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Sesame Chicken Salad

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup pure maple syrup (eyeball it)

  • 1/3 cup Tamari (dark soy sauce)

  • 1/2 cup sweet hot mustard (eyeball it)

  • 1 1/3 pounds chicken breast tenders (the average weight of one package)

  • Salt and pepper

  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds, a mix of black and white or all white

  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Dressing:

  • 1 1/2 inches fresh ginger root, grated or minced

  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (3 generous splashes)

  • 1/4 cup Chinese duck sauce or apricot all fruit spread

  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil (eyeball it)

Salad:

  • 1 bag mixed baby greens (5-6 ounces)

  • 1 /4 English (seedless) cucumber, halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced on an angle

  • 1 /2 cup shredded carrots (a couple of handfuls)

  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle

  • 1/4 pound snow peas, sliced on an angle

  • Fried Chinese noodles, perhaps leftover from take-out, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Combine syrup, soy and sweet hot mustard in a bowl. Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper on both sides. Add chicken tenders to half of the marinade and coat. Set aside. Reserve the remaining half for dressing.

Pre-heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spread sesame seeds on a sheet of waxed paper or into a shallow dish. Waxed paper will speed your clean up. Dip the tenders into the sesame seeds. Coat the pan with a thin layer of oil. Cook chicken in small batches 3 minutes on each side and remove to plate.

To make the dressing: Whisk ginger, vinegar and the reserved marinade together then stream in the oil while you are continuing to whisk dressing.

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a bowl. Toss with dressing and serve, topping with sesame chicken tenders. Toss some crunch into your salad with fried noodles, if you have any leftover packets from Chinese take-out.