I know I’ve said this before, but I LOVE salads.  My confession though is that I don’t like the lettuce or spinach so much as all the fun things that you can top it with that make salads so variable.  In fact, this week when I asked Mike if he wanted me to make him a few salads for lunch his response was, “As long as I can put my fork into it without everything falling out of the container” because I tend to get carried away with toppings.  You can get an Asian salad at pretty much any restaurant.  The problem is that you’ll pay way more than it actually costs to make it at home (much like everything else.)  This salad is a go-to any time of year because the ingredients aren’t seasonal.  The canned mandarin oranges can always be found and hopefully you have a Sam’s Club close by where you can get a cheap rotisserie chicken to pull apart in a jiffy.

Yep I just typed “in a jiffy” even though I would probably never say it.  🙂 Hahaha  Anyway, the dressing for this salad is tweaked a bit from Giada’s.  We tend to like things a bit sweeter at our house so my version has less soy sauce and extra sugar.  Just because it’s a salad doesn’t mean it can’t be a bit sweet, right?  If you’re like us and like to make salads ahead of time to take for lunch the next day (which is what I did today during my kids’ nap time) then you might want to put the almonds and chow mien noodles in a small ziplock bag so that they’re guaranteed to be crunchy when you eat your salad (which is the whole reason why we add them on, right?)

Ingredients 

• Equal parts shredded romain & Napa cabbage
• 1 large carrot peeled
• 1 small red bell pepper cut into thin strips
• 2 cubs shredded rotisserie chicken (2 small breasts)
• 1 can 15 oz mandarin oranges (drained)
• 1/3 cup diced green onions
• 1/2 toasted slivered almonds
• 1/2 chow mein noodles

Directions

1. Add shredded lettuce and cabbage to a large bowl.  Peel carrot into the bowl and stir.  Add bell pepper & chicken and toss to combine.
2. Top salad with mandarin oranges, green onions, slivered almonds and chow mien noodles.
3. Serve with Asian Salad Dressing.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions

1. Measure all ingredients into a bowl.  Either whisk to combine, or use a container with a lid & shake the heck out of it! (Make sure that lid is good and tight.)

Salad dressing adapted from Giada De Laurentiis