Asian Sesame Chicken Salad: Paleo-Inspired From Whole Sisters

Are you looking for healthy recipes to support your wellness efforts? Me, too! During my repeated efforts to live a healthier life, I tried Whole30, Paleo and Keto-type diets. While none of these "diets" are perfect, they taught me that I feel and look better when I eliminate dairy, wheat, and sugar from my life. When I first tried to eat this way, I found it challenging since I had hardly any recipes that didn't include some kind of flour, sugar, or cheese in the ingredients list.

Thus began the process of scouring the internet for Whole30 and Paleo recipes. Some recipes were disasters and I will never make them again. Others were easy to make and delicious. These are now some of my favorites and I will share them with you in this blog with my campground reviews and some Disney fun.

One of my favorites and a big hit with other family members is the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. The original recipe can be found on the Whole Sisters website. I adapted it to my own tastes and my recipe is below. My adapted version may not be 100% Whole30 or Paleo, so adjust the recipe for your own needs.

Asian Sesame Chicken Salad Ingredients:

4 cups Napa cabbage, shredded

1 cup red cabbage, shredded

1 cup snow peas, trimmed

1 cup carrots, shredded

1 small red onion, sliced thinly

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

1 can mandarin oranges, in juice, drained

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Asian Sesame Chicken Dressing Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut amino

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, powdered

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoon light olive oil

2 dates, soaked and then mashed

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

1. Combine all the salad ingredients into a large bowl.

2. Mix dressing ingredients until well incorporated.

3. Pour over salad ingredients.

4. If you like a lightly dressed salad, don’t add all of the dressing.

5. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.  272 calories for the salad without dressing.

Add 161 calories per serving for Whole Sisters' Asian Dressing


Recipe Notes (Adaptations and My Dressing Preference)

As I mentioned earlier, I adjusted ingredients based on what I had in the pantry and fridge, so I only used Napa and the red cabbage. I didn’t have black sesame seeds, and I used a prune instead of a date. I used red onions instead of green, and I don’t like cilantro so I skipped this. I used powdered ginger instead of fresh. I also added a small drained can of mandarin oranges packed in juice (no sugar or sugar substitutes).  

The Whole Sister's salad dressing was okay, in my opinion. Originally it called for 2 tablespoons of sesame oil. I think it should be reduced to 2 teaspoons if you want to make the original recipe's dressing. 

Since I wasn't a big fan of the original dressing, I decided to use a homemade Paleo Hoisin Sauce from my Well Fed cookbook, cause I really love that sauce on everything. (Sorry, the Paleo Hoisin recipe is not online and is copyrighted, so I can't share it here.)  I add the dressing to individual servings and tossed before serving. Much yummier.