The title alone makes my mouth water people!
Panera’s Asian Sesame Chicken Salad is by far one of my favorite salads, so of course I have tried to recreate it at home and put my own spin on it.
I also enjoy Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad, so I took what I loved about both and melded them together.
For this salad you will need:
Romaine Lettuce
Savoy Cabbage (optional)
A handful of cilantro
A serving of chicken
Sliced almonds (optional)
Wonton Strips (optional)
Putting the salad together is super easy!
1. Add desired amount of lettuce and cabbage to bowl
2. Add a handful of cilantro (don’t skip this – it really makes the salad!)
3. Top with a serving of chicken, some sliced almonds and a few wonton strips
4. Drizzle with your preference of Asian dressing (see my thoughts below)
A Few Notes:
I typically will grill my chicken or pan sear it and cut into chunks. Seasoning is your discretion but I typically use pepper and granulated garlic. I also usually make multiple servings so that I can have enough for a few days worth of salads.
For lettuce and cabbage - I usually buy the lettuce already in a container, I have bought the heads of lettuce, but the containers are just easier for me. I use a salad spinner to wash and dry my salad and then I put it back in the container (which I’ve also cleaned). Always make sure to wash your lettuce, even if it says pre-washed. Cut the cabbage up into small chunks like you would if you were doing a chopped salad. Wash and let dry as you did your lettuce. The cabbage will store pre-cut in a container for about 6 days.
The cabbage is optional but I like that it gets a another low calorie vegetable into my salad. Cabbage is used on the Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad and I really love it on there.
Wonton strips can usually be found in the same aisle as croutons and in my Kroger they hanging by the pre-packaged lettuces.
For dressing – I love both Panera’s dressing and Applebee’s dressing, but I typically eat more of a Panera style dressing. I’ve made the mock Panera dressing recipe listed at http://www.artfoodlifeblog.com/2011/04/asian-sesame-chicken-salad/ and while I wouldn’t call it a Pinterest Fail…it is definitely not the same but is still very good. I actually enjoy it quite a bit. I did not add the sesame seeds because I thought they were an unnecessary expense.
Here are a few tips for the dressing
· The sesame oil can be very expensive. I found it next to the olive oil at my Kroger and also in the Asian section. It was cheaper in the Asian section but was still about $4 for a small bottle.
· The recipe calls for rice vinegar. Maybe my palette cannot discern it, but I felt like rice vinegar tasted like watered down apple cider vinegar. That was pretty upsetting considering I paid $3 for a very small bottle of rice vinegar. Next time I make it I am trying with watered down apple cider vinegar.
· The actual Panera Asian Sesame dressing is sold in some Target stores so check your local Target. I was able to check online if my local target had it in stock and they do…for less than $5 a bottle which is much cheaper than all the ingredients I had to buy for the copy cat recipe.
· Kraft and many other companies also make Asian dressings. I have not tried any of those to comment on at this time. I typically try to make my salad dressings to reduce the amount of preservatives, unknown ingredients, and oil in them.
This is such an easy salad to put together. I eat this or another variation of a simple salad almost every day at work. I hope you enjoy!
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