A very elegant, festive, and unique salad. The cheese balls are the real showstopper. Even though I'm not usually a fan of salads with a lot of components, everything here comes together surprisingly harmoniously. The salad has it all — crisp vegetables as the base, hearty pan-fried chicken, crunchy aromatic croutons, melt-in-your-mouth tender cheese balls with a hint of garlic, and finally, a zesty dressing with soy sauce that ties the whole flavor together beautifully. The salad isn't the simplest to make, but that's what makes it festive — and the good news is that almost all the prep can be done ahead of time and stored in separate containers until the big day, then simply combined.
Ingredients:
- Base:
- 150 g bell pepper (I used half of two different colors)
- 100 g napa cabbage
- 50 g salad onion (or less)
- Chicken:
- 200 g chicken breast fillet
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- sesame seeds, salt, pepper
- Croutons:
- 50 g bread loaf
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 clove garlic
- spices to taste (thyme, basil)
- Cheese Balls:
- 150 g cream cheese
- 2-3 sprigs dill
- 1 clove garlic
- Dressing:
- 50 g mayonnaise
- 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 1-2 tbsp orange juice
How to cook festive salad
Prepare the chicken. Slice the chicken breast fillet into thin strips, add vegetable oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds (to taste — I used black sesame seeds), pepper, and salt if needed. Let marinate for 20 minutes or longer.
Cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until done — but don't overcook. Thinly sliced fillet cooks very quickly, literally just a few minutes.
Prepare the croutons. I made the croutons using my method from Caesar Salad. Peel a garlic clove, crush it with the flat side of a knife, and place it in a small bowl. Pour 1 tbsp of vegetable oil over it. Microwave for 20–30 seconds. This warms the oil and garlic together, causing the garlic to infuse the oil with its aroma.
Trim the crust off the bread loaf and cut the bread into small cubes. Spread on a baking sheet, drizzle evenly with the infused oil, and sprinkle with spices to taste (I used a pinch each of thyme and basil). Toss to combine.
Prepare the cheese balls. Place the cream cheese in a bowl and add finely chopped dill (leaves only, no stems). Also add a clove of garlic pressed through a garlic press (I used a fairly small clove, but it's a matter of taste — feel free to add more). Season with a little salt and mix well.
Prepare the base. Place thinly sliced napa cabbage and bell pepper cut into thin strips in a large bowl. Add the salad onion, sliced into very(!) thin half-rings. If you're not a fan of onion in salads, you can use less or leave it out entirely. If you don't have salad onion, you can use regular yellow onion — just blanch it with boiling water and marinate in a spoonful of natural vinegar to take the edge off.
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