National Raspberry Cream Pie Day (or not)

Which one of these is not like the other: raspberries, cream, chipotles, pastry?

Because I’m contrary like that, this is not a blog about Raspberry Cream Pie at all. Go figure. But seriously, didn’t we just have a raspberry cake? I think about chipotles when I think of raspberries, don’t you? I begged the blog fairies for help, a magic wand was waved around, little bells chimed, and raspberry cream pie turned into… Bobby Flay’s Chinese Chicken Salad with Red Chile Peanut Dressing.

"Chinese" Chicken Salad with Red Chile Peanut Dressing

Amazing, non?

I changed the recipe “a bit”, as follows:

• I used chunky peanut butter
• I added 2 large chipotle peppers instead of the purée
• I added 2 large cloves of garlic
• I reduced the canola oil to 2 T (half a cup? Really?)
• I added 1 T of chillies in oil (you can buy these at any Asian grocery. Smoky goodness)
• I ditched the romaine and used purple and green cabbage instead of the napa
• I added julienned red peppers to the mix
• I served the salad on top of some cold rice noodles, just to soak up the sauce (and because Jimmy wanted some carbs)

With those “few” changes, it was SO fresh-tasting and delicious! Perfect for a hot summer day on the back patio, which is where we enjoyed it. Check out Jim with his salad: doesn’t he look happy?

happy Jim

~ Eva

P.S. I hope you’re actually camping this fine long weekend instead of reading this blog.