Oriental Chicken Salad

I've put myself back on the South Beach Diet. I need to lose a few pounds. I never lost the last ten pounds after Alexander was born and then a few extra found their way on to me over the past couple of years. Sad that I had all these wonderful clothes that were either a bit too snug or didn't fit at all, I decided to do something about it. I had been on South Beach six years earlier. I lost and kept off 10 pounds until I got pregnant for the third time.

So basically for the next 10 days I can have no carbs. No bread and no fruit. I'm fine without the bread. I do miss the fruit. I would love an apple to sink my teeth into! With my restriction I want to create foods that are good and fun to eat and fun to make. I also need things that will please the children, as I refuse to make more than one meal for dinner. Inspired by the recipe for the Peanut Dipping Sauce I went on to create a delicious salad. My kids adore chicken lollipops dipped in peanut sauce. This Oriental Chicken Salad was a success according to everyone! I will certainly enjoy this "off the Beach!"

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, each pounded and cut into 4 pieces -- I used leftover grilled chicken for this.
(If not using left over chicken you can either cook the on the stove, broil it or grill it with your favorite mild seasoning.)

6 scallions, washed, trimmed and cut into pieces using both white and green pieces
1/4 cup of cashews, chopped -- I placed them in a baggie and banged them until they were just small enough.
1 lemon
2 packets of Splenda (real sugar can be used if not on South Beach)

4 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce
4Tbs. natural peanut butter
1 tsp. garlic powder
4 Tbs. water
dash of crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper

Cook chicken and set aside to cool. Once cooled placed in a bowl with the cashews and the scallions. Toss well.

In a separate bowl mix together peanut butter, lemon, Splenda (or sugar) soy sauce, garlic powder, water and red pepper. When well mixed (I used a whisk) slowly pour over the chicken salad. You may not need or want to use all the dressing. We had a bit left over.

We served our chicken salad wrapped up in lettuce. The kids pretended to eat it like tacos and had a blast.