Copycat Panera Thai Salad

I’ve gushed over Panera, and more specifically their Thai Chicken Salad (sans chicken – I’m a vegetarian so I sub in avocado instead). Since I can’t get enough of it, I decided to try to make my own – simple and delicious. Ingredients:

• 1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 carrot
• 1 red pepper
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 cup edamame
• ¼ cup chopped cashews (or peanuts)
• ¼ cup wonton strips

Thai chili vinaigrette:

• 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• ½ tsp. sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

Directions:

1. Cook the carrots, red pepper, and edamame in the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté until cooked through and lightly roasted. Then remove from heat and let cool.
2. To make the vinaigrette, simply mix everything together until combined.
3. Finally, build your salad. Fill a bowl with the romaine lettuce, add the roasted veggies, top with the avocado, sprinkle with cashews and wonton strips, drizzle with the vinaigrette, and mix together.

You can cook up some chicken to go with the salad, or make any other additions or subtractions that you’d like. Also, the recipe calls for wonton strips, which I didn’t have, so I used sesame sticks instead. Eat it on it’s own, or drizzle on some Thai peanut sauce and enjoy!