Light and Delicious Chinese Chicken Salad

After any holiday that involves a lot of eating (like Christmas), I'm always on the lookout for recipes that are on the lighter side, but still tasty and family friendly. One of my all-time favorite dishes is Chinese chicken salad, a ubiquitous restaurant menu item that's actually really easy to make at home.

I've experimented with a variety of recipes for this main-dish salad, some involving ingredients like crumbled Top Ramen noodles, but my new favorite version is this one, inspired by a recipe from chef Curtis Stone. It doesn't have any crunchy noodles (but you can add them if you want), but it does have plenty of grilled chicken, crunchy napa cappage, and a sweet/spicy Asian inspired dressing, which does double-duty as a marinade for the chicken.

The dressing ingredients sound exotic but you should be able to find most of them at the grocery store. Feel free to omit the sriracha sauce if you think you need to, but my kids didn't mind the spicy notes it added. In fact, both had multiple servings of this the last time I made it, so I decided it was a success!

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes cooling time

Ingredients

for the marinade and dressing

• 1/4 cup soy sauce (reduced sodium if possible)
• 3 T finely chopped fresh ginger
• 3 T canola or other neutral tasting oil
• 2 T hoisin sauce
• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 1 t sriracha sauce
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 c red wine or rice vinegar
• 1/4 c minced scallions (both white and green parts)

for the salad

• 1 lb (about 1 medium) napa cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 carrots, cut into matchstick-sized strips or coarsley grated
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
• 2/3 c lighltly packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 c slivered or sliced almonds, toasted
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

To make marinade/dressing, mix together all ingredients except scallions and vinegar.

Pour 3 tablespoons of marinade in a baking dish and add chicken breasts. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight, turning at least once.

To make the dressing, whisk vinegar and scallions into remaining marinade and set aside.

Heat a charcoal grill, grill pan, or electric grill and add chicken. Cook for about 4–5 minutes a side or until chicken is no longer pink. Set aside and let cool for at least 15 minutes, then thinly slice crosswise into strips.

In a large bowl, toss chicken, cabbage, carrots, scallions, and cilantro with enough of the dressing until everything is coated lightly. Add almonds and sesame seeds and toss lightly to combine, then serve.