Recipe of the week: Chinese Chicken Salad

I think I've tried every Chinese chicken salad out there and I like my homemade version the best. It's super easy especially if you use bagged salad or coleslaw mix, prepared dressing and left over chicken. If I don't have time to make my own dressing I usually use Newman's Sesame Ginger dressing or Trader Joe's sesame soy ginger dressing. The great thing about this recipe is you can double it or triple it depending on how much you want to make, it's a great recipe for parties or bar-be-ques. I don't usually add wontons or dried Asian noodles, but you can if you want. As always if you try it let me know what you think. A Votre Sante!

3 cups of sliced or shredded chicken breast
1 head of romaine lettuce cut or torn into pieces
3 cups of shredded cabbage or a bag of coleslaw mix, no dressing
1 can of mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
cilantro leaves, to taste I usually use about 6 sprigs
sliced green onions to taste, I use about 3 full onions
Sesame ginger dressing to taste
Dried Asian noodles or wontons if desired

Toss everything into a large bowl and enjoy!

Recipe of the week: Apple Almond Gingerbread

I saw this on Whole Food's website yesterday and thought it looked yummy. (Apples, almonds, gingerbread....what's not to like!) I made it last night and it came out great, and it smelled wonderful baking...all the flavors of fall. I followed the recipe exactly (probably a first), next time I'll add more ginger and I'm sure you could use pecans or walnuts if you don't like almonds. Let me know what you think. A Votre Sante!

Apple Almond Gingerbread

Ingredients
5 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for greasing
3/4 cup slivered almonds, divided*
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lowfat buttermilk
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
11/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 Fuji or Gala apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch loaf pan with butter. Put 1/4 cup almonds in bottom of pan and then rotate pan to distribute them around the bottom and sides (they’ll stick to the greased pan); set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, molasses, sugar, butter, vanilla and egg. In a second large bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda and remaining 1/2 cup almonds. Add apples and toss well. Stir flour mixture into molasses mixture and then spoon batter into pan. Bake until cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes and then invert onto a plate and serve warm or at room temperature.