Chinese Chicken Salad

A friend pinned this one, and I went, "MMM."  I saw "Lighter" in the original title.  I read the blurb and didn't really see how it was lighter. I read the ingredients and didn't see how it was really lighter.  I ran the numbers and really didn't see how it was lighter, so I took the word Lighter out of the recipe and went from there.  Perhaps the original blogger based it off of a Cheesecake Factory Recipe or something. I don't know.  I tend not to eat salad in restaurants.

It was very good salad and big.  But D wasn't in the mood for salad for lunch the next day so we made it 3 servings.  Not a big deal.  We didn't toss the salad with the dressing...rather each used 3 TBSP per serving.  The Nutritional Information reflects the amount we used, not the amount we made.

Overall, I'll have again.  But just know, there was nothing light about this salad.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Photo by ALB

Adapted from Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (12 oz)
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
pinch of salt and pepper
Cooking Spray
1 head Romaine lettuce, shredded
4 cups shredded red cabbage
1 cup edamame
2/3 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chow mein noodles
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
9 TBSP Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette (see ingredients below)

Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
3 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. sriracha chile sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Directions
Salad
Heat oven to 350.

Combine chicken breasts, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar in a large bowl or ziplock bag and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade, and season both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper.

Put chicken on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Cook the chicken for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside. Remove and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Then cut into thin strips.

In a large bowl, toss together Romaine, red cabbage, edamame, carrots, chicken, chow mein noodles and almonds until combined. Toss with your desired amount of vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Vinaigrette
Whisk together all ingredients until combined. You can add more sriracha for an extra kick.

Nutritional Information (from MyFitnessPal)
Calories: 592; Total Fat: 28 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Monounsaturated Fat: 12 g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 7 g; Trans Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 70 mg; Sodium: 1521 mg; Potassium: 875 mg; Total Carbohydrate: 47 g; Dietary Fiber: 12 g; Sugars: 23 g; Protein: 39 g