Grilled ginger-sesame chicken salad

Yesterday was Sunday and it was also after a day of feasting and partying so I thought why not cleanse our stomachs? You would probably think, oh no, vegetable juice and nothing else. Ok,  honestly that sounds horrible to me. I was just thinking of simple salad with loads of vegetables and maybe some chicken breast without any fats.

I came across this recipe from Curtis Stone and I thought this would be a light and refreshing starter or even meal. 

See the prep and cooking time for this recipe and you will know why I want to do this. It's so easy peasy. My modifications are in blue.

Prep time: 15 minutes, plus 30 minutes' marinating time

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Marinade and dressing

¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

3 Tbsp very finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

3 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sriracha sauce

1 tsp kosher salt

2 (9-oz) boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves

¼ cup red wine vinegar

¼ cup minced scallions (white and green parts)

Salad

1 lb napa cabbage, halved lengthwise, very thinly sliced crosswise I also used rocket leaves

2 carrots, shredded or cut into matchstick-size strips I omitted this as I'm no fan of carrots

3 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced on a sharp diagonal

⅔ cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted

1 tsp white sesame seeds, toasted

1 tsp black sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

1. Marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk soy sauce, ginger, canola oil, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, and salt to blend. Transfer 3 Tbsp of the marinade to a baking dish, add chicken, and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.
2. Dressing: Whisk vinegar and scallions into the remaining marinade. Set aside.
3. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade, add to grill pan, and cook about 4 minutes per side, or until chicken shows no sign of pink when pierced in the thickest part with the tip of a small sharp knife. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 15 minutes.
4. Cut chicken crosswise into ¼-inch-thick slices.
5. Salad: In a large bowl, toss chicken, cabbage, carrots, scallions, cilantro, and half of the almonds with enough dressing to coat lightly.
6. Mound salad in center of 4 plates. Re-whisk dressing and drizzle a little over and around salad. Sprinkle with the remaining almonds and sesame seeds.

Makes 4 servings. Each serving: 420 cal, 24 g fat, 32 g protein, 19 g carb.

So how does my chicken salad tempt you? To me, I felt it was very clean, refreshing as well as filling. I didn't have anything apart from this for dinner. And I still felt full ;)

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Also, I'm going to submit this post to Cook-Your-Books #2 by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours.

                                         

I'm also submitting this post to this month's Little Thumbs Up hosted by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY and Chef and Sommelier.