5 from 1 vote

Recipe

By Christie Vanover | Published March 22, 2014 | Last Updated December 28, 2022

Skinless chicken breasts and thighs are roasted in an oriental dressing with crunchy peanuts and sesame seeds to create this low-cal, 6-point chopped oriental chicken salad.

I love chopped salads. In fact, I don’t even understand why non-chopped salads exist. Sure large slices of tomatoes and red onions are pretty for presentation, but it’s awkward to eat an onion slice.

With chopped salads, everything is bite-sized and combined, so that with every bite you get a hint of onion and tomato and cheese…or whatever mix-ins you choose.

I’ve been tempted to ask chefs to chop up salads, but I’m not in Kindergarten any more, so I guess I’m grown up enough to chop my own salad. Inevitably though when I do, a cherry tomato slides off my plate across the table.

Ugh! Just too much work. That’s the kind of stuff that should happen behind the scenes in the kitchen.

That’s why I love bagged shredded cabbage and carrots. Someone else has done the work. All I have to do is chop the other mix-ins and eat without starting a match of tomato ping-pong.

This salad includes a bag of cabbage and half a bag of carrots, plus some roasted chicken and peanuts and homemade oriental dressing. If you’re counting Weight Watchers Points, the entire recipe (which serves 3-4) is 22 points.

Zestuous Chicken Tip

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts have been in the meat case for decades, but now it’s also easy to find boneless, skinless thighs. I like dark meat, so I often buy both the breasts and thighs. I chop up 1 breast and 2 thighs and freeze them in baggies. The combination adds more flavor to chicken recipes.

Chopped Oriental Chicken Salad

5 from 1 vote

Servings 3 -4 Servings

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Ingredients

4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
I boneless skinless chicken breast chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs, chopped
⅓ cup peanuts
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 Fresno peppers diced (optional)
6 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups shredded carrots
2 scallions sliced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
Make the dressing by mixing the rice wine vinegar, honey, soy sauce and sesame oil together in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix together the chicken, peanuts, sesame seeds, optional pepper and half of the dressing. Spread out on a sheet pan and bake in a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.
In a large salad bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots and scallions. Add the cooked chicken and remaining salad dressing. Toss to coat and serve.
If you like added heat, top with sriracha sauce.