Asian Spinach Salad with Chicken, Mushrooms, Peppers, and Almonds
posted by Kalyn Denny on June 12, 2012
This low-carb, gluten-free, and South Beach Diet Phase One Asian Spinach Salad with Chicken, Mushrooms, Peppers, and Almonds can be made with leftover grilled chicken if you’re lucky enough to have some!
There are a lot of good reasons to eat spinach, whether or not you’re trying to lose weight. But when I am trying to eat mostly protein and vegetables, a big spinach salad like this is one of my favorite things to have for dinners. I made this Asian Spinach Salad with Chicken, Mushrooms, Peppers, and Almonds on a day when I had some mushrooms in the fridge begging to be used, but they’re definitely optional. You could also make the salad with some other type of greens, but spinach is such a nutritional powerhouse, and it’s delicious with the Asian-flavored dressing in this salad.
Why should you love spinach salads? Spinach is so nutritious that it’s considered one of the
Superfoods. It’s also listed as one of
The World’s Healthiest Foods,
The Top Ten Healthiest Foods for Spring, and is
a good source for Vitamin A, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, and Potassium. And even better, spinach is low in calories.
(Asian Spinach Salad with Chicken, Mushrooms, Peppers, and Almonds was updated with step-by-step photos and an improved recipe, June 2012.)
Whisk together the olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, Splenda or Stevia (or sweetener of your choice), sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha to make the dressing.
I like Szeged Chicken Rub, but season the chicken with any spice you like.
I cooked the chicken in a stove-top grill pan, but you could also saute it.
While the chicken cooks, cut up the red pepper strips.
If you’re using mushrooms, cut them into thick slices.
The chicken is done when it’s slightly browned on both sides and feels firm (but not hard) to the touch.
Saute the mushrooms in a little olive oil
When the chicken has cooled enough to handle, cut it into strips.
Toss the spinach, red peppers and mushrooms with the dressing.
Arrange the spinach mixture on a plate, lay the chicken slices over the top, and sprinkle with almonds.
And just for fun, here’s the original photo from this post back in 2006!
Asian Spinach Salad with Chicken, Mushrooms, Peppers, and Almonds
(Makes 2 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)
Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup sliced sweet mini-peppers or red pepper strips (red, yellow, or orange)
4-6 oz. sliced mushrooms, sauteed
>1/4 cup slivered almonds
2-3 green onions, sliced
4 handfuls baby spinach (I buy prewashed spinach, wash if needed)
Dressing Ingredients:
2 T rice vinegar
1 1/2 T soy sauce
2 tsp Splenda, sugar, or Stevia Granulated
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. ginger puree (also called ground ginger)
1/4 tsp. Sriracha Sauce (or more if you want it spicy)
2 T olive oil
Instructions:
Whisk together dressing ingredients, set aside.
Trim all visible fat and membranes from chicken breasts. Season both sides with salt and pepper and other seasoning of your choice and grill until well done (I used a stove-top grill pan). Let cool.
Slice peppers into rings or strips, discarding stem and seeds. Saute mushrooms in small amount of olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Cut chicken breasts into strips.
To assemble salad toss the spinach, mushrooms, and pepper strips with the dressing and arrange the mixture on two salad plates. Place sliced chicken over the spinach mixture, sprinkle with almonds, and serve.
Low-Carb Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Made with Splenda or Stevia granulated sweetener, this would be a great main-dish salad for a low-carb diet plan or any phase of the South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn’t have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into
Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of
Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.
More Tasty Salads with Spinach:
(Recipes from other blogs not always South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Almonds and Dill from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing from Jeanette’s Healthy Living
Spinach Salad Recipe with Marinated Garbanzo Beans and Feta Cheese from Kalyn’s Kitchen
(Want even more recipes? I find these recipes from other blogs using Food Blog Search.)
posted by Kalyn Denny on June 12, 2012
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And just for fun, here’s the original photo from this post back in 2006!
Kalyn, looks like you and I were channeling each other!!! My WHB post is for an Asian flavored salad too. 🙂 Yours looks delicious.
Yum, yum and more yum!
I adore spinach. That photo is positively mouthwatering. What a delish sounding recipe–and so easy. Thanks! And thanks, as always, for hosting Weekend Herb Blogging–I’m definitely addicted to it. : )
Here’s my submission for Herb Blogging Weekend #27.
Have a great weekend!
http://www.christinecooks.blogspot.com/2006/04/cest une soupe rustique.html
That looks delish! I might have to make it with some leftover fish!
What a healthy salad and so pretty too! Love the mushrooms and peppers in it.
Sam
How much different is rice wine vinegar from rice vinegar? My store only ever has the rice wine vinegar and I always wonder.
This is my kind of salad. I'd use rotisserie chicken in a pinch, too.
Looks great, Kalyn! It's the time of year when we eat a big salad often for dinner. This will have to go into the rotation!
I love the almonds! They add a nice crunch!
Thanks everyone. So glad you guys are liking this!
Is there olive oil in the dressing? The photo states olive oil but it's not in the ingredient list.
Is there supposed to be olive oil in the dressing? The photo states olive oil but it's not in the ingredient list.
Thank You! I am hitting my head on the desk. I edited the recipe a little and was moving olive oil to the end of the dressing ingredient list and I must have gotten distracted. Just fixed it.
The dressing was so tasty. I increased the ginger and omitted the olive oil. I found there was enough oil in the dressing with just the tiny bit of sesame oil. I'm not 100% south beach but I like to go low carb/low cal and I found the olive oil was too many calories and it wasn't missed anyway! This is now my go-to dressing 🙂
Hi Ruby,
I think I'll try your version of dressing with less oil. Sounds Good!