Healthy Southern “Fried Chicken” Salad


Garden Protein “Fried Chicken” Tenders
Mixed Baby Greens, Corn, Toasted Pecans
Vegan Ranch Dressing

This delightful and heart healthy vegan salad is made with Gardein’s Crispy Tenders, a baked plant-based poultry-like food made from veggies and grains – quinoa, amaranth, millet, and kamut. The delicious no-cholesterol dressing is made with Vegenaise and MimicCream, a cream substitute made from almond and cashew nuts.

Mock Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

  • Vegenaise
  • MimicCream
  • Cayenne Pepper (don’t be shy)
  • Dried Oregano
  • Dried Dill Weed
  • Onion Powder
  • Garlic Powder
  • Sea Salt to taste

Whisk vegenaise and mimiccream together to the consistency of ranch dressing.
Add all the seasonings and blend together.

Toss dressing with mixed baby greens, corn kernels, toasted chopped pecans.

Meanwhile, bake the crispy tenders at 350° for 18 minutes, turning once.

Let the tenders cool slightly, then cut into bite-sized pieces.

Top the dressed salad with warm crispy tenders and a few whole toasted pecans.

Whether you make this salad with real fried chicken and buttermilk ranch dressing, or use the vegetable based alternatives as I do here, there is no doubt that the combination of crispy chicken, corn, pecans and baby lettuces tossed with a creamy ranch-style dressing makes a fabulous salad.

Vegan “Beef” Tacos

I have become of fan of Gardein plant-based protein and am having a ball experimenting with this delicious meat-like food made from veggies and grains. It’s high in protein, low in fat, cholesterol-free, and contains no animal products. I cook with it at least a few days during each week, which helps me to me keep my cholesterol in-check.

Please stop by our new blog, The Great VEGA’N VEGETARIAN Project for my “beef” taco recipe!

27 thoughts on “Healthy Southern “Fried Chicken” Salad”

  1. Oh my goodness.. I wish I had this for my salad choice last night. I had a salad with mahi, corn and cabbage, but it had tons of chopped onions.. which ruined the whole affect with the overpowering flavor 🙁
    But this!!! Looks and sounds fantastic!

  2. Lori Lynn,
    your place looks so absolutly gorgeous, what a stunning job you’ve done! the layout, the colors, your photos (!) and of course the recipes. Are you going to make this into a book and sell it? hint hint 🙂
    I can’t wait to make this salad and the tacos. I am so excited about your new vegetarian blog too.
    thank you!
    ♥ lori

  3. When I go back to the doctor and he notes that my cholesterol is lower – I shall attribute it to you. I also like vegan-based products. I will now be on the lookout for mimiccream – ahven’t seen it. I love how you make healthy eating a treat and a privilege instead of an “I should…”

  4. I’m not usually a fan of the vegetable protein products, but haven’t tried Gardeins…looks like it may be worth seeking out. Your creamy dressing sounds really good (especially with the cayenne).
    Another beautiful salad!

  5. You are becoming quite the health bug!
    I love this salad. We have been really trying the heart healthy recipes.
    Husband’s cholesterol will be retested soon…..let’s see what happens!

    1. Hi Stace – It was that, or go on medication.
      Good luck to your husband. He’ll love this, it really tastes like fried chicken and has zero cholesterol! I buy it a Whole Foods.
      LL

  6. First, congratulations on your new dot.com-How exciting! Your site will really do well reaching a larger audience.
    I like this healthy version of the fried chicken salad. Nice!

  7. A delicious salad and so in tune with my diet! I wish I could find all these products here in Spain. It reminds me that Spring is right here in the corner 😀

    1. Hi Nuria- You probably can’t find this product, but you probably can find the base product called seitan, the protein that’s left after the starch is removed from wheat.
      Good luck!
      LL

  8. That looks just divine. A fried chicken salad that is reasonably healthy – wow – and it looks amazing too. I’ll have to try this. Please check out my site & giveaway as well. Best, Sasha

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