Mandarin Chicken Salad with Ginger/Sesame dressing

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Today is a cloudy, windy day, so the lighting isn't so good. My lunch tasted much better than it looks in the picture 🙂
Last night we grilled burgers, and those who know me, know that when it comes to food I like to multi-task whenever possible. So I added a bunch of chicken breasts to the grill to make lunches this week easier.
BTW, I tried to edit yesterday's post to tell what I ate and what exercise I did, but blogger wouldn't let me! So maybe I will just report the next day... I did eat all the things I had planned yesterday, and I did 30 minutes of cardio in the evening. I had an extra snack before bed because I was really hungry - an apple and a boiled egg.

So, back to today - here's what's on the schedule:
breakfast - 2 banana protein muffins, an orange, and 1 whole egg plus 1 white
snack - apple, babybel cheese, boiled egg
lunch - mandarin chicken salad ( dressing recipe coming right up)
afternoon snack - chocolate protein pudding, steamed vegetables
dinner -baked ziti, salad, steamed vegetables
For exercise I did yoga this morning, and plan to do a lower body workout later today.

Here's the dressing recipe: this really makes this salad, and is one of my very favorites!

Sesame/Ginger Salad Dressing

½ cup honey, or agave nectar

4 Tbsp. rice vinegar

2 Tbsp. juice from mandarin oranges ( I use no sugar added kind)

4 tsp. sugar, (optional)

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

½ tsp. sesame seeds

¼ tsp. ground mustard ( or regular mustard is fine)

¼ tsp. powdered ginger

⅛ tsp. salt

⅛ tsp. paprika

dash of garlic powder

dash of pepper

½ cup vegetable oil ( I use canola oil)

Mix all together and store in a salad cruet in the fridge.

* I also add a dash of xanthan gum, which is needed for gluten-free baking. It's an emulsifier, so it creates a nice, creamy texture in this dressing. I wouldn't run out and buy it just for the salad dressing, since it's hard to find and expensive! If you don't have it, just leave it out and remember to shake up the dressing each time you use it.