Skip to main content

Asian Chicken Salad


Living in a small town has its good and bad.  Depending upon who you ask, the bad is not always bad.  Bad is perspective, see.  This small town has most major fast food chains and not a single dine chain.  Fine by me! Mom and Pop local eateries are the only place one here is going to get a salad, not a salad bar, a pre-formed grilled burger, not a robin burger, and dinner will be at home.  I can not think of a single Mom and Pop that serves dinner.  Breakfast starting at 4, lunch until 2, and home by 3.  There are a couple of super fancy (serving to the out of town high end clientele) restaurants but none of the locals eat there. No TGIF wings except in the frozen section at Walmart, no PF Chang's egg rolls except in the frozen section at the local grocer, no Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad.  

Modifications Made:
Salad: Even with all the time in the world right now, using pre-made salads are the best.  No waste with leftover unused heads of cabbage or lettuce, no shredding of cabbage or carrots.  Just cut and pour.  Almonds slivers were omitted for the same reason as when served on Eat Your Greens.

Tenders: Here is where the changes lie.  Tenders were marinated as instructed in the Crispy Asian Chicken Tenders, battered in plain panko crumbs, but instead of baked, they were fried.  Fried, just like they are served at Applebee's. The chicken tender version on this recipe was made by a health conscious minded eater.  Not this table, we like fried foods.  

Sauce: Low fat replaced nonfat Greek yogurt, two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar replaced rice vinegar, and whole milk replaced nonfat milk. 

Scaled for Likability: Great
Not ever having been to an Applebee's I have no way to compare this recipe with the real deal.  It doesn't matter really as this recipe, with the fried chicken tenders, was so good.  It was very hard not to eat the tenders with the sauce as they came out of the fryer they were so good.  I would make these tenders just to have tenders, no salad, no veggies, maybe not even sauce.  Just chicken fried carb sticks.  The absence of almond slivers went unnoticed and I cannot image they really bring much to the salad when the chicken is fried anyways.  Definitely worth the effort of frying the chicken tenders.  Definitely delish!

Popular posts from this blog

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup.  Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too.  Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup  are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water.  Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender.  Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

Way Too Rich, Extra Heavy Cheesecake

Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001.  Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old.  Eek.   Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake.  In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years.  That is just too long.  Too long.  Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven.  A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature.  If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix.  Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

The Great Freeze 2021 Vegetable Broth

Good grief, this cold snap.  Every year I wish and wish for cold weather so this table can eat soups without melting.  Well this year winter came and came with a vengeance.  Two days below freezing with no water, no power, no internet/cell service.  It's the dark ages.  If you need more info just search for Texas Grid Failure 2021 .  Yes, this tragic affair has its own wiki page.  Good grief. Did you know that if temperatures drop below freezing for too long, refrigerators will not keep your cold stuff from freezing?  Well, they don't.  And with 17℉ temps, this tables fridge contents froze.  What to do with a fridge full of frozen fresh veggies? Veggie stock. No recipe was used, it was just all the veggies in the fridge (white and yellow onions, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, three roma tomatoes, celery, two russet potatoes, seven carrots, and a red and green bell pepper) salt and pepper, and enough water to just touch the top layer of veggies.  I did not want the veggies floa