One of my strengths as a teacher is the impromptu game.
And since you asked, one such game that I often pull out of my back pocket is called Password.
Here are the rules: you get one word clues that will help you guess the “password”. I think I might have stolen that from a real game, but I’m still considering it mine, and impromptu, especially since I’m going to make impromptu use of it right now. Ready? Good luck.
Peanutty.
Fresh.
Crunchy.
Pretty.
Green.
Chilled.
Juicy.
Textured.
Salty.
Sweet.
Colorful.
Lover.
Addicting.
Full.
Stuffed.
Chinese?
Japanese?
Thai?
Asian.
Do you have a guess yet?
Asian Chicken Salad
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
This Asian chicken salad is a healthy favorite in our family! Chow mein noodles, cabbage, edmame, carrots, chicken, marinated chicken, and Asian dressing.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 2–3 cups shredded lettuce or slaw (I used raw grated brussel sprouts)
- 1/2 cup whole almonds, chopped
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 cups cooked, shelled edamame
- toasted sesame seeds (optional)
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 piece minced ginger (about 1 tbs. for me)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons 5 spice seasoning (can also sub other seasoning – I used part Garam Masala and part Cajun seasoning)
- 2 cups chow mein noodles (dry crunchy kind)
Instructions
- Toss all salad ingredients – green onions, lettuce, almonds, carrots, cilantro, edamame, and sesame seeds.
- Whisk together the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar, and seasoning. Marinate the chicken in the sauce for at least 1 hour. Bake chicken in the sauce at 400 degrees, for about 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked through. When chicken is cooled, shred and add to the salad.
- Toss with dressing of your choice and chow mein noodles just before serving.
Notes
Dressing: I used Panera’s Asian Sesame bottled dressing – yum! I also made my own quick and easy version of an Asian dressing by whirring all these together in the food processor: 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup oil, 3 tablespoons white vinegar, 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter, 1 tablespoon hoison, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and about 1/3 cup water.
DON’T add the chow mein noodles until you are ready to eat the salad – the moisture from the vegetables and chicken will make the noodles lose their crunch.
Nutritional Information includes my peanut dressing!
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: asian chicken salad, asian salad, chicken salad, salad recipe
If you’re guessing the password was Asian Chicken Salad, you win!
Since I hereby promise to eat this salad forever, I WIN MORE!
I’m not competitive, though.
Pinterest
Now that is a tasty looking salad!
Thanks Kevin!
Woo! I win! Awesome looking salad.
We all win! Yay for salad! 🙂
This looks amazingggggggggggggg.
Thanks Liz!
Ahhh! I think that Password game is an old show I used to watch on Game Show Network (because I was prematurely old at age 12). What a blast from the past!
Anyway, this Asian chicken salad looks like a delicious lunch recipe to keep in mind. Definitely saving this one!
LOL! Love it. Thanks Meghan!
Haha, love this. Being in front of children makes me super duper nervous that I won’t come up with anything fun or interesting to do (and yet, I give presentations to CFOs and presidents of colleges all the time, go figure) with them. I’m stealing this game for the next time I’m in that situation!
Hahahahaha – I bet the CFOs would love this game. 🙂
I’ve been looking for a delicious asian chicken salad recipe – the last version I made wasn’t very good. 🙁 This sounds great, love the edamame in there!
I was inspired by the Miso Salad at California Pizza Kitchen… it’s loaded with edamame and I love it! 🙂
I love new ideas for summery salads, this looks and sounds perfect!
THanks Anna!
Wow, wow, WOW! Love this Lindsay. Great flavors!
Thanks Cassie! The flavors have been making my lunch hour nice and zippy! 🙂
Oh my word! This looks amazing…can’t wait to try it. Just pinned:-)
Thanks Becky! 🙂
It looks and sounds delicious. I’ve tried to cook Asian inspired food before, but it never really worked out. I should give this a try!
You should! This is kind of hodge-podge Asian, a little bit of Chineses, Japanese, and Thai influence… but a good place to start! 🙂 None of the ingredients are too overwhelming.
Bookmarking this!! I can’t wait to fill my summer with this salad!
It totally screams summer, doesn’t it?!
Oh, this sounds delicious! I think I have made an impromptu decision of what we will have for supper tonight!
Good call! 🙂 Impromptu is pretty much how I run my life.
Love the pics and the salad surely sounds delicious and healthy. I also have a special reason to thank you. Just today I had my first acceptance by tastespotting and I submitted to that site after reading the resources section from your blog. I had no luck at foodgawker but I’ll keep trying. Thanks guys for this amazing site 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks Ashish! And congrats on your first Tastespotting link being published! 🙂 Exciting!
This recipe looks amazing, I just love your blog! Do you think you could make this recipe using tofu or seitan in place of the chicken? Im a vegetarian 🙂
★★★★★
Absolutely! Actually, I made half with chicken for my husband and left the chicken out of the other half… since there’s edamame in there, I didn’t miss the meat at all! I mean, I like it both ways, but you can easily leave out the meat or sub something else if you need it to be vegetarian. It’s actually loosely vegan, too, if you leave out the meat, since there’s no other dairy in it! 🙂
You didn’t say delicious. You need to add delicious.
So excited to make this! Looks like a winner! I JUST LOVE BIG SALADS!
So what kind of dressing do u use Lindsay?
I used the Panera Asian Sesame (bought at Cub) and a homemade peanut dressing (in recipe notes).
Good catch. DELICIOUS.
YUM! That chicken looks divine! must try!
When I saw it I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was so pretty!
I love the sound of the flavour combinations. I’m happy to eat salad when it looks like this!
Thanks Claire! These are my favorite flavors too! 🙂
This looks great! I love asian salads.
I am eating a brownie right now and I would rather have your salad. Looks so so good.
I am eating a brownie right now and wishing it was this salad.
★★★★★
THAT is amazing.
Thank you for this–it came at just the right time! I made it for dinner last night, expecting it would be just me eating it, then my honey came home in the middle of putting it together and announced that his doctor told him that he’s borderline diabetic, his cholesterol’s too high, and he needs to eat healthier. So he was feeling a little lost and overwhelmed with all this new info and all the lifestyle changes he has to make, and I was able to say, “well, we’ve got dinner covered–you can have some of this salad with me!” We both loved it and I think he felt better knowing that there are lots of good things to eat that aren’t trying to kill you. 😉
Aw, sweet. That makes me really happy. 🙂
I write this comment as I am eating this salad. Its so fresh and flavorful, not to mention relatively guilt free! I promise it is as good as it looks. Thank you Lindsay for posting, its a new favorite.
★★★★★
Glad to hear it Kelsey! 🙂
Making this salad right now for some friends coming over later. I’m so excited to taste it. Thanks for the recipe! Love the site.
Thanks Dawn! Hope you guys like it!
This dish is sooooo good! I just made it for lunch tomorrow and I can’t wait to eat it all! I made the peanut dressing with almond peanut butter ( that’s what I had) and it still worked out. Thank you 🙂
Awesome! Glad you liked it Tatiana!