Chinese Chicken Salad, Made Lite

By Foodiewife

This version of Chinese Chicken Salad is more "fresh", with a dressing that isn't loaded with sugar. It's quite easy to put together,and you can be creative in cutting the vegetables that you want. To make things even easier, buy a rotisserie chicken at your local deli/grocery store. It's a whole lot cheaper than going out to a restaurant and ordering one-- plus you know what's in the salad dressing!
This recipe is slightly adapted from "Just A Taste"

Ingredients

• For the dressing:
• For the salad
• 1 small rotisserie chicken (about 4 cups), shredded
• 1-2 heads romaine lettuce, shredded (about 3 cups)
• 1/2 small head purple cabbage, shredded
• 2-3 scallions, sliced (white and green parts)
• 1 carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 cup fresh cucumber (I used 1/3 of an English cucumber), sliced into batons*
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 cup crispy chow mein noodles
• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
• 3 Tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar**
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh black pepper

Preparation

Step 1

NOTES:
*for the cucumbers, cut into approx. 1/4" slices. Stack a few, and then cut straight down into thin strips or "batons"
**You can use seasoned rice vinegar, but all that means is that sugar and salt has been added. I used unseasoned.
For the chicken: You can use leftover roasted chicken, from home, or cook chicken breasts. The rotisserie chicken is just as easy, and is cost effective.
In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients, tossing until well mixed.

In a small bowl (I use a small Mason jar with a lid), whisk together the dressing ingredients and then pour over the salad, tossing to coat.

Serve immediately.