Asian Salad with Barbecue Teriyaki Chicken

Ladies and Gents, it has been a long holiday season! I've been so busy at home since Halloween that I haven't had the time to post. However, that doesn't mean that I haven't been hard at work in the kitchen. I've made more new things in the past three months than I have in a long time. Did you know you could make your own corn syrup? Yup, corn syrup. I needed it for Christmas. But that is a tale for another time.

Being January still, I thought this would be a good time for some resolutions. Okay, so I've only got one resolution: be healthy this year. Grant it, it's basically the same resolution that I had last year, but I figure that it's a good one. After all, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I should treat it as such.

I have never been much of one for salad, but the hubs really likes them. Let's put it this way... he ASKED several times for us to have salad for dinner. This is how much I dislike salad. He had to ask. And this is how much he likes them. He asked every day for a week between trips to the grocery store. I gave in. After all, my resolution is to be healthy, and salad is healthy.

Best. Salad. Ever.

A few notes from my experiment:

1) We used four different kinds of lettuce, none of which were Romaine or Iceberg which I find incredibly boring and I hate them. These were colorful and had varying textures. One was even a bit spicy. I have no idea what kind they were, but I got the "Artisan Lettuce" from Aldi. Tasty.

2) All I did was chop the ends off the lettuce and wash the leaves. I should have chopped them up a bit more. I made for some rather large bites. Okay, I'll admit it, I'm pretty sure that I had dressing from my eyebrows to my chin by the time I was done eating. So worth it.

3) When you make the dressing, use a large jar. We used a pint jar, and it was so full that we couldn't shake it once the lid was on.

Asian Salad with Barbecue Teriyaki Chicken

Dressing:

The original recipe comes from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asian-ginger-dressing/. Thank you! We only changed it up a little.

3 cloves minced garlic
2 TBSP minced fresh ginger root
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar (rice wine vinegar is the same thing)
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 TBSP honey
1/4 cup water
1 TBSP roasted sesame seeds

Combine in a glass or plastic jar, then stick it in the microwave for a minute to melt the honey. This is the only time it is necessary. Shake to combine and enjoy!

Chicken:

1 piece per person boneless skinless chicken breast or thigh, cut in strips
Teriyaki barbecue sauce to taste.

Cook on medium heat in a skillet until done. Cool before adding to salad.

Salad:

Lots of mixed greens
Dried cranberries
Chopped pecans
2 blood oranges, peeled and chopped
Roasted sesame seeds

Toss everything together in a large bowl.

Then build your dinner! Salad, Chicken, Dressing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, and I hate salad.