My Own Luau Salad

When I still lived in Hawai’i I ate at the Cheesecake factory frequently. However, I always ordered the same item: the Luau Salad. The combination of sweet, sour, fruit, vegetables, chicken, soft and crunchy is something that cannot be explained – it has to be tasted. So imagine my reaction when I found out that my new hometown did not have this restaurant and I would never be able to eat my favorite salad again.

For this reason I immediately searched the Internet for any possible recipe of the Luau Salad. I found a variety of recipes and took a little of each to make my own. The end result looked and tasted almost identical to the one I had at the restaurant. This is not a hard meal to make it just takes a lot of ingredients and some time to chop it all up. However it is so worth the work!

Mix 1 lb spring green mix with 1lb grilled chicken breasts (sliced into thin strips), 8oz each red and yellow bell pepper (sliced thin), fresh green beans (blanched), cucumber slices, mango slices, and ½ red onion (small pieces) in a large bowl. The marinade for this salad is made by mixing: 1 cup balsamic vinegar, ¼ cup rice vinegar, ¼ cup sugar and 1 tsp. sesame oil (do not skip the oil since it MAKES the taste). Set a side (do not mix yet w/the salad). Meanwhile, fry large egg-roll wrappers (so they will become crisp), let cool and brush with sweat and sour sauce. Now mix the dressing into the salad and build the salad on the plate. Start with a little salad, than add the crispy egg-roll wrapper, top w/salad, another egg-roll wrapper, a little salad. Top with some shredded carrots and green onions (mostly for looks) and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Guten Appetit!
wuenscht Alexandra Springer

(Side note: At the beginning of this year a Cheesecake factory opened in Tucson and the waiting time to be seated is about 1 minute compared to 1 hour in Hawai’i ).