Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

Applebee's 60-item menu is revised twice a year. That means about 40 percent of the entire menu changes on a regular basis. The other 60 percent are items that are found on menus in all of the Applebee's restaurants, and seldom ever change. One item that has been on the menu for some time now is this Oriental Chicken salad, which is considered one of the restaurant's signature items. The recipe makes one dinner-size salad and can be easily doubled or quadrupled for additional servings.

Oriental Dressing
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half
2-4 cups vegetable oil (for frying)
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup Napa cabbage
1/2 carrot, julienned or shredded
1 green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
1/3 cup chow mein noodles

1. Preheat oil in deep fryer or deep pan over medium heat. You want the temperature of the oil to be around 350 degrees.
2. Blend together all ingredients for dressing in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Put dressing in refrigerator to chill while you prepare the salad.
3. In a small shallow bowl, beat egg / add milk / mix well.
4. In another bowl, combine flour with cornflake crumbs, salt, and pepper.
5. Cut chicken breast into 4 or 5 long strips. Dip each strip of chicken first into egg mixture, then into the flour mixture, coating each piece completely.
6. Fry each chicken finger for 5 minutes, or until coating has darkened to brown.
7. Prepare salad by tossing the chopped romaine with the chopped red cabbage, Napa cabbage, and carrots.
8. Sprinkle sliced green onion on top of the lettuce.
9. Sprinkle almonds over the salad, then the chow mein noodles.
10. Cut the chicken into small bite-size chunks. Place the chicken onto the salad forming a pile in the middle. Serve with salad dressing on the side. Makes 1 dinner-size salad.