This Asian Kale Salad with Plant Based Chicken is a delicious vegan dish made with a whole lot of crunchy vegetables, chow mein noodles, and a simple but flavorful soy sauce vinaigrette!
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I made a promise to myself that once my birthday passed, I would give the sweets a rest (I'll miss you, ice cream) and start eating healthier, more nourishing food again. If there's been one thing about hitting 40, it's made me realize that the better I take care of myself as I get older, the better I'll feel. Common sense at any age, but there's something about turning 40 that really makes that "Whoa. I'm not getting any younger!" way of thinking hit differently.
Planning healthier dinners for the week isn't a problem for me. I seem to have a "What the heck am I going to eat?" issue when it comes to lunches. Some days it's leftovers and others it's a quick plant-based protein from the freezer. But I always seem to forget how good - and easy - it is to make a crunchy, loaded salad.
One of the best salads I've had recently came from an Asian inspired salad kit that had a mix of veggies and chow mein noodles in it. The noodles added the perfect crunch to the salad and weren't as tough to eat as croutons. I found myself craving that salad not longer after we had it and knew I had to make my own version.
Asian Kale Salad with Plant Based Chicken
I had a kale salad mix from my Hungryroot box in the fridge, along with some plant based chicken tenders, and decided to use them to make my Asian inspired salad. The salad mix itself contains shredded broccoli, kale, and cabbage. A perfect base!
I cooked the plant based chicken tenders in the air fryer so they'd get nice and crispy. Then, the whole salad came together with cashews, scallions, baby cucumbers, snow peas, chow mein noodles, and a simple soy sauce vinaigrette.
This is a ridiculously easy salad to make since we're really just throwing a bunch of ingredients in a bowl. So I started this salad with my kale mix and added in the cucumber, snow peas, cashews, scallions, and chow mein noodles. Then, I tossed everything together.
Once my salad base was put together, I cooked the plant based chicken tenders in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes, turning them halfway through. The result was crispy, golden chicken tenders. I let them cool slightly. Then, I sliced them and added them to the salad.
To finish off the salad, I made a quick soy sauce vinaigrette made with olive oil, low sodium soy sauce (or you could use coconut aminos), apple cider vinegar, garlic, a tiny bit of Sriracha, sesame seeds, and some salt and pepper. I gave the dressing a good shake in a mason jar and poured it over the salad.
Before serving the salad, I added another light sprinkle of sesame seeds on top. Then, I enjoyed some of this quick, easy, and delicious salad for lunch!
Asian Kale Salad with Plant Based Chicken
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 package Josie's Organics Sweet Kale Salad Kit or 4 cups kale and cabbage salad mix
- 1/2 cup mini cucumbers cut into half moons
- 1/2 cup snow peas cut in half
- 3 tbsp. scallions chopped
- 2 tbsp. cashews
- 4 tbsp. chow mein noodles
- 3 Lightlife Plant Based Chicken Tenders
- Cooking spray
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 clove garlic minced or grated
- 1/2 tbsp. sesame seeds
- Splash of Sriracha
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the salad:
- Add the salad kit to a salad bowl, saving the pumpkin seeds, poppyseed dressing, and dried cranberries for a future salad.
- Add the cucumbers, snow peas, scallions, cashews, and chow mein noodles to the salad bowl. Toss to combine.
- Place chicken tenders into air fryer. Spray with cooking spray and cook at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- When the plant based chicken is done cooking, allow it to cool slightly. Then, slice and add to the salad.
For the dressing:
- Add all of the ingredients to a mason jar and screw the lid on top.
- Give the jar and good shake to combine all of the ingredients.
- Then, pour the dressing on top of the salad.
- Serve salad immediately.
I used what I had from my last Hungryroot delivery to make this salad and it turned out great! But if you want to add some extra crunch or swap out certain ingredients, I totally suggest using some shredded carrots, bell peppers, or slivered almonds!
Make this Asian Kale Salad with Plant Based Chicken recipe with Hungryroot!
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