Chinese Chicken Salad

This is one our favorite summer time meals.

Salad Dressing:
2tbs hoisin sauce (available in the asian foods aisle)
1 tbs sesame oil
2tbs oil (I use grapseed because it's light)
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs plum sauce
3 tbs rice vinegar
lots of fresh minced garlic
lots of fresh ginger, grated

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or bottle and mix well. If you've never worked with ginger before, you need to slice off the brown skin and then you can either grate the meaty part (you don't want the threads though) or if you've a strong grip, you can push it through a garlic press.

If you need to store the sauce, make sure you cover it so that its flavors don't mix with anything else and nothing mixes with it. This dressing is best served cold.

Salad:
Green Leaf Lettuce
Cilantro
Green Onions
Carrots
Bean Sprouts
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
chicken breasts-boiled or grilled and shredded
rice noodles.

Toss veggies together. Serve up salad and top with chicken, oranges dressing and noodles.