Asian Chicken Salad

I’ve cooked so much chicken in the past 10 days, I’m on overload. Chicken is Dan’s go to item when he does his weight loss challenge at work. It’s making a huge difference in our grocery bill now that I’m buying organic – but the quality has been awesome. I’ve made low fat BBQ chicken quesadillas, soups, 3-4 different stir fry recipes and sandwiches. I was on the search for something different. I did a search for Asian Chicken Salad and came up with a million different recipes. I only wanted to use ingredients on hand, I did not want to go to the grocery store.

I started grabbing things out of the pantry to make my own dressing.

The Dressing Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons organic brown sugar
3 Teaspoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
3 Tablespoons Seasoned Rice Vinegar

I whisked everything together and let it sit in the fridge for an hour while I prepared the chicken and salad ingredients.

Instead of using crunchy or rice noodles – I made my carrots into noodles with my veggie slicer. I also chopped up romaine hearts, celery, and onion.

I toasted up some cashews and sesame seeds in some garlic flavored spray oil.

I added my shredded chicken to the salad and poured on 1/2 the dressing and saved the other 1/2 in a container for next time.

This was definitely a different version than the Asian chicken salads I normally enjoy at restaurants – mandarin oranges, fried won tons or crispy noodles, super sauced up, etc. It was a nice break and fun way to use ingredients I already had on hand. I LOVED the curly carrots – they added the perfect amount of crunch to the salad.

Dan gave the salad two thumbs up. He’s got 5 weeks and a few days left of his challenge and he’s pretty much done. He quit drinking Coca-Cola cold turkey. He was a 4-5 cans a day soda guy and now he’s only drinking water. He misses his caffeine and sugar rush.

I prepared meals all weekend long. It’s been fun, but I really need to find some new recipes to try. I think I’m going to get brave at the fish counter my next shopping trip. I’ve been saying that since I started my blog, this time I really mean it.

25 Heart Challenge Update – In case you haven’t been checking the challenge page – I completed my 100th mile on the treadmill last night. 100.6 to be exact. Not too shabby for 22 days. I’ve got 6 days left of my February challenge and I’m already coming up with ideas for March.