Winter has hit, and it's tempting to reach for the warm comfort food. It can be hard to eat cold salad when it's freezing outside, so here's a warm alternative - green bean chicken salad, with crunchy pomegranate seeds and peanut butter dressing.


Never had peanut dressing before? Think it sounds strange? Give it a try! You might be pleasantly surprised. It's sweet and spicy with a little bit of tang.

The most important part of this recipe is cooking the green beans to perfection.

Cut the ends off the green beans, put them in a pot and cover with water. Cover the pot, put it on the stove, and turn the flame up high.


As soon as the water comes to a rolling boil, tip the green beans into a colander and run cold water over them. Food can continue to cook from its own heat, even when it's off the fire. It's important to run the green beans under cold water to prevent that from happening, which would make them too soft.

When they're ready, the green beans will be right green and cooked, but still have a crunch.

For the chicken, you can use any leftover chicken you have around, as long as it's not flavored too strongly. I used oven-baked shnitzel. (Dip thin cutlets into egg, then into breadcrumbs. Put them on a pan, drizzle with oil and bake on 425 for 20 minutes). Cut the chicken into small pieces.

Toss the green beans with the chicken and pomegranate seeds.


To make the dressing, you'll need peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, sugar and water.

Put the peanut butter in a small saucepan and turn the heat on very low. The peanut butter will start to soften slightly. Add the vinegar, soy sauce and water very slowly, mixing in one direction until fully incorporated. Stir in the sugar, garlic powder and red pepper flakes until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the fire.

If you're serving the salad immediately, pour the dressing over now. Otherwise, put the dressing in a container into the fridge for later. You can serve this salad warm or cold or at room temperature.

When you're dressing the salad, start with a small amount of dressing. Mix it in, taste and decide if you want to add more. You don't necessarily need all of it.

Eat and enjoy!


Salad Ingredients

  • 1 lb. green beans
  • Seeds of 1 pomegranate
  • 2 cups chicken, cubed

Salad Directions

  1. Cut the ends off the green beans, put them in a pot of water and turn the flame on high. When the water comes to a rolling boil, pour the green beans into a colander and rinse with cold water. They should be bright green and cooked, but still crunchy.
  2. Cut the chicken into cubes. You can use any cooked or leftover chicken you have as long as it's not flavored too strongly. I used oven-baked shnitzel. (Dip thin cutlets into egg and into breadcrumbs. Put the pieces on a baking pan, drizzle with oil and bake on 425 for 20-25 minutes.)
  3. Mix the green beans, pomegranate seeds and chicken. Add the dressing, mix and serve.

Dressing Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp. peanut butter
  • 4 tbsp. vinegar
  • 1.5 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. sugar (if using natural, unsweetened peanut butter you may need more)
  • 1 tbsp. honey

Dressing Directions

  1. Put the peanut butter in a small saucepan and turn the heat on very low. The peanut butter will start to soften. Stir it a little to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
  2. Slowly add in the vinegar, soy sauce and water, one tablespoon at a time. Mix in one direction. Add the garlic powder, red pepper flakes, sugar and honey.
  3. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Turn off the fire.
  4. If serving immediately, pour the dressing straight over the salad ingredients. Or, pour it into a container and refrigerate for later.
  5. NOTE: Some people like their salads more dressed, some prefer them lighter. Start by pouring on some of the dressing, taste it and see how much more you want to add.