Chinese Chicken Salad

I broke my Italian theme last night and made a Chinese Chicken Salad. I felt like something lighter after all the heavy pasta dishes I've been making. (And I wonder why I can't lose the last 10 out of 15 pounds I've gained this winter! ;) Anyway, my 13 year old wanted nothing to do with this salad, but my husband and I enjoyed it. My inspiration was the bottle of Toasted Sesame dressing I bought last week. Its made by one of my all time favorite food companies: Soy Vay. I use their Veri Veri Teriyaki all the time as a marinade. Its sublime!!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Directions:

2 boneless skinless organic chicken breasts
1/2 cup Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce
2 cups chopped napa cabbage
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 carrot, shredded
1 handful of micro greens (cuz I had them)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
Soy Vay Toasted Sesame Dressing (& marinade)
Cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

Marinate the chicken in the teriyaki sauce for at least half an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 and bake the chicken on a foil lined cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool, then slice.

Toss the vegetables (Feel free to use any veggies that you have on hand! Bell peppers would make a nice addition!) and the almonds with the dressing. Divide into two salad bowls. Add the chicken slices, a few more almonds, and the cilantro for garnish. Serves 2 with leftovers. Enjoy!

Red Cabbage Salad

Wow its been a long time since I posted here!

When I was a little girl, we always had family get togethers on my moms side at this cool place in Southern California called The North Woods Inn. It looked like a big cabin and it had fake snow on the roof. They didn't take reservations, so there was always a short wait, especially for large parties. I didn't mind because I got to enjoy a Shirley Temple and eat peanuts then throw the shells on the floor!! They encouraged the shells on the floor and I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, once we were seated, the server would put down 2 bowls of salad: one was a delicous & tangy red cabbage salad and the other was a tossed green salad with creamy bleu cheese dressing. Yum.

Well, the one near where we lived closed down many years ago and I moved away, but recently I've been dreaming about those salads. I've been trying to figure out how to recreate the red cabbage salad, in particular! I knew it couldn't be raw...but did they blanch it or what??? I had an idea of what the ingredients would be, but how did they get it to soften??? Well, I finally Googled it and found the recipe and its exactly like it was when I was little at the North Woods Inn!!!

I got this recipe from About.com by Peggy Trowbridge Filippone:

Red Cabbage Salad:

"This is a clone recipe of the very popular sweet and sour cabbage slaw served at the popular North Woods Inn California restaurant chain. Plan ahead. This salad needs a long marination time. It's good after 48 hours, but even better after 4 or 5 days. This is the perfect make-ahead salad.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head red cabbage
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 tsp onion powder

Preparation:

Shred half of the cabbage finely and the other half coarsely. Place in a large bowl.

Whisk together vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, seasoned salt, black pepper, and onion powder.

Toss the dressing with the cabbage. Scrape the salad with the dressing into a zip-top bag or covered container and refrigerate at least 48 hours or until cabbage turns deep red, softens a bit, and flavors meld. It's even better after 4 or 5 days."

Salad

Stacey got me thinking about salads today! I thought I'd post a couple of my favorite salad recipes. The Bean Salad with citrus juice and hot sauce is by Rachel Ray and the Food Network. I've made it several times and I love it. Its good chilled, too.

Bean Salad w/Citrus juice & Hot sauce:

Ingredients

• Salt
• 2 pounds store-bought, trimmed fresh green beans or mix yellow wax and green beans, coarsely chopped on an angle
• 1 orange, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Fill a high sided skillet with 1 inch of water and bring to simmer. Liberally salt the water. Add beans and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and cool under running cold water.

Whisk juices and hot sauce together in a shallow salad bowl and stream in olive oil. Add beans and toss to coat. Season the beans with salt and pepper, to taste.

I got this recipe below from Alosha's Kitchen, but she got it from The Kitchen Sink. I've made it about 3 times and its just so tangy and yummy!!! I'd never bought chipotle in adobo sauce before, but now I always keep a can on hand!

Chipotle Corn Salad

courtesy of The Kitchen Sink

Ingredients

4 ears of corn
1 medium Vidalia or Walla Walla onion, thickly sliced crosswise
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for garnish
1 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon chives, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
salt and freshly ground pepper

1 head of romaine, sliced

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

Directions

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the corn and onion slices with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill over moderately high heat until charred in spots but still slightly crisp, about 7 minutes. Let cool slightly, then cut the kernels from the cobs and coarsely chop the onion. Add the sliced tomatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream with the lime juice, chopped chipotle chiles, sliced chives and salt and pepper, to taste. Add the sliced romaine to the bowl and stir to coat the lettuce with the dressing. Arrange the dressed romaine on a platter.

Top with the corn mixture. Arrange the sliced avocado on top of the corn mixture. Garnish with chives and lime wedges.

Caprese Salad

I made a beautiful Caprese salad with more tomatoes from my garden. I chopped up 4 medium tomatoes, threw in some pearl mozzarella, torn basil (from my window garden), freshly ground salt & pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and some red wine vinegar. Its all marrying together in the fridge, so in about an hour it will be perfect. Its also good at room temperature.