Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe

Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe
(http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/09/22/chinese-chicken-salad/)

This Chinese Chicken Salad recipe makes a really quick light meal if
you use store-bought roasted chicken and pre-fried crispy noodles
(found in a bag or canister in the Asian section of supermarket.) I
like to get a whole rotisserie chicken, use the breasts for the salad
and the remaining meat for paninis the next day. The bones? I throw
them in a pot, add water carrots, celery and make a very flavorful
soup. Don't waste the bones of a roasted chicken!

You can also throw in a handful of almonds too. The dressing for this
Chinese Chicken Salad is one of my husband's favorites - a copycat
version of Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad dressing which is a tangy
and sweet.

serves 4-6

15 wonton skins, cut into strips (or if you don't want to fry: 1 cup
fried crispy chow mein noodles)
oil for frying
1 head lettuce, leaves shredded or torn
2 cooked chicken breasts, meat shredded with your fingers
1 cucumber, sliced
handful snow peas, sliced on diagonal
11 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained

For the dressing
a la Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad Dressing

makes 1 cup (use half for the salad and store the rest in refrigerator)

3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

To make the salad dressing, whisk together the honey, mayonnaise,
mustard until very smooth. Then whisk in the oil and vinegar.

To fry the wonton skin strips, heat 1 inch of oil until 375F. If you
don't have a thermometer, just slide one wonton strip into the oil -
it should sizzle immediately and turn light golden brown in about 30
seconds. Fry the wonton strips in several batches and drain on a rack
or layers of paper towels. Each batch should take about 30 seconds to
1 minute to fry.

Assemble Chinese Chicken Salad with lettuce, chicken, cucumber, snow
peas, mandarin oranges. Drizzle on salad dressing and sprinkle with
wonton strips.
How to poach chicken breasts

If you have uncooked chicken breasts, you can poach the chicken
breasts. In a medium pot, add the chicken breasts and fill with water
or broth 1 inch above the chicken. Add 1 teaspoon of kosher or sea
salt to the water. Bring the pot to a boil and immediately turn the
heat to low, simmering for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and
cover. Let sit for 20 minutes. Save the poaching liquid for cooking or
for soup. There you go…perfectly poached chicken breasts!