Orange and Chicken Salad (No Mayo)

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make an orange and chicken salad? Gather your ingredients. The original calls for napa cabbage, but any leafy green works — iceberg, frisée, or plain leaf lettuce. Use chicken breast, preferably chilled.

2. Step 2:

   

   Candy the nuts first. To start, stir the honey into the water until combined.

3. Step 3:

   

   Set a skillet over low heat and pour in the honey-water mixture. Once it bubbles, add the shelled walnuts. Stirring constantly, cook the nuts in the caramel until golden, coating every kernel. It takes just two or three minutes — watch closely, and turn off the heat the moment the caramel starts to darken so it doesn't burn.

4. Step 4:

   

   Spread the candied nuts on a parchment-lined plate and let them cool.

5. Step 5:

   

   You can boil, bake, or pan-fry the chicken — I'll boil it. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt, and lower in the chicken. Simmer gently over low heat for 30 minutes, then leave the meat in the broth until completely cool; cooked this way it stays soft and juicy. Since it takes a while, it's best to cook the chicken ahead.

6. Step 6:

   

   Assemble the salad. Use a flat plate — the salad looks prettier and is easier to arrange — or make individual portions. Wash and dry the napa cabbage (or other greens) and tear it for the first layer. I tear rather than cut, because knife-cut greens oxidize quickly, wilt, and lose their fresh look. Crumble the cooked chicken over the greens, or pull it into shreds by hand.

7. Step 7:

   

   Wash and dry the orange, then cut away the peel and white pith with a knife, since you only want the flesh. Cut out the segments, leaving the membranes behind. Halve each segment and arrange them over the salad.

8. Step 8:

   

   Now make the dressing. Use any vegetable oil you like — unrefined tastes better, but that's up to you. Choose a naturally fermented soy sauce with no extra additives. You can swap the balsamic vinegar for plain vinegar, cider vinegar, or lemon juice.

9. Step 9:

   

   For the dressing, squeeze the juice from the other orange half, keeping the seeds out (a little pulp is fine — it'll taste even better). Whisk in the oil, soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar, then add a little salt and pepper — remembering the soy sauce is already salty. Whisk until smooth.

10. Step 10:

    

    Drizzle the dressing generously over the salad. Crumble the candied nuts on top. Wash and dry the parsley sprigs and garnish the salad with them.

11. Step 11:

    

    Serve the salad right away — if it sits, it releases a lot of liquid, which hurts both its look and taste. Enjoy!