Chinese Chicken Salad with Wonton Chips

I made lunch for my mom and dad today. Actually, my college friend was supposed to join me, but she had to cancel last minute, so I invited my parents instead. Anyway, I decided to make baked wonton chips, and a Chinese Chicken Salad. The chips were easy to make, but took a while I thought they came out delicious, and they are really versatile, in that you can season them however you want. The salad was a Food Network, Ellie Kreiger recipe, and we all really liked it. It's very light and summery, and I doubled the dressing so we'll have more for the weekend, since I have extra salad. It was also relatively easy to put together, though there were a lot of little things to prepare (toasting almonds, draining and rinsing mandarins, baking chicken, etc.). I rarely make elaborate salads, but this one was well worth the work. My mom called it, "The perfect ladies lunch." I agree, though Kevin liked it a lot too. I will definitely make this again if I have friends for lunch. We'll work on the leftovers this weekend.
Plain old wontons.
Seasoned wontons.
Baked!

This made tons!


Square vs. triangle.

Ready to serve.

A Chinese food array.


I served the chicken separately, so I made sure everyone got as much as they wanted.

Pretty, huh?

Lunch is served!

We're full.

Well, the chips were a hit.

This is what Maya thought of it.

The CRITIQUE

Wonton chips - These chips were delicious and very unique. I'm a fan of burned things and they had a very well done, light chip flavor to them. The texture was great - extra crunchy. I really enjoyed the flavor of garlic and salt. Not too salty - just the way I like it. Mmm. Gerry thought they were the best chips he's ever had in his life. Not too shabby, Chef Marji. 4 bowls.



Chinese Chicken Salad - It had a wonderful sesame, Asian dressing mixed into it that tasted great. I loved it. Very light, healthy, and not drenched with too much dressing like you find in so many places. There's no need to feel embarrassed to ask for the dressing "on the side" with this salad because just the right amount of dressing is on it (if you like light dressing like I do). The chicken pieces were too big, so when I suggested that smaller pieces would make it even better, Marji said, "there's your knife". Also, this is one of those foods that I get sick of in the middle of eating it. So because of that, plus the acromegalic chicken, I give it 3 bowls.