Chicken Quinoa Salad

Duc, the tour guide in Ho Chi Minh City, emailed me back with a detailed itinerary proposal. He'd taken the street name I gave him — the one Mai mentioned once in 2003 — and cross-referenced it with old city maps from the 1960s and '70s. He found the neighborhood. He said the house is gone — it's a cellphone shop now — but the street is still there, and the market Mai used to walk to as a girl is still operating, though it's been modernized. He sent photos. I sat at my kitchen table and looked at them for a long time. A street in Saigon. My mother walked this street. She was a different person then — young, unburdened, unaware that everything was about to end.

I haven't shown the photos to Mai. I'm not sure when to. Part of me wants to save them for the trip, let her see the street in person for the first time in nearly fifty years. Part of me thinks that's manipulative and she deserves to prepare. I asked Linh. She said, "Don't show her. Let her see it when she's there. The surprise is the gift." Linh is usually right about things involving human emotion. I am usually right about things involving smokers.

Tyler called from Midland. He's settled into the house and already talking about renovations. He wants to knock out a wall between the kitchen and the living room to create an open floor plan. I told him to make sure it's not a load-bearing wall first. He said, "I know, Dad." He does know. He works in the oil fields. He understands structural integrity. But I'm his father and it is my constitutional right to state the obvious.

Made a pot of phở gà — chicken pho — which is less famous than the beef version but in many ways more elegant. The broth is lighter, clearer, made from a whole chicken simmered with ginger, onion, and a handful of spices: star anise, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom. You skim it obsessively for the first hour to keep it crystal clear. The chicken poaches gently in the broth, and you pull it out when it's just cooked through, shred it, and serve it over rice noodles with the broth ladled on top. Fresh herbs, bean sprouts, lime, chili. It's the pho you make when you want something clean and restorative, when beef pho feels too heavy and you need the world to be simple for an hour.

Brought a container to Mai. She tasted it and said, "More ginger." I added more ginger. She tasted it again and said, "Better." This is how Mai edits. She is the strictest editor I have ever known, and she works exclusively in ginger.

The phở gà I made for Mai that night was about clarity — a broth you could see through, a bowl that asked nothing complicated of you. When I want to carry that same spirit into something I can put together more quickly, something I can pack into a container and bring somewhere or eat cold at my kitchen table while looking at photographs of streets in Saigon, I make this chicken quinoa salad. It has that same quality: clean, honest, a little bright from the lemon, forgiving in the way that simple food always is. Mai would probably say it needs more ginger. She might be right.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced (about 2 medium breasts)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 English cucumber, diced
1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, torn
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Cook the quinoa. Combine rinsed quinoa and chicken broth in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and spread onto a sheet pan or large plate to cool to room temperature.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Combine the salad. In a large bowl, combine the cooled quinoa, shredded chicken, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss gently to coat everything evenly.
Add the herbs. Fold in the chopped parsley and torn mint just before serving so they stay bright and fresh. Taste once more for salt and lemon, and adjust as needed.
Serve. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. The salad keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days — the flavors deepen overnight.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Quinoa Salad — The Bowl I Make When I Need the World to Be Simple