Thai chicken salad and 12wbt
I look at my reflection in the mirror and am not really happy with what I see. I see an overweight person. A person that no longer really feels like me. I am the one who has let it get this far and well, let’s face it, being a foodblogger or a lover of food in general usually doesn’t help particularly with losing weight. But in the end those are all excuses. So time to kick some butt! It was a mere coincidence that I heard about the 12wbt program from Michelle Bridges. I was checking out Ahn’s blog A Food Lovers Journey and she mentioned the program.
Upon checking it out I was immediately excited. This was just the program I had been waiting for! So I signed up and then the waiting began. I signed up in april but the program starts today officially. Since the beginning of May we’ve been in warmup period, which means that you already have to start thinking about the excuses you come up with that prevent you from exercising or eating healthy. Writing them all down and coming up with solutions to those ‘excuses’. The program focuses in large part on exercising; a combination of cardio and strength training but 6 days a week in total. Whew… That’ll be more then I’ve ever done before.
Ofcourse being overweight by almost 30 kgs means any exercise will put strain on my body. So I am starting with low impact stuff like cycling and walking and go from there. (you can follow what I’ve done in terms of exercise by checking out the sports tracker widget on the right in the sidebar. It will automatically be updated with the latest training)
I am feeling enormously motivated and good about this one. I will do it! Every once in a while I will share the progress I am making and I will then put the little weightloss ticker you see below in the post as well.
I’m writing this post a little ahead of time so I am hoping it will already show a nice weight loss. I know I’ve talked about losing weight before and I have lost weight before but this feels different. It feels like a real lifestyle change. Something permanent and a way to be healthy and enjoy life to the fullest. So I am ready!
Now to kick start this whole process I am sharing a delicious healthy Thai salad with you, which is very spicy, especially if you make a mistake with the shallots like I did (oops!) so it was a little spicier then intended but I loved the flavors!
Thai coconut chicken salad
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted cashew nuts chopped
- 4 tbsp white sesame seeds
- 2 chicken breasts poached
- 1 can coconut milk 400 ml
- 1/2 cucumber in cubes
- 4-5 Asian shallots finely chopped
- 1-2 red chillies deseeded and chopped
- 1 handful fresh mint leaves torn
Dressing
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp grated palm sugar heaped
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- Poach the chicken in about 400 ml coconut milk (use one can and add a bit of stock if needed) and a few peppercorns. Simmer for about 10 minutes, Remove from the heat and leave in the hot liquid for another 15 minutes.
- Toast the chopped cashews or peanuts in a dry frying pan, and then do the same with the sesame seeds (separately) Set aside for later use.
- Shred or tear the chicken into small strips. Rinse and prepare all the vegetables. Combine the chicken, cucumber, shallots and chili in a bowl. Add half of the torn mint leaves and almost all of the toasted nuts and seeds.
- Make the dressing in a small bowl, season to taste and pour it over the salad. Toss gently, then top with the reserved nuts, sesame seeds and a few torn mint leaves. Serve at once.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
2 comments on “Thai chicken salad and 12wbt”
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Where is the coconut in this recipe please?
Its been used to poach (cook) the chicken in.