Healthier choice recipe: Chinese vegetarian chicken salad

Healthier choice recipe: Chinese vegetarian chicken salad

SINGAPORE - Chicken salad typically uses chicken and various types of vegetables.

Substitute the meat with mock chicken to make it into a vegetarian dish. Fruit can be added to the salad to increase the amount of nutrition - vitamins, minerals and fibre - in the dish.

Vegetables and fruit contain fibre, vitamins and beneficial plant substances called phytochemicals - such as caretenoids and flavonoids - which reduce the risk of some types of cancer.

Adding fruit also lends natural sweetness to the dish, said the Health Promotion Board (HPB).

This salad is among 150 healthy dishes that the HPB and several chefs came up with, either by adapting existing recipes or developing from scratch.

Mr Yong Bing Ngen, who helms Majestic Restaurant in New Majestic Hotel, uses grapes, honeydew melon, strawberries and watermelon in his vegetarian Chinese chicken salad.

He has another reason for combining vegetables and fruit in the dish - his love for fruit.

He said: "You can add your favourite fruit to this salad any time. This is also suitable for vegetarians."


Recipe

Chinese vegetarian chicken salad (Serves four)

INGREDIENTS

1 can of mock chicken
60g each of grapes, honeydew melon, strawberries and watermelon (cut into bite-sized pieces)
150g mixed salad greens
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs soya sauce
1/2 tbs huadiao wine (Chinese yellow rice wine)

METHOD

1. Cut the mock chicken into bite-sized pieces and mix them with the grapes, honeydew melon, strawberries, watermelon and vegetables.

2. Add the garlic, sugar, sesame oil, soya sauce and huadiao wine.

3. Toss everything together and serve.

4. NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (Per serving)

Energy: 138 kilocalories
Protein: 11.6g
Total fat: 4.7g
Saturated fat: 1.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Carbohydrate: 13g
Dietary fibre: 2.2g
Sodium: 561mg

Tips

- Cut or prepare fruit just before serving to prevent nutrient loss. Make your own salad dressing to control the amount of fat, oil and seasoning. Eating excessive saturated fat can increase the level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or "bad" cholesterol, in the bloodstream.

- Consuming too much sodium, which is present in salt and seasoning, can increase the risk of high blood pressure.

- Both high cholesterol and high blood pressure raise the risk of heart disease and stroke.


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