Sesame Orange Chicken Salad

I found a few recipes on the 'net and decided to piece them together tonight for dinner. I wanted something light, but I also didn't want to be hungry again in an hour...

Jeff, who isn't much of a veggie lover said the following comments about this recipe:

Me: "This is actually really good"
Jeff: "Well, it definitely isn't bad!"

Jeff: "We need to open a restaurant."

and the coup de grats:

Jeff: "That was a REALLY good salad"

Considering that getting him to eat anything green is an accomplishment in and of itself, I was pretty darn ecstatic that he really, really liked this salad and actually had 2 helpings! If there had been more, he probably would have had another.

SO....here's what you need (makes 4 servings)


For the dressing:
6 TBS honey
3 TBS rice vinegar
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 TBS sesame oil
1/2 c mayonnaise


Mix all ingredients together or shake in a spill proof container. Put in the fridge until you're ready to top your salads.

For the chicken:
2 lbs chicken
1 cup flour
1/2-1 cup milk
1 TBS cajun seasoning
1/2 TBS seasoning salt
Cooking oil

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Place into a dish and pour milk over the top so that the pieces are about half covered (I needed anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 cup...I eyeballed it..)  Let the chicken soak for about 5 minutes in the milk. While the chicken is soaking, put the oil on to get hot (you'll want enough in the pan so you can fry the chicken pieces and have them covered about halfway), mix the flour, cajun seasoning and seasoning salt. After its soaked, put a handful of chicken into the flour and use a spoon to stir and coat the pieces.  Add to the heated oil and cook until browned and crisp. Repeat for the rest of the chicken.

For the Salad:
1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2-1 cup broccoli slaw
1 can mandarin oranges
2 green onions, chopped
Chow Mein Noodles

Toss the lettuce, broccoli slaw, green onions, and mandarin oranges together. Place in a bowl. Top with chow mein noodles and chicken. Top with the dressing... and voila!

This dish literally took me 15 minutes to throw together...it tasted like I'd been working on it for longer than that, that's for sure.

Make sure to bring the dressing to the table. I thought I'd put plenty on our salads, but the chicken soaked in a lot of it (Jeff and I were most impressed with the chicken, actually. It soaked up the dressing, which was delicious, and stayed SUPER crispy! Jeff said I will have to use this chicken recipe to make orange chicken, buffalo chicken, and sweet and sour chicken in the future- its definitely an "all around" recipe. The breading didn't piece off, it crisped and browned and was delicious!)  In short, someone at your table, may want to add more dressing.

When my husband says something is on the "make again" list, I know its good! Give it a whirl, you may like it. :)

Bon appetit!

Hugs and loves until next time darlings!