ASIAN STYLE SALAD with Creamy Orange Ginger Dressing

Today, it was chemistry in the kitchen.  What was I searching for?  A perfect recipe for the famous Asian type salad (that I love- I mean really love) at a certain restaurant chain that I once frequented.  That is until I found out how many stinkin' calories were in this salad.  Ah, yes, enough to have a couple cheeseburgers instead.  Thats just WRONG people!  Salad is suppose to be healthy!

Make it yourself.  Enter Tyson Crispy Chicken.  No fuss.  No mess.   Of course you can make your own chicken but I hate frying chicken.  And, yes, you can used grilled chicken, but I was really trying to recreate what I missed from that restaurant.  So follow this exactly and you will have that famous salad of theirs in your own kitchen.  And dare I say, you might even like it better.

ASIAN STYLE SALAD with Creamy Orange Ginger Dressing

The dressing.

3/4 cup orange juice*
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca starch
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil, sunflower oil or canola oil

In a small sauce pan mix orange juice, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic and corn starch.  Heat until it thickens.  Remove from heat, stir in sesame oil.  Let cool.  Once it has cooled completely whisk in vegetable oil.

If it is too thick for your tastes, whisk in orange juice to get the desired consistency.

The salad.

1-2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1 tablespoons toasted almonds
1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/4 cup mandarin oranges
1 or 2 strips Tyson Crispy Chicken
2 tablespoons spelt or oat bran sesame sticks
2 radishes, sliced (this is not in the original restaurant salad but gives crunch)

Arrange a bed of lettuce in a bowl.  Layer in the oranges, nuts and seeds, radishes, sesame sticks and chicken.  Pour dressing over top. Serve.



* If you have a large can of oranges, you can drain them and use the juice from that.  It will be about 3/4 of a cup.

Calories: Using one Tyson Crispy Chicken strip, two tablespoons of the dressing and of course following all the measurements, this salad ends up being around 450 calories.  WAY better than the restaurant salad.  Mainly because of making your own dressing.

Full Disclosure:  I received a coupon to buy Tyson Chicken.  I was not paid in any other way.  I was not told what to say.