Chinese Chicken Salad

When I saw this recipe on Danica's Daily last week, my mouth was watering. Who doesn't love a good, healthy, low point Asian inspired salad?   It's a recipe from Ellie Krieger.  I changed up a few things from the original recipe.  First off, I grilled my chicken in a grill pan then sliced it and placed it on top of the greens.  Second, I added some red pepper to the veg mix and lastly, I didn't make the dressing.  I used a fantastic salad dressing that worked wonderfully with the Asian flavors and is only ONE point+ per serving....Annie's Naturals Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette.  If you would rather make your own dressing, you can find the original recipe which includes ingredients and instructions for making the dressing HERE.

This salad packs a mighty crunch with the cabbages and the toasted sliced almonds.  I think the dressing I chose complimented it wonderfully, and I like Annie's because unlike some Asian flavored dressings, it's not too sweet and has a strong ginger and soy flavor, plus, it has no artificial ingredients in it!!

I didn't calculate out the nutritional information for this recipe, because it is mostly zero point foods.  If I worked it out using nutrition stats or recipe builder, it would include the info for the zero point foods and add it to the total, and cause the overall point value to increase.  Since this is a salad, I believe the zero point foods ( such as the cabbage and peppers) should stay zero point foods.  Only the chicken, the almonds and the dressing contribute to the point+ value.  So respectively, it is 4 points+ for 4 oz. of chicken, 1 points+ for 1 TBS. of sliced almonds (  1 TBS. weighs 0.2 oz and 1 oz. of almonds is 4p+ so 1 TBS. should equal 1 p+...please correct me if my thinking doesn't sound right to you) , and 1 p+  for 2 TBS. of Annie's Lite Gingerly dressing....coming out to 6 points+ for a huge tasty salad. 

Chinese Chicken Salad adapted from Ellie Krieger as seen on Danica's Daily

Servings - 4   Serving size - 1/4th recipe   Points Plus per serving - 6 points+

1 TBS. low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

fresh ground pepper

1 pound, skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 small head of napa cabbage, thinly shredded ( about 6 cups )

1/4 head of red cabbage, thinly sliced ( about 2 cups ) 

2 cups of packaged pre-shredded carrot  ( why not?  saves time and your nails! )  

1/2 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

3 - 4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, greens included 

2-11 oz. cans of mandarin oranges, rinsed and drained

4 TBS. sliced almonds, toasted

Annie's Naturals Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette

1.  Combine soy sauce and sesame oil and brush on chicken breasts.  Sprinkle with pepper. Grill until chicken is no longer pink.  Cover with foil and keep warm until ready to assemble salads.  

2.  In large bowl, combine the cabbages ( napa and red), carrots, scallions, and mandarin oranges.  Divide evenly onto 4 plates.  Take reserved chicken and slice on diagonal.  Place one sliced chicken breast on top of one plate of cabbage mixture.  Sprinkle with 1 TBS. almonds.  Dress with 2 TBS. Lite gingerly dressing.  Repeat for other plates. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

The dressing I used.  Delicious for 1 p+!