Oriental Chicken Salad

After all the overindulgence of the holidays (so much overindulgence), it's time to reset with workout goals and (slightly) healthier fare.  In my house, with 3 men (including a teen and a tween), there is still plenty of meat, potatoes, and pasta.

Still, sometimes I’ll serve up a main dish salad (usually to a fair bit of complaining).  I’ll often do main dish salads for lunch because I LOVE salads (seriously, check that link, I have a lot of them).  But then there are salads like today’s recipe that take a little more effort (homemade dressing and hot chicken) that demand to be dinner salads.

This one is a homemade version of one of my favorite restaurant salads from Applebees!  There is always the option to order this one with grilled chicken, but I’m a sucker for a good chicken finger, so I always order the crispy chicken.

Now, at home I don’t deep fry, so I made our favorite oven-baked chicken: Crunchy Onion Chicken Fingers, to top this salad (this also serves as a peace offering to the kids for serving a main dish salad - haha). 

Because the chicken was different, this wasn’t exactly like the restaurant version, though the salad and dressing were quite close.  I’ll still order the restaurant version on those few occasions when I go out, but this is a close second that I can make at home!

Looking for more salads?  Check these out:

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Asian Chicken Ginger Salad.
• Sneha's Recipe: Chicken Pasta Caesar Salad
• Palatable Pastime: Crispy Shell Chicken Taco Salad 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Italian Chopped Salad
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Oriental Chicken Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Steak Salad
• Our Good Life: Spinach Salad with Creamy Hard Boiled Egg and Homemade Garlic Croutons
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Veggie Pasta Salad

Oriental Chicken Salad

Adapted from Top Secret Recipes, Inspired by Applebees

Dressing

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon honey

¾ teaspoon rice vinegar

½ teaspoon stone ground mustard

1/16 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad

Crunchy Onion Chicken Fingers

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

1 bag coleslaw mix (green cabbage, red cabbage, & carrots)

¼ cup sliced almonds

¼ cup chow mein noodles

Whisk together the dressing ingredients.

Cook Crunchy Onion Chicken Fingers according to recipe instructions.

Mix together the romaine and cabbage mix.  Separate onto plates.  Sprinkle almonds and chow mein noodles over the lettuce, drizzle with dressing.  Slice chicken fingers to lay over the salads and serve.