will get soggy and lose its crispness if stored with the dressing already mixed in.

I hope you learned a valuable kitchen skill from this post, so go ahead and get chopping! Let me know what you think about this Thai Chopped Salad with Almond Butter Dressing down below in the comments section, as well as giving it a five star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others can discover this healthy, nourishing salad recipe! Tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!

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