Crispy Won Ton and Chicken Asian Salad
Time: 1 hour
Yield: 6-7 servings
***Note: This salad is best served in individual portions. I like to lay all of the components out on my counter and let my family make their own salad. It would also work fabulously for a ladies luncheon. Please invite me at your earliest convenience. :) If you want to take this salad along to a pot-luck, bbq or party I would recommend leaving out the brown rice and mixing the other ingredients together in one big bowl, just before it's served.***
5 C cooked brown rice (tutorial found here)
5 chicken breast (about 2-3 pounds)
olive oil
Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 (12 ounce) package Won Ton wrappers
6 green onions
1 red bell pepper
2 (10 ounce) cans mandarin oranges
1 head romaine lettuce
Light and Creamy Toasted Sesame Asian Dressing (recipe below)
1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
2. Put some brown rice on the stove to cook. You can find a recipe and tutorial for that here.
3. Make some fabulous Light and Creamy Toasted Sesame Asian Dressing and toss it in your fridge. Recipe and tutorial found here.
4. Place 5 (completely thawed) chicken breasts out on a cookie sheet you have spray with cooking spray.
5. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of each breast.
6. Sprinkle some Montreal Steak Seasoning over the top of each one. You want to be pretty generous with the seasoning.
7. Place the pan in your oven and let the chicken bake away until the insides are no longer pink. Should take about 25-30 minutes.
8. Grab a package of wonton wrappers. You can find these in the produce section of your grocery store. They are usually kept with the refrigerated veggies. Lay them out in two piles on a cutting board. Take a sharp knife and cut them into strips.
9. Heat up some canola or vegetable oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat. You will need about and inch and a half of oil. When the oil is hot carefully place some of the won ton strips into it. You won't be able to fry all of them at once, you'll have to cook them in 3-4 batches depending on the size of your skillet. Let them cook for about 3 minutes per batch, or until golden brown. Take them out of the oil and place them on a plate that is covered with a paper towel. Give them a little sprinkle of salt. Alternatively, if you don't want all of the fat and calories that deep-frying gives us :) you can spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray, lay the strips out and spray the tops of them with cooking spray as well. Then pop them into a 400 degree oven and let them bake for about 10 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on them...you don't want them to get too dark. (Like the strips you see in the far left corner of this picture!) Baked or Fried...the strips are tasty either way. It just depends on your own personal preference. Do as you please. :) Also, if you feel like cooking a whole grundle of won tons is going to send you over the edge into a frazzled state of madness...don't make them, man. I feel your pain. Some days are not meant to be spent frying up wontons. I totally get it! Just find yourself some crunchy Chinese Noodles and add those instead. It will still taste great. Not as killer fabulous as eating fried won tons...but still great.
10. Set out all of your salad ingredients and let your family, friends or relatives build their own salads. Place some brown rice on a plate, chop up some chicken and lay it on top of the rice. Add some lettuce, mandarin oranges, red pepper and green onion. Add some crispy won tons, pour on some Light and Creamy Toasted Sesame Asian Dressing and dig right in!
Light and Creamy Toasted Sesame Asian Dressing
***NOTE: This dressing will store in the fridge for up to a week.***
Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 cups
3/4 C mayonnaise (I use Best Foods Light)
1/2 C apple cider vinegar 1/4 C soy sauce 3/4 C sugar 1/2 t salt 2 T minced garlic 1/2 C peanuts (dry roasted) 1/4 t sesame oil 1 T toasted sesame seeds pinch red pepper flakes
1. Grab some mayonnaise. I like to use this Best Foods Light. It has much less fat than regular mayo and tastes great. Measure out 3/4 cup and spoon it into your blender.
2. Add 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. 3. Peel and roughly chop 2 tablespoons of fresh garlic. Add it to the blender. 4. Mix everything together for about 1 minute. 5. Add 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts, cover the blender and let it mix for several minutes, or until the peanuts are finely chopped and have blended in a bit. You will still have a few tiny pieces, that's okay. Add 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Mix just for a few seconds more and you are ready to roll.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
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