Chinese Chicken Salad

I'll tell you now that I'm not much of a salad person. I'm not the order a salad type of gal at a restaurant. . . I know it's good for me and I really should eat more of the green stuff but..... :/ On occasion I'll eat a salad but it has to be fully loaded! My friend Paul who's a chef in Las Vegas posted a quick recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad the other day. I've had this type of salad many times before but usually with raman noodles for the added crunch and not deep fried wonton noodles. I had most of the ingredients on hand with a few substitutions and made it--that's the great thing about cooking on the fly is adapting recipes to what you have already and to your own taste buds. Paul's recipe called for candied peanuts using a simple syrup. I had a bad of Trader Joe's Sesame Honey Almonds and used that instead. I used a bottle Asian Sesame dressing but think next time I'll make my own--how hard could it be right? I'm thinking this would be great with a honey poppy seed dressing too. Quick, easy and great for potlucks and hot summer nights. 

Ingredients (Recipe adapted from Paul. Makes 6 servings): 

1 small head green cabbage, shredded

2 large carrots, shredded

3 large boneless chicken breasts or 6 boneless thighs, cooked and cut into strips or cubes

8 wonton wrappers, cut into strips and deep fried

honey roasted sesame almonds, chopped or chopped peanuts

1 1/2 cup pineapple chunks

1 tablespoon black pepper

Asian dressing

Directions:

Shred the cabbage and add to a large mixing bowl. 

Add the black pepper, cold cooked cubed/stripped chicken to cabbage and 2 cups of the dressing, mix. Taste, add more dressing to taste. Shred the carrots and set aside. In a food processor chop the almonds or peanuts and set aside.

Remove a stack of10 wonton wrappers from package and slice into 5 sections.

Heat Canola or Vegetable Oil in deep cooking pot or deep fryer. Add the wonton strips and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels or wire fryer basket. 

Plate up the salad, place some shredded carrots on top and pineapple chunks, garnish with almonds and fried wontons. You can keep the wontons in long strips or slightly crumble. I like the presentation of the long strips.