Sesame Chicken Chopped Salad
Looking for a fabulous dinner for tonight that can double as lunch for tomorrow? This colorful, bright and tasty salad is healthy and hearty. Comes together quickly and the family will love.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
Dressing / Marinade:
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup sesame oil
3/4 cup avocado or olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
Zest and juice of 1 orange
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salad:
1/2 head of green cabbage, cored and diced
1/2 head of red cabbage, cored and diced
10 oz bag shredded carrots
4 green onions, diced on diagonal
2 bell peppers: red, orange or yellow, sliced into 1/2” strips
1 can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 avocado, sliced (reserve to add to top of salad at end)
Directions:
Combine dressing / marinade ingredients (soy sauce through orange zest) in a medium bowl. Whisk well. Add half of mixture to a gallon sized ziploc bag with chicken breasts. Marinade for at least one hour or up to overnight in the refrigerator. Reserve other half of mixture as a dressing.
When ready to prepare salad, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine salad ingredients (cabbage through sesame seeds) in a large salad bowl. Set aside.
Place chicken breasts on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray or lined with foil. Cook for 25 minutes or until internal temperature reads 165 degrees. Toss remaining marinade. When done, remove from oven and cut into bite sized pieces.
Add chicken and remaining dressing to salad bowl. Lightly toss. Plate and top with avocado.