Grilled Chicken Salad with Sunbutter Vinaigrette - A quick and easy entrée salad with a peanut free Asian Vinaigrette.

It's very rare that I make something for dinner that I love.

Let me clarify that. I generally plan out my meals based on what my family loves. I like most of the same stuff and I really enjoy it all, but I almost never plan a meal based on my own taste preference. I think a lot of moms probably fall into this too. Am I right, moms?

So on a night when our oldest has made other plans, my husband is up in bed sick and the little ones are already off to bed early and I'm left by myself in the kitchen, I kind of get secretly happy. I can make whatever the heck I want! I mean, I'm sorry the husband is sick and all, and of course I'd rather sit around the table with the entire family, but...... a girl has to take advantage of her alone time, now doesn't she?

I didn't want to make a big huge dinner (I mean, who wants to waste their only alone time cooking???) so after searching the fridge and pantry, I decided a salad would be perfect.

I had a bit of pre-cooked, grilled chicken in the fridge, and contemplated using that, but I wanted a little Asian flair and decided to take a few extra steps and grill my own chicken. I quickly marinated (by quickly I mean, about 30 minutes) my chicken in some soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and garlic and then gave it a quick grill on my indoor grill pan.

While my chicken was cooking, I decided to scour the internet for an Asian style dressing. I found one that sounded delicious: Quick and Easy Peanut Vinaigrette. Except, in the recipe, she talks about having to microwave the peanut butter to get it soft and smooth and I thought to myself "sunbutter is already way more smooth and workable than peanut butter" and that was my light bulb moment: Sunbutter Vinaigrette! We always have sunbutter in the house because my youngest daughter, Nora, has a peanut/tree nut allergy and sunbutter is her favorite alternative.

So, I know I promised myself I was going to go easy on this cooking thing, BUT this salad was begging for crispy wonton strips! Sometimes I buy the bag of them in the crouton section but I just happened to have leftover wonton wrappers from a few nights before (remember I made wontons to go alongside my Asian Style Turkey Noodles) so I heated some oil, cut the wontons into strips and quickly crisped them up. It honestly took 5 minutes, so I'm not sure I will count that as going the extra mile here, but it was a step well worth it. If you are afraid to fry, then just buy them. They're awesome.

To assemble, I placed a bag of store bought salad mix and veggies on a platter, topped with some sliced grilled chicken and wonton strips and then drizzled my Sunbutter Vinaigrette over everything! I'm glad I made extra vinaigrette because the next day, I ate that other pre-cooked chicken and doused it in the dressing and it was awesome!

Your support of clicking thru to visit our advertisers and/or purchasing items through our affiliate links helps to keep this page going and is very much appreciated.

Printable Recipe Card