We have some quick and relatively healthy meal ideas coming up to help trim some of your efforts at dinner time during this busy holiday season. We begin with a couple of salads. The first takes cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken is perfect for this) and blends it with red cabbage and lettuce, peanuts, slices of orange, avocado, and fried onion and drizzles it with a maple sesame dressing that will have you reaching for the recipe again and again.
If you don't have the particular ingredients listed (thinking red cabbage, red lettuce, and peanuts here), pick similar ingredients and move on. Did you stash some turkey into the freezer after Thanksgiving? This salad would be great with it. Did you not finish all the pork tenderloin you made earlier in the week? Again, slice it up and use it. You get the idea.
I generally serve this salad solo because it has a little bit of everything in it and I turn to it when I'm busy and don't have a lot of time for other kitchen shenanigans. Just pour a cold beverage and dig in. Save a bit of that energy for holiday baking, decorating, or wrapping gifts. Whew! Good thing this salad is a nutritional powerhouse!
Orange Sesame Ginger Chicken Salad
- ⅓ cup toasted sesame oil
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup soy sauce - tamari for GF
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 3 cups shredded red lettuce
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken
- ⅓ cup roasted peanuts
- 1 cup fresh orange slices
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- ¼ cup fried onions - check labels for GF
Combine the first eight ingredients (toasted sesame oil through sesame seeds) in a glass jar or bowl. Seal the jar and shake or whisk the ingredients in the bowl. Set aside.
In a large salad bowl, combine the red cabbage, red lettuce, chopped chicken, peanuts, and orange slices. Pour half the dressing in with the salad; toss to coat the greens. Add the avocados, and fried onions. Serve.
- Yields: 6-8 servings
- Preparation Time: 15 minutes