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Chinese Chicken Salad Whole 30 Day 6

Chinese Chicken Salad from ChefSarahElizabeth.com

Whole 30 Day 6
Saturday, July 26th

Today is day 7,352 that I haven’t had bread. Once my favorite thing to eat, now a thing that is banned forever because the world and everything in it is against me. Life is so hard. I have a new appreciation for allergy sufferers. Removing things from your diet, especially things that are everywhere, is not easy. Abigail requested French toast for breakfast so we picked up some good crusty bread at the market yesterday. As I was preparing an early dinner for the girls of ravioli, broccoli, and bread with butter I was getting very sad that I couldn’t have just one little bite. I sat their dinners on the table and prepared a Chinese chicken salad for myself. As I was grumpily chopping the carrots and red bell peppers David asked how I was feeling. I replied, “I just want to eat bread and butter. I don’t want to do the Whole 30 anymore.” He encouraged me that I could do it and that I’d be happier with myself if I stuck with it. So I’m sticking with it. I realize looking back through my previous five days of posts that I am quite the whiner! When I think about each day and I think about the moment I’m currently in, this Whole 30 really doesn’t seem that difficult. You wouldn’t know it from my posts though, would you? I’ll work on improving my attitude if you please continue visiting my blog. I think I was getting in a grump-a-luffagus mood because I was holding bread and I was also trying to mentally prepare for the impending Italian restaurant dinner. This would be loads easier if I ejected all the no-no foods from my home.

My Chinese chicken salad was exactly what I wanted. I bought myself a jar of cashew butter a few days ago and was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It is very yummy. It isn’t peanut butter, so don’t go into it thinking that you’re going to taste peanut butter. It is something equally delicious yet different. So I made a cashew dressing instead of a peanut dressing. The coconut aminos are a good stand in for soy sauce. I’d like to try this dressing without any soy sauce flavor and see how that tastes, too. I have to say, I think the kicker is the combination of cashew butter and homemade mayonnaise. The homemade stuff really is much better than store bought. It’s more rich, too, so it sort of feels like an indulgence. I had two servings of this Chinese chicken salad as a late lunch in an effort to keep myself more full going into dinner. This salad is going to be a permanent staple in my diet even after I’m allowed to have soy sauce and peanuts again.

Chinese Chicken Salad from ChefSarahElizabeth.com

Fancy Italian restaurant dinner. Maybe it was because I thought about this dinner so much beforehand, or maybe it was because I’m just finally learning to be an adult and use will power, but it was so much easier to avoid foods at dinner than I expected. I didn’t feel like I was depriving myself when I didn’t partake in the bread basket, or the lovely scented wine being passed around the table. I didn’t even look at the pasta portion of the menu until after I had made my own dinner selection. The plan was to not even look at all, but then a few people at the table asked about ingredients and I was forced to take a gander. Every. Pasta. Dish. Looked. Incredible! Italian cuisine is my top choice by far, and pasta is at the top of my Italian favorites, especially handmade pasta, and this restaurant makes their own pasta in house. Kill me now. I seriously contemplated ordering pasta and just giving in because it was my joint birthday dinner, after all. I held fast and ordered the veal anyway.

Here is where I may lose you die hard Whole 30ers. The veal scallopini alla piccata was placed on top of a white wine caper sauce. I knowingly allowed added sugar into my dinner, and I have a feeling it was made with butter. Forsooth! I just couldn’t bring myself to order the dish without sauce. Might I say, it was goooooood. It also came with mashed potatoes which I did not eat. Overall I felt good about my dining choices. I successfully avoided the bread basket, the fried calamari appetizer, the mozzarella on the caprese salad, the wine, and the pasta. Whew so many things. When the dessert menu arrived I looked it over knowing nothing on it would be allowed. It was actually kind of fun to browse and fantasize about all the flavors and textures. I didn’t even consider ordering dessert. Not many people who know the Sarah behind the Daisy At Home would believe that was possible. Not the woman who indulged in four servings of tiramisu while in Italy. Definitely not the woman who shoves chocolate into her face at every possible opportunity. This is progress, people. And then the big thing happened! The restaurant served myself and the other birthday woman each a plate of three chocolate covered strawberries with whipped cream and a candle in the center. I ate them. All three of them. It was a gift and it would have been rude to turn down a gift! I had no choice. I had to eat the strawberries. I did not, however, eat the whipped cream. That counts for something, right? I still say my restaurant dining experience was an overall success. I know the rules of the Whole 30. I am not beginning tomorrow with Day One. Tomorrow will still be Day Seven. As far as I can tell, I had dairy and sugar. That’s it, and they were small amounts. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Breakfast: 2 eggs over medium, 2 sausage links, small bowl of fruit.

Lunch: Chinese chicken salad.

Dinner: Veal scallopini alla piccata with steamed carrots and zucchini.

Dessert: 3 chocolate covered strawberries.

Chinese Chicken Salad Whole 30 Day 6

Ingredients

  • 1 head romaine lettuce
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 2 tablespoons cashew butter
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Chop the lettuce and chicken into bite-sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Chop the carrot and red bell pepper into sticks and add to the bowl.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until smooth, pour over the salad, and toss to combine.

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