"Applebee's" Oriental Chicken Salad

My FIL raves about Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad all the time, so I looked on the Internet for a homemade version. We've made this twice now and I can honestly say it is VERY good (and I am picky!). I make this with grilled chicken on top, but you could substitute fried chicken strips if you want, or just leave it plain. The dressing really makes the dish. I can never find fried wantons in my grocery store so I switch them out for fried rice noodles.

Enjoy!

You can also throw in a handful of toasted almonds, too.

Serves 4-6

15 wonton skins, cut into strips (or if you don’t want to fry: 1 cup fried crispy chow mein noodles)
oil for frying
1 head lettuce, leaves shredded or torn
2 cooked chicken breasts, meat shredded with your fingers
1 cucumber, sliced
handful snow peas, sliced on diagonal
11 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained

For the dressing a la Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad Dressing

Makes 1 cup (use half for the salad and store the rest in refrigerator)

3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

To make the salad dressing, whisk together the honey, mayonnaise, mustard until very smooth. Then whisk in the oil and vinegar.

To fry the wonton skin strips, heat 1 inch of oil until 375F. If you don’t have a thermometer, just slide one wonton strip into the oil - it should sizzle immediately and turn light golden brown in about 30 seconds. Fry the wonton strips in several batches and drain on a rack or layers of paper towels. Each batch should take about 30 seconds to 1 minute to fry.

Assemble Chinese Chicken Salad with lettuce, chicken, cucumber, snow peas, mandarin oranges. Drizzle on salad dressing and sprinkle with wonton strips.