Easy Substitutions

This salad is ready and easily adaptable to suit your personal taste and make do with what you have on hand.

While I think of chicken as the ideal protein here, if you have leftover cooked pork loin, cooked shrimp, or even a sliced, grilled steak, you can also swap them in.

For a veg-forward sesame salad, add some quickly sautéed or blanched green beans, asparagus, or sugar snap peas.

To make this recipe vegan, you would want to use maple syrup or agave to sweeten the dressing instead of honey.

I used daikon radish in this recipe, but you can use any type of radish you have on hand, from pink-skinned French breakfast radishes to pink-fleshed watermelon radishes.

If you have a bagged salad mix, you can also use that here in lieu of romaine.

This salad gets its sesame flavor thanks to a toasted sesame oil and tahini dressing. If you don’t have tahini, you could use smooth peanut butter for another variation, but the toasted sesame oil is a key ingredient in the dressing that should not be swapped out.

Plan Ahead

This recipe yields enough for four servings. If not serving it all at once or if you are prepping extra for a quick lunch the next day, prep the recipe as written, but keep the salad ingredients and dressing separately for up to two days in the fridge.

RECIPES

Chicken Salad with Tahini Dressing

PREP TIME 25 mins

TOTAL TIME 25 mins

SERVINGS 4 servings

NOTE: For a vegan version, use agave or maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing, and replace the chicken with sautéed or blanched green beans, asparagus, or sugar snap peas.

Ingredients

For the salad

·       2 scallions, thinly sliced on a bias

·       4 ounces daikon radish, cut into thin slices

·       1 head (about 1/2 pound) romaine lettuce, leaves separated

·       1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

·       1 pound (about 2 cups) cooked chicken shredded

·       1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, to serve

For the dressing

·       6 tablespoons tahini

·       6 tablespoons water

·       2 tablespoons soy sauce

·       2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

·       1 tablespoon rice vinegar

·       1 teaspoon honey

·       2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated

·       2 teaspoons garlic, finely grated

·       1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

1. Prep the salad ingredients:

In a small bowl of iced water, soak the scallions and radish until ready to use. This will keep them crisp.

2. Make the dressing:

In a small bowl, whisk the tahini, water, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, grated ginger and garlic, and salt until very smooth.

3. Assemble the salad:

Divide lettuce leaves, cucumbers, radishes, and shredded chicken between 4 serving plates. Drizzle each portion generously with tahini dressing. Top with drained and dried scallions, then garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.