START TO FINISH: 15 minutes
SERVINGS: 4
Pine nuts blended with water and a few seasonings create a rich, creamy dressing for this easy chicken salad. The Korean mustard called gyeoja would be the authentic choice here, but we use regular yellow mustard and add a hit of spice with gochujang, a widely available Korean fermented chili paste. Use whatever vegetables suit your taste. Good choices include sliced radishes, shredded iceberg lettuce, grated carrots and thinly sliced bell peppers.
Don’t use the pine nuts without first toasting them. Toasting produces a richer, fuller-flavored dressing.
8 ounces green beans, trimmed
¾ cup pine nuts, toasted, divided
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon gochujang
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
Kosher salt
3 cups sliced or shredded cooked chicken
8 ounces red cabbage, shredded (3 cups)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
½ English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2 scallions, thinly sliced on diagonal
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until bright green and crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain, then immediately add to the ice water. Let stand just until cool, about 1 minute, then drain again. Pat the beans dry, cut in half and set aside.
Set aside 3 tablespoons of the pine nuts for garnish. In a blender, process the remaining pine nuts to a coarse paste, scraping the sides as needed, about 20 seconds. Add ¼ cup water, the mustard, gochujang, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and ¾ teaspoon salt. Blend until smooth and pourable, about 30 seconds.
In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with about ½ cup of the dressing and the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, then taste and season with salt. In another medium bowl, toss together the green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, the remaining dressing and ¾ teaspoon salt. Transfer the vegetables to a serving platter. Spoon the chicken over the center and sprinkle with the reserved pine nuts and scallions.