Asian Mandarin Chicken Mason Jar Salad

My latest mason jar salad experiment is an Asian Mandarin Chicken Salad. It definitely wasn't as good as the peanut sauce and soba noodle salad or the taco salad, but I'll still keep this one in my rotation. I may try it with the peanut sauce next time around. I think that'll make a huge difference! It was really good, just not amazing! I guess the bar has been set way high! This was also a lot more work and clean up than the others required....

This one will make 5 16oz mason jars. Adjust quantities as desired.

Ingredients for Dressing (Asian Vinaigrette):
3/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp Braggs Amino Acids (you can also use soy sauce)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp hot Chinese mustard
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 cup EVOO

Ingredients for the salad:
1/4 package rice stick noodles
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp EVOO
2 cans mandarin oranges (I bought the no sugar added ones)
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
2 Tbsp black sesame seeds
Romaine lettuce, shredded or chopped

Finished Salads!

I started by seasoning the chicken with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. I also added a few tablespoons of Braggs Amino Acids (again, could use soy sauce). I cooked the chicken at 350* for 20 min covered and 10 min uncovered. Meanwhile, I cooked the rice stick noodles according to the package to make them soft. Once the rice stick noodles were cooked, I drained and placed them on some paper towel to dry off a bit. I did the same thing with the mandarin oranges - drained and patted dry with paper towel.

While the noodles and chicken were cooking, I combined all the ingredients into a small bowl for the dressing. Once it was all whisked together, I evenly spread the dressing at the bottom of the 5 mason jars.

Next, I added the sesame seeds to a frying pan with the tablespoon of EVOO on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Once the chicken was chopped into small pieces, I added the chicken to the pan and tossed to coat the pieces in the seeds. At the same time in a separate pan, I toasted the almonds.

All that's left was to layer. With the dressing on the bottom, I added the cooked rice sticks. This helps them soak up the dressing and have more flavor. Next I added the chicken, then the mandarin oranges, then the almonds, and finally the lettuce.

These can be stored up to 5 days in the fridge. When you are ready to enjoy, just shake up and pour onto a plate or into a bowl. Super easy and tasty! Like I said earlier, next time I may try it with peanut sauce. I also would add more veggies (carrots? red/green/yellow peppers? cucumbers?). Still very tasty, just worth playing around with a bit!

 Lunch time!!