Courtyard Bistro Asian Chicken Salad with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette Recipe

Desperation dinners: Lime juice, Thai chili sauce punch up dressing
August 31, 2011
Usually when I’m eating salad in a restaurant, I can figure out the ingredients. Today’s recipe for Courtyard Bistro Asian Chicken Salad With Chili-Lime Vinaigrette is an exception. (The chefs at Marriott headquarters in Washington, D.C., were kind enough to share their recipe.)

What intrigued me most about this salad was the dressing. I kept trying to figure out what kind of oil was used, since most vinaigrettes do call for it. Yet everything I tried in my test kitchen diluted the dressing’s flavor. I could not figure out the punch – a pure punch of chili and lime.

That’s because the dressing is basically lime juice and Thai chili sauce. The simplicity made me love it even more.
You can use prepackaged, chopped and shredded vegetables if you’d like to make the salad more quickly. Grilled chicken, your own leftovers or purchased cooked chicken will also streamline the prep. But the salad takes only 20 minutes when chopping, slicing and dicing the veggies and grilling your chicken.

Courtyard Bistro Asian Chicken Salad With Chili-Lime Vinaigrette
Start to finish: 20 minutes
Yield: 1 serving; may be easily doubled or more
•1 chicken cutlet (3 ounces)
•2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
•2 tablespoons Thai chili sauce
• 1/2 cup thinly shredded green cabbage
• 1/2 cup thinly shredded purple cabbage
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced cucumber, unpeeled
• 1/2 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions, divided
• 1/3 cup crushed, lightly salted roasted peanuts, divided
•1/2 lime, for garnish, if desired
Grill or pan fry the chicken cutlet over medium-high heat until cooked through and golden on the outside, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and let cool 2 minutes, then slice thinly.

While chicken cooks, in a medium mixing bowl whisk together lime juice and Thai chili sauce.
When chicken is ready, add it to the bowl along with the cabbages, cucumber, lettuce and carrots. Add 1/2 each of the scallions and peanuts. Toss well to coat with dressing. Place salad in a serving bowl and top with remaining scallions and peanuts. Garnish with lime slices, if desired, and serve.

Note: The recipe has been rewritten to fit our Desperation Dinners style.
Approximate values per serving: 518 calories (47 percent from fat), 28 g fat (5 g saturated), 50 mg cholesterol, 34 g protein, 37 g carbohydrates, 10 g dietary fiber, 469 mg sodium

Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross are co-authors of “Desperation Dinners!” (Workman, 1997), “Desperation Entertaining!” (Workman, 2002) and “Cheap. Fast. Good!” (Workman, 2006). Contact them at Desperation Dinners, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106, or send email to tellus@kitchenscoop.com. Or visit the Desperation Dinners Web site at www.kitchenscoop.com.

Bloggers Go Behind the Courtyard Bistro

[Photo: JohnnyJet.com]

Courtyard doesn’t believe that traveling equals a fast-food diet. Instead, we have The Bistro, an in-hotel dining area where you can sit down and enjoy a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert or beverage. But don’t take our word for it – we invited some bloggers behind-the-scenes to Courtyard Washington, D.C./U.S. Capitol so they could see what we really have to offer.

Johnny Jet gives us a pat on the back for listing calorie counts on the menu, then orders the Healthy Start breakfast: egg whites, turkey, and spinach on an English muffin, and a strawberry-banana smoothie. “The food was good and the staff were friendly and quick to serve,” he notes.

Alicia Ross of Kitchen Scoop opted for the oatmeal with brown sugar and fruit topping, and an egg white sandwich on a brioche roll, which she notes as “perfect for a quick bite to eat before you head out for the day, whether your trip is business or pleasure.”

Courtyard Starts Counting Calories

Many travelers find it difficult to eat healthy when they’re on the road, and, at Courtyard, we want to help our guests maintain a healthy lifestyle when they stay with us.  That’s why, this week we began rolling out new menus at all of our hotels with the new Refreshing Business lobby and The Bistro – Eat. Drink. Connect.® that display calorie counts for all items.

We know our guests like to have a variety of options and make their own choices when they’re traveling.  By providing them with the number of calories in each item on our menu, we are giving them the information to make an informed decision about what to eat.  They can choose from healthy items like low-carb, low-fat muffins and salads, or those looking for comfort foods can try selections like the Tender BBQ Ribs.

Currently, there are nearly 160 Courtyard hotels with The Bistro across the U.S., and the new menu is expected to be in place at all of these hotels by the end of June.  As more Courtyard hotels adopt the new lobby concept and The Bistro, they will feature these menus as well.

Courtyard is the first brand to provide guests with this kind of information at all of its hotels.  We hope our guests will use the calorie counts to their advantage to maintain their health on the road.