I’ve been eating like crap and my body has been suffering because of it. Not just the bloateness and weight gain but physical discomfort and pain. I needed to eat a salad asap.
I love comfort foods and I always will but my body feels the best when it consumes lots of veggies. Carbs and junk foods in moderation is ok. That’s where I thrive. Oh, and portion control makes the biggest difference for me. I digress.
I layed in the bed the night before mentally developing this recipe and mentally styling this shoot. One thing I regret doing is not tossing the dressing and salad together before shooting it. Instead I just drizzled the dressing on top and mixed it right before eating. So, it looks dry but it's really not. Oh well. Hind sight is always 20/20....well almost always.
Ok, enough with all that jazz. This recipe is yummy! You‘re probably familiar with the taste of a chinese chicken salad. Well, this recipe is legit. It’s the best thing I’ve had all week. I could eat multiple servings of this. It’s sweet, tangy, crunchy, salty and very well balanced. So let’s get to it. This is a rough recipe but I have faith you can handle it.
Btw, I styled this two different ways. One dark theme and one light themed. Which do you prefer ?
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 2 servings
*This is a rough recipe. Portions are approximate and you may have extra . Adjust all portions to your taste and liking
INGREDIENTS:
SALAD:
1 bag mixed greens ( I like the herb mix from Trader Joe's)
1 can mandarin oranges (11 ounces) / Use 1/4 of the can if making one serving
4-6 ounces plant chicken of choice -- chopped into small squares (I used 3 Trader Joe's Lightlife Smart Tenders from Trader Joe's)
1 sprig green onion - chopped
Handful of white and purple cabbage or as much as you like
Sprinkle of sesame seeds
1-2 tbsp sliced almonds
Optional: Hemp seeds (if you want added protein and fats). Walnuts is good too and of course fried wontons
GLAZE / DRESSING:
1/2 of the juice of the mandarin oranges (for one serving)
1/4 -1/2 tsp corn starch (whisked into the mandarin juice for thickness)
1/4-1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/4-1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
4-6 drops of the juice from fresh ginger (no more than 1/8 tsp) -- it's ok if you don't have ginger. It will still taste good. But with it will add more complex flavor
Canola oil to drizzle on top of the salad
1/4 extra apple cider vinegar for drizzling if you want more tangy flavor
Coarse salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a salad bowl, toss the salad ingredients together. Then go make the glaze.
In a heated sauce pan over medium heat, pour in the mandarin juice and corn starch mixture. Add the ginger, soy sauce and apple cider vinegar. Bring to boil. If it's not thick enough sprinkle in a little more corn starch. Just note that if you don't whisk it before hand it might be clumpy. Not the end of the world. Give it a taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Be careful it's hot. Set aside -- Note: if you didn't want to cook it on stove top, just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and microwave a few minutes until bubbly. And if you're feeling really lazy you can literally drizzle everything onto your salad (omitting the corn starch). It will be more of a dressing and less of a glaze.
In a heated oiled skillet cook the plant chicken until golden brown. Drizzle some of the glaze and it will turn golden even faster.
Assemble the salad: throw the chicken into the salad and drizzle on the glaze as much as you'd like. Drizzle on the oil. Mix it in. Add extra apple cider vinegar for more tang if you'd like. Toss together. Plate it. Give it a taste and if it needs salt sprinkle on some coarse salt for an extra boost. Enjoy!
Snap a pic for the gram and tag me @jengo.daily or #jengo.daily. I would love to see your creations! Thanks for visiting. See you next time!
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