Cooking corner: Chinese chicken salad

Helen Taylor Smith

Cooking corner

Salads are healthy and easy to prepare — and they go well with the great summer weather we continue to have — so here’s another one to try.

This simple salad can be prepared ahead of time and tossed together just before it’s served, which saves time and makes it easy on the cook. Use cooked chicken breast meat to save even more time.

Fresh ginger aids digestion and adds great flavor to the salad.

Check Fred Meyer’s natural foods department for the brown rice vinegar, 100 percent expeller pressed canola, toasted sesame oil and Agave sweetener. The grocery store’s bulk section carries the sesame seeds and sliced raw almonds.

Serve with a crisp roll, if desired.

Having the cooked chicken and ginger, the sesame seeds and almonds and the dressing all ready makes preparing only the greens a real time-saver.

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked chicken breast meat cut into bite-sized pieces

1/3 cup fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped or minced

2 heads of iceberg lettuce; wash, pat dry and cut into thin strips

1 large head of romaine; wash, pat dry and cut into thin strips

1 bunch of cilantro; wash, cut off stems, pat dry and chop coarsely

2 bunches of green onions; wash and cut green tops only into small pieces

1/2 cup sesame seeds, dry toasted

2 cups sliced raw almonds, dry toasted

1 cup brown rice vinegar dressing (see below).

Technique

In a 2-quart bowl, place chicken pieces and chopped or minced fresh ginger and toss them to mix it together; cover and refrigerate.

Place two plain paper towels in a 6-quart bowl, then place a drop of dye-free dish soap on your hands and make suds to wash the lettuce, romaine, cilantro and green onions. Rinse thoroughly and pat the excess water with paper towels.

Cut up both the lettuce and romaine into thin strips and put them into the bowl. Chop or cut the cilantro and add to the greens. Cover the bowl and keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to serve. Cut the green onions, place them into an airtight container and refrigerate.

Toast the sesame seeds by spreading them thinly on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Toast the almond slices the same way. Combine them and put them into an airtight container.

When you’re ready to serve, pull the paper towels from under the greens and add the chicken and ginger, green onions, sesame seeds and almonds.

Pour on the dressing and thoroughly toss in order to coat all greens.

Yield — four to six servings

Brown rice vinegar dressing

Make this dressing several days ahead and keep it refrigerated so you can always have it on hand for all types of salads, including sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.

Ingredients

1/3 cup brown rice vinegar

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons organic Agave sweetener

1/4 cup 100 percent expeller pressed canola oil

2 tablespoons 100 percent expeller-pressed toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

Dash pepper

1/2 teaspoon “Spike,” salt-free, or 1/8 teaspoon salt

Technique

Have ready one clean pint jar. In a 1-quart mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, water and Agave sweetener and microwave on high for 90 seconds. Remove, add the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly.

Pour it into a pint jar, cover loosely and cool. Secure the lid tightly and store in a refrigerator; it will keep for several weeks.

As microwave oven temperatures can vary, check yours for the best time, and make note of it here.

Yield — 1 1/4 cups.

Cooking Corner columnist Helen Smith, the Healthy Cook, can be reached by e-mail at thecook@thehealthycook.com. This recipe is supplemental to and property of “Cooking Healthier with the Healthy Cook” by Helen Taylor Smith. Permission is granted for personal use only. No commercial use permitted without explicit written contract with the author.