Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Dressing

If you ask my family, they know I'm not a ''salad dressing'' kind of person. If the salad has already been dressed, I'll eat it. But I don't prefer it. I'll eat my salad dry as a bone. Even when I order a Cafe Rio Pork Salad, I'll say No Thanks to the dressing. That gets me a confused look almost every time. It's the same look I get at Zuppas and order a salad without dressing. I must be insane to them.

There are a few exceptions to my non-dressing preference. I really really love Olive Garden's Italian Dressing, I'll sometimes order a Caesar salad (on rare occasions, if it's not saturated in dressing), and I love the Sesame Dressing in this salad. I'm sure there will be more added to the list as time goes on, and new recipes are tried.

I think I'm still a little traumatized from watching my peers glopping offensive amounts of Ranch Dressing on their Friday pizza slice in elementary school. They'd "pump" enough Ranch on their pizzas that I'm almost positive there was more Ranch on their pizzas than actual pizza. I've never liked Ranch, and that experience certainly didn't push me on their side of the fence as far as salad dressing goes. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure it's awesome and all for people who like it. I'm just not one of them.

This salad is very light and flavorful. My favorite parts were the crunchy wontons, toasted almonds, and juicy chicken pieces. The dressing is wonderful, but I preferred the salad (surprise, surprise) without too much on it. Just enough to get that sesame/soy sauce zing.

Also, I found a new way to cook chicken breasts, I'm crazy about it. I just can't believe how much I sucked at cooking chicken breasts (it was hit and miss, sometimes very dry). I found the recipe here today. It's very simple:

1. toss your chicken breast in a little olive oil and seasonings,
2 lay it out on an aluminum-coated pan,
3. stick it in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes,
4. turn and cook another 8 minutes, and then let sit for a couple minutes.

Done. BAM. Amazing & moist chicken breast to use in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken pieces. Such as this one:

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Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Dressing
recipe adapted from foodiecrush

salad
12 3-inch wonton skins, sliced into 1/4″ strips (this makes a ton, so half it if you want to)
1/4 cup canola oil for frying
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 chicken breast, shredded
4 green onions, chopped (recipe originally had 2 green onions, not nearly enough)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted lightly
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 cups cooked rotini pasta noodles, cooled

dressing
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar (recipe originally had 4 TB)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

Heat canola or corn oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When oil starts to shimmer, fry wonton skins in batches of 5-7 strips for 30 seconds each side or until lightly browned, working quickly so they don’t burn. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels until cooled.

In a large bowl, combine lettuce, chicken breast, green onion, almonds and pasta.

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk well until sugar dissolves. Dress lettuce mixture with 2-3 tablespoons of sesame dressing and top with sesame seeds and wonton strips and serve.