This recipe is an old favorite of mine – passed down from my mother! I remember eating it on many a hot day in Florida growing it up. It’s sweet and salty, has a great crush and is extremely refreshing. I’ve made a couple changes to the recipe over the years – replacing the table sugar with local honey and mixing in some other colorful vegetables. I use iceberg but you could fancy the recipe up by adding bok choy!
I roast whole split chicken breasts instead of poaching like my mother’s recipe calls for. You can roast the chicken in advance (even the day before), shred it and toss with dressing. Refrigerate the chicken until you assemble the salad. Or, you could buy a rotisserie chicken, shred it and skip cooking all together!
Salad Ingredients:
- 4 split chicken breasts (bone in with skin)
- 1 head iceberg lettuce or bok choy
- 1 English cucumber, chopped
- 6 scallions, chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 cups snow peas, chopped
- lots of small colorful sweet peppers, sliced thin
- sesame seeds
- sliced almonds
Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 1 half cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon white pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon Chinese five spice powder
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil blend
Assembly:
Roast the split chicken breasts at 400 degrees on a baking sheet with a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper for about 35 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool.
Meanwhile, whisk all the salad dressing ingredients (except the olive oil) together until everything has dissolved. Then whisk in the oil until emulsified. Taste the dressing. Adjust the seasoning as desired.
Shred the chicken with your hands.(at this point you can toss with dressing and save). Combine chopped veggies. Dress the salad and sprinkle with sliced almonds and sesame seeds.
Mod Meals on Mendenhall 
This looks very yummy – will definitely try!
Those dumplings are beautiful ! Great photo!