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Sesame Chicken Salad with Spinach, Scallions and Cilantro Recipe
by Monte Mathews

We were having friends for lunch

over the weekend and I wanted to make Chicken Salad. For the recipe I took out three contenders.

Patricia Well’s “The Paris Cookbook” (Harper Collins 2001) had one that would

have put us right in the heart of St. Germain de Pres with a recipe from Le

Bonaparte restaurant there. Wolfgang

Puck would have sent us to Santa Monica and the famous Chinois Chicken Salad

but we’ve already visited there (See http://www.chewingthefat.us.com/2011/07/encounter-with-wolfgang-puck-and-his.html

and though we loved the salad, Andrew wanted to try something new. And once again, Tyler Florence and his

“Tyler’s Ultimate” (Clarkson Potter 2006)

won out. This is an Asian inspired

recipe that hits all the Asian flavor parameters—spicy, salty, sour and

sweet. It looks lovely too and terribly

healthy if you ignore the fact that you

basically fry the panko sesame seed crusted chicken, which I am perfectly

capable of doing.

There’s

not a lot of effort involved here. I’ve just discovered the Kendall brand

individually wrapped boneless skinless chicken breasts at Costco and really

cannot say enough good things about them.

They are frozen but when I buy fresh chicken at Costco, I inevitably

take it home and immediately freeze it.

There are always more chicken breasts in the package that I can possibly

use for two servings so all in all the individually frozen breasts make a lot

of sense. The dressing is really

standard pantry stuff as long as you have a minor Asian influence there—soy

sauce and rice wine vinegar and a knob of ginger is about as Asian as the

dressing gets. And then there are the

sesame seeds sold for far too much money in the spice aisle here. I am well aware that cilantro is a turn off

to many people and I would guess you could skip it without incident. But it does contribute a nice taste

difference to what would be an ordinary spinach, cucumber and scallion

salad. The other great thing about this

dish is that you can make it in advance and serve it at room temperature. We served it at lunch but it would work

nicely for a light dinner as well. Here

is the recipe:

Tyler

Florence’s Sesame Chicken Salad with Spinach, Cucumbers and Cilantro Serves 4. Takes 1

hour to make.

For the Vinaigrette:

sugar.

2. Rinse the

chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Use a sharp knife to cut the breasts in

half horizontally. Put the breasts on a

large plate and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Set the

remaining vinaigrette aside and let the chicken marinate for 10 minutes.

3. Combine the

panko and sesame seeds in a shallow platter and season with lots of salt and

pepper. Mix with your fingers so that the seasoning is incorporated and then

taste it – the panko should be well seasoned. Dredge the chicken pieces in the

seasoned crumbs, patting gently so that the crumbs adhere, until well coated.

4. Heat 1/3 cup

olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Line a platter with paper

towels and set that to the side of the stove. Add about 3 chicken pieces to the pan and cook 2 to 3

minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. Remove the chicken to the

platter to drain. Do the same to cook the rest of the chicken.

5. Put the spinach

in bowl with the cucumber, cilantro and scallions and a tablespoon of the

toasted sesame seeds and give them a good toss. To serve, arrange a mound of

greens on each of 4 plates. Put a piece

of chicken atop each salad, stack a few more greens on top, put a second piece

of chicken atop those greens and then drizzle with vinaigrette. Shower with the remaining toasted sesame seeds

and cracked black pepper. Serve.