Another Mind-Blowing "Chef's Salad"

An easy, spicy, cabbage-and-cashew beauty, with a tart cilantro-lime dressing.

I HAD A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SALAD PLANNED for this bulletin. But I decided to take a break and try out the recipe for a restaurant salad I’d fallen in love with, hard. I made it, I tasted it, I was blown away.

It was so easy—almost too easy for how strikingly delicious it was. I decided to drop everything and get this baby to you as soon as possible.

Quick background: It’s from chef Meherwan Irani, the dynamo behind a number of remarkable restaurants, whose Asheville, NC, Indian street food spot, Chai Pani, won the 2022 James Beard Outstanding Restaurant Award. My friend Wyler goes to Asheville frequently, and had mentioned Chai Pani’s Desi Salad to me a couple of times. But Asheville is pretty far away from Atlanta, so I forgot about. Until someone else mentioned it to me, too. It’s that kind of salad.

The Decatur outlet of Chai Pani is in an old gas station. (This photo is from their Facebook page.)