Asian Chicken Salad is a chopped salad made with shredded green cabbage, carrots, celery, cashews, almonds, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes and chopped grilled chicken mixed together with a ginger-lime, balsamic and black sesame seed dressing. A delicious crunchy chicken salad is a great choice for a light lunch or pot luck or to serve at a party.
My sister Liz made this Asian chicken salad for lunch the other day and I fell in love with it. I actually had to stop eating it and take out my camera to take some photos quickly, then asked her for the recipe. Since my sister makes her dishes from whatever she has in her kitchen, this was something she created herself and called it Asian chicken salad.
So for this recipe she incorporated a small bag of already shredded cabbage, and a handful of shredded carrots. Then she added a handful of nuts and crispy wonton strips, some fresh cilantro, hearts of palm and cherry tomatoes. Next, she quickly grilled one chicken breast on stove-top, added some soy sauce and grilled until it was fully cooked, chopped it, then added in to the cabbage mixture. Then she made a simple Asian-style dressing by whisking together some lime juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey and some black sesame seeds and ginger dressing from a bottle.
I have to tell you, this salad was amazing! Loved everything about it, the fresh crunchy taste of vegetables, the cashews and almonds, along with the chicken added enough protein making this salad very filling and satisfying. So good! It reminded me of the similar dishes we love order at our favorite Thai restaurant in Charleston.
You have to try this recipe! It is such a refreshing different salad, you'll want to make it over and over again. And so do we!
Enjoy!
Asian Chicken Salad
- 4 to 5 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1 celery - thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 2 Tbsp. almonds
- 1/2 cup crispy wonton strips
- 3 hearts of palm - rinsed, sliced into 1/2-inch thick
- 5 to 6 cherry tomatoes- sliced in halves
- fresh chopped cilantro
- 1 chicken breast
- 2 tsp. teriyaki sauce
- fresh cracked black pepper
Asian-Style Dressing
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 Tbsp ginger dressing (from any store bought bottle)
- 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. honey
- 1/2 tsp. black sesame seeds
In a large mixing bowl, mix the first 9 ingredients, cabbage, carrots, celery, nuts, wonton strips,
hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes and cilantro.
In a small nonstick pan, and over medium heat, saute or grill the chicken breast for 2 minutes on both sides. Add the teriyaki sauce and some cracked black pepper and continue to cook until the chicken is fully cooked, about 5 minutes. Remove and chop into small pieces. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk all the Asian dressing ingredients together and pour into the chopped salad, add the chopped chicken and toss until well combined. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
