Chinese Chicken Chopped Salad

INGREDIENTS
Salad ingredients:
  • 3 cups shredded romaine lettuce
  • 3 cups shredded green cabbage
  • 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
  • 1 cup chopped, massaged kale
  • 1 cup grated carrots
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro, minced
  • 1-2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 1-2 cups mandarin oranges
  • ¼-1/2 cup toasted almonds
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds (I like using the black ones for color contrast)
Dressing ingredients:
  • ¼ cup liquid aminos or low sodium soy sauce
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
  • 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp sesame oil
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Combine the salad mixture and toss together.
  2. Whisk together salad dressing ingredients in a separate bowl.
  3. If serving the whole salad immediately, stir in the salad add-ins (chicken, oranges, almonds, sesame seeds) and enough dressing to lightly coat the salad, adding a little at a time so it doesn’t get too soggy.  I only used about half of the dressing and saved the excess.
  4. Serve right away or keep dressing separate and prepare as needed.

Homemade Pesto Sauce

If you grow herbs in the summer you may be overrun with so much of it you end up giving it away or just letting it go out of control.  Grab a few fistfuls of whatever is growing like crazy and whip up an easy pesto sauce in minutes.  It makes a great marinade for chicken, steak and seafood.  The version I use is dairy free and still is flavorful and delicious.

Ingredients:

  • cup fresh herbs, packed cups (basil, cilantro, mint, whatever you got – or mix it up!)
  • 1 cup raw nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, etc)
  • cloves fresh garlic, peeled
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 1 pinch sea salt

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients, except olive oil, to a food processor.
  2. Give it a few quick pulses to combine.
  3. Turn speed on low setting and slowly start to add olive oil, drizzling in slowly.
  4. Pause part way through and scrape down the sides of your food processor and check the consistency. I prefer mine to be thicker (less oil) and some like it as more of a sauce (more oil).
  5. Pour into a glass container and store in the fridge for up to a week.