Chinese Chicken Salad

This Chinese chicken salad is a colorful and tasty way to use up some leftover chicken and makes for a light lunch. I experimented with few different dressings and ultimately settled on this one which I think is just the right balance of soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. Do you have a favorite Chinese chicken salad dressing? Please let us know about it in the comments.

Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips
• Salt
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp Peanut, grapeseed or canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 head of iceberg lettuce or Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/2 sweet bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 3-4 scallions, sliced
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• Chow mein noodles, to taste (skip for gluten-free option)

Dressing:

• 1 Tbsp soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce for gluten-free option)
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 Tbsp dark sesame oil
• 1/4 cup peanut, grapeseed or canola oil

METHOD

1 Heat both oils over high heat in a large saute pan for 1 minute, then add the red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Sprinkle chicken strips with a little salt and add them to the pan. Stir-fry the chicken over high heat until cooked through, 3-6 minutes depending on how hot your burner gets. Drain and set aside to cool.

2 In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Adjust to taste. In a large bowl, toss the chicken and salad ingredients together. Just before serving, toss with dressin and top with the chow mein noodles.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

Chicken, Zucchini, and Ricotta Sandwich

Zucchini and fresh tomato slices make this a perfect summer sandwich. The recipe calls for chicken, but it would probably also work perfectly well with ham. Either focaccia or ciabatta bread can be used; this time we used ciabatta.

Chicken, Zucchini, and Ricotta Sandwich Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium zucchini, shredded
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 15 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 4 5x4-inch pieces focaccia or ciabatta bread, halved horizontally
• 2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 2-4 roasted chicken breasts (about 1 pound), skinned, boned, thinly sliced crosswise

METHOD

1 Mix zucchini and salt in medium bowl. Transfer to colander; set over bowl. Let stand 15 minutes to drain liquid from zucchini. Rinse and drain zucchini. Squeeze zucchini to remove liquid. (Can use a potato ricer.)

2 Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and sauté 2 minutes. Remove pan to a bowl, cool slightly. Add ricotta, Parmesan and lemon peel to zucchini. Stir to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3 Preheat broiler. Arrange bread pieces cut side up on baking sheet. Broil bread just until lightly toasted. Spread ricotta mixture generously over 8 focaccia pieces. Broil until ricotta mixture is heated through and beginning to brown in spots, about 4 minutes.

4 Top 4 bread pieces with tomato slices, then with chicken slices, dividing equally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with remaining 4 bread pieces, ricotta-mixture side down. Cut sandwiches diagonally in half and serve.

Makes 4 servings.