About the Recipe
If you feel like a salad but want a filling one with a bit of a kick, this is the salad for you. The mild round lettuce provides the perfect base for this combination of warm, cold, spicy, crunchy, savoury and sweet flavours. If you don't have any hoisin sauce handy for chicken marinade, you can alternatively use a teriyaki marinade or just fry the chicken breast with some sesame oil, garlic and soy sauce. If you can't find any Mandarin oranges, use a Clementine or a Satsuma or even a Naval orange sliced. The main thing is to make sure it's fresh and juicy! This recipe serves 4.
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade:
90 ml Hoisin Sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp honey
For the salad:
4 chicken breasts, whole
4 Mandarin Oranges (or Satusumas or Clementines), peeled and in segments
1 red onion, diced
1 bunch spring onions, sliced thinly
300g cashew nuts
100 g black olives
2 carrots, shredded
1 avocado
Mandarin Sesame Dressing:
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp grated peeled gingerÂ
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Preparation
Combine all the chicken marinade ingredients together.
Place 4 chicken breasts in the marinade for a few hours, overnight if possible.
Meanwhile prepare the Mandarin Sesame dressing by combining all the ingredients together.
Spread the cashew nuts on a pan and roast in a preheated 200C oven for 10 minutes or until slightly toasted. Set aside.
Once marinated, place chicken breast in a pan or under the grill and cook through.
Assemble the salad by tossing the lettuce and adding the shredded carrot, black olives, avocado, mandarin segments, roasted cashews, spring onions, and red onion.
Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from pan/grill, cut into slices, and place on top of the salad.
Add dressing and serve immediately.