Yes, another salad dressing. It is summer after all, plus they are just too easy and delicious not to share! Besides, fitting in that big bowl of greens is so much tastier when you have so many wonderful and healthy salad dressings to experiment with. I discovered this fabulously flavorful Sesame-Orange Salad Dressing in the latest issue of Cooking Light.
Their version seemed a bit too firey for our tastes, so I toned it down a bit, added some green onions (which melded nicely), thickened the dressing slightly, and doubled the recipe overall. To sweeten the deal, this sesame-orange salad dressing is low fat (less than 3g of unsaturated fat per serving!). It goes beautifully over a vegetarian salad of spinach, red bell peppers, carrots, and snow peas (as dished up in the mag) or as I discovered, over a light chicken salad.
Special Diet Notes: Sesame-Orange Salad Dressing
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, peanut-free, nut-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian. Optionally gluten-free.
- ⅔ cup orange juice (fresh squeezed if you’ve got them – about 2 to 3 medium oranges)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 teaspoons soy sauce or wheat-free tamari (for gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon hot chile sauce (such as Sriracha)
- 2 tablespoons flax meal / ground flaxseeds
- 1 to 2 green onions, minced (optional)
- Lightly toasted sesame seeds
- Whisk everything but the sesame seeds together and allow the dressing to sit for ten to fifteen minutes while you make the rest of your salad. After dousing your salads in this yummy dressing, sprinkle each salad with ½ teaspoon of the sesame seeds.
- Vegan / Vegetarian: The salad in Cooking Light sounded awesome, but I was lacking in the ingredients. They lightly sauteed some red bell pepper strips, carrot slices, and snap peas with a bit of orange rind and salt. Once cooled, they added the vegetable mixture to fresh baby spinach leaves and generously cut green onions.
- Omnivorous: To prepare a large Asian-Style Orange-Sesame Chicken Salad, I coated 12 ounces of chicken (8 to 10 would be ideal for two people) with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 Tablespoon sherry, ⅜ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. I then sauteed the meat over medium-high heat in about 2 teaspoons of refined sesame oil. To prepare two salads, I chopped up one large romaine heart, topped the lettuce base with store-bought coleslaw cabbage mix for some crunch, sprinkled on a thinly sliced carrot, followed by the cooked chicken, the dressing, and finally the sesame seeds.
- As a Marinade: I love orange marinades for large shrimp, and I think this one would be perfect. Use your imagination otherwise, chicken, tofu, etc. However, if using this as a marinade, omit the flaxseed.
