Today's Recipe - Asian Chicken Salad

Today's Recipe
If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
Avoid dry chicken breasts by using our Quick Broil cooking method — it's a great way to retain the moisture and flavor of chicken when you want to include it as part of your Healthiest Way of Eating. Enjoy this tasty recipe and the health benefits that come from it's wealth of health-promoting nutrients.

Asian Chicken Salad
Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts, skin on
• 5 cups Chinese cabbage, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup minced scallion
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 TBS toasted sesame seeds
• Optional: 2 TBS dried hijiki or arame seaweed, soaked in 1 cup warm water and chopped*
• Dressing
• 2 TBS extra olive oil
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3 TBS honey
• pinch red pepper flakes
• salt & white pepper to taste
• *The safety factors regarding sea vegetables, such as hijiki

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler. Place a stainless steel (be sure the handle is also stainless steel) or cast iron skillet in the broiler, about 7 inches from the heat source, to get it very hot. Season chicken with a little salt and pepper.
2. If you are using hijiki or arame place it in a small bowl of hot water to soften for about 10 minutes.
3. While pan is heating, thinly slice cabbage, and shred carrot. Carrot is easily shredded in food processor with shredding blade. Otherwise you can shred it by hand, or slice it thin. Chop cilantro and scallion cabbage and carrot mixture. Add sliced almonds. Squeeze excess water from hijiki, chop if needed, and add to salad.
4. When pan is hot, about 10 minutes, remove from broiler, and place chicken in pan, skin side up, and return to broiler. Cook for about 15 minutes depending on thickness of chicken. This is our Quick Broil cooking method. When done and cool enough to touch, remove skin, and cut into bite-size pieces.
5. Whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Toss with cabbage mixture and chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. (You can buy sesame seeds that are already toasted.)

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Asian Chicken Salad
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Asian Chicken Salad
Healthy Food Tip

How should I clean mushrooms and what should I do with the stems? Will washing mushrooms under running water end up with waterlogged, soggy mushrooms?

Although I have not seen research to determine how much water mushrooms will or will not absorb and under what circumstances, I recommend wiping mushrooms with a damp paper towel rather than cleaning them under running water as wetting the surface of mushrooms turns them dark and slimy only minutes after exposing them to the air.
And what about those stems? The stems of most mushrooms are tender and edible. However when it comes to shiitake mushrooms, I recommend cutting off the stems before cooking. It seems that the wide cap of the shiitake, along with the woody environment in which it is cultivated, requires a sturdy, tough stem to support its growth. While the stems may be too tough to eat, I would think twice about discarding them because they make an excellent addition to soup stock!