Korean Style Chicken and Green Bean Salad

 I invited Pete to take a walk with me last night for Kimchi. What is Kimchi and why did we walk to get it? Well, I had a new exotic recipe and it called for Kimchi, a spicy pickled cabbage that I hear is used like ketchup in Korea. I'm always game for a new recipe, seems like the farther out there the better, especially if I have a notion that it's healthy for us. We have a new Asian Market within walking distance, so I thought we would get our evening walk in and pick up this new and adventurous ingredient at the same time. I've been at this cooking game long enough that I normally have an idea as to the recipes outcome. The following recipe could have gone either way, but I was pleasantly surprised. This recipe is served cold, which is nice when the temperatures soar to oven heights. This recipe came from the most recent issue of Sunset Magazine, with my usual adjustments to suit our taste.

Korean Style Chicken and Green Bean Salad

1 lb. Fresh green beans

2 Tbl. spicy kimchi juice (from the jar), plus 1 cup chopped kimchi

½ tsp. Salt

1-2 Tbl. Asian chili paste

3 Tbl. canola oil

2 tsp. Rice vinegar

1large, skinless, boneless chicken breast, cooked, shredded, and cooled

1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half

½ cup roughly chopped cilantro

1. Blanche green beans, drain, set aside to cool.
2. In small bowl, whisk together oil, kimchi juice, salt, chili paste, and vinegar.
3. Place beans, chicken, chopped kimchi, tomatoes, and cilantro in a bowl. Gently toss with dressing.

For side dish serves 4. For main dish serves 2. As best I can tell, there is about 800 calories in this whole dish. So two servings is 400 calories or less each.