Asian Salad with Sesame Ginger dressing

I'm not really a fan of salad. But this, was, good! Great flavor combination. You'll have dressing left over, and it will store well in the fridge for up to a week. This would also be good with shredded chicken added for protein.

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Dressing

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp reduced sodium Soy Sauce
2 cloves garlic
4 inches fresh ginger
3 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (the darker kind)

Salad

1 head of lettuce, chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped
1 8oz can mandarin oranges in lite syrup
2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 red bell pepper, sliced julienne
optional: grapes
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Combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with enough dressing to coat.

Serve with additional dressing on the side.

Orange Chicken

This is delicious and similar to what you'd get at a Chinese takeout. We used pre-breaded chicken and that made it a very easy meal to put together. It went well with Asian Salad and Sesame Ginger Dressing.

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Breaded Chicken
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
1/4 cup flour
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Orange Sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp water
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp white sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp white vinegar
zest from 2 oranges
1 tsp sesame oil
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2 Tbsp ginger root, minced or grated
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp crushed hot red chili pepper
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
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In a large bowl, combine egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well.

Stir in chicken pieces until they are completely coated in the mixture.

In another bowl, combine cornstarch and flour.

Take the coated chicken and dip it in the flour mixture.

Add chicken, small batches at a time, to a wok or pan with hot oil and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden crisp. Make sure not to cook it too long or it will be too dry.

Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside.

While you're waiting for your batches of chicken, put together the orange sauce. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat, then add 1 tablespoon oil.

Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant; about 30 seconds. Then add the crushed chiles and green onions and stir fry until soft. Add the rice vinegar and Orange Sauce. Let the mixture heat until boiling.

Add the cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.

In a cup, mix 1/2 cup water and 2 Tbsp cornstarch until smooth and then add this to the chicken and sauce mixture.

Heat until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. Serve over jasmine rice.