Recipe: Chicken Pho Salad

There's nothing like creating a recipe when you clear out your fridge!  This past weekend,  I had pho broth, pho noodles, leftover rotisserie chicken, a cucumber, and mint leaves in the fridge.  Unfortunately, Southern California started to heat up this weekend so I was not in the mood to eat a hot soup.  I always associate cucumbers with a refreshing salad....so why not make a pho salad?

The Vietnamese have a dry egg noodle dish where broth is served on the side.  It's served with a smorgasbord of protein such as ground pork, bbq pork, shrimp, chicken etc.  It's "dressed" with a soy sauce based dressing.  This dry Vietnamese pho salad takes on a similar concept.  I was quite pleased with the end result as well as quite relieved because I was too lazy to leave the house. 

As usual, I eyeballed all of the ingredients so this is as best as I can remember

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette
1/2 cup of pho broth
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
white pepper

Ingredients for the salad
pho noodles (as much as you desire)
1/3 of a cucumber - ran through a mandoline for thin even slices
fried shallots for garnish
roasted peanuts for garnish
sliced red chili peppers for garnish
mint leaves for garnish
1/2 - 1 cup of shredded chicken

Directions
1. Cook the pho noodles per package instructions.  Drain and set aside
2. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients.  Warm the sauce so that the honey is completely melted and mixed with the vinaigrette
3. Plate the cucumber slices in a circle on the plate
4.  Add the pho noodles in a pile over the cucumber slices
5.  Add the shredded chicken
6.  Add the peanuts, mint leaves, fried shallots, and sliced red chili peppers to garnish
7.  Drizzle the sauce over the deliciousness.

Bon appetite!