Chinese Chicken Salad

I had planned on saving this recipe for the cookbook I’m currently writing but we had so many people ask about it that I just had to go ahead and share it with you now. This is super easy and a take on a popular salad that you’ve probably had before. What I like about it is that it keeps in the fridge really well so I can make a batch on the weekend and eat it for lunch for three or four days and it just gets better every day the flavors are allowed to marinate and blend.

So as I’m headed off to Ecuador, here is one more recipe post until I get back. Be sure and stay up to date with my travels by clicking here or following me on the Southern Plate Family Facebook Page. (note, this post was written in Feb of 2012)

Lets make some salad real quick because I gotta pack and hunt down my passport…

 You’ll need: Vegetable oil, Rice Vinegar, Cole Slaw Mix (or shred your own cabbage, see recipe for how much), Matchstick Carrots, Cooked Chicken breasts, Chicken flavored Ramen, Salt, Pepper, green onions, and 1 Cup Sliced Almonds (not pictured, they were camera shy).  

*I know the Rice Vinegar isn’t one of those ingredients that most folks have on hand and I started to substitute it but it costs less than $2 at my grocery store and is easy to find in the Asian Foods section. 

To start with, lets take two packages of Chicken Flavored Ramen Noodles, set the seasoning packets aside (You’ll use those in our dressing) and crumble them up coarsely. Place those on a rimmed baking sheet along with about a cup of slivered almonds.

Stir them up a bit.

Now place that in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes or so, until lightly browned.

Stir it up again about five minutes into the toasting.

Take your oil, Rice Vinegar, Sugar, Seasoning Packets from the packages of Ramen Noodles, Salt, and Pepper and put them all in a big old mason jar.

Put the lid on that jar and shake for all you’re worth.

Set this aside.

You could also use a blender for this but a mason jar is usually handy around my house.

Get a REALLY BIG BOWL and place your cabbage, carrots, and chopped chicken in it.

You should also chop up your green onions and put them in it but I forgot those so I’m gonna add them at the end just before I take the photo.

If you don’t have a REALLY Big bowl, use a dishpan. I would have used my dishpan but it is temporarily lost in the abyss that is my home.

Here is our dressing. Now just pour that over our salad mixture.

I know you may be thinking “This is cabbage, this isn’t a salad” but really, by the time we add this dressing and let it marinate a bit, it will feel much more like lettuce, but it won’t get all soft and nasty like lettuce would.

Give that a really good stir to get everything coated well. This is gonna be a HUGE bowl.

THEN – You can make it fit in a 9×13 pan or your biggest Pyrex mixing bowl (it will shrink down a bit after a few hours) and then cover it and place it in the fridge.

It really needs to sit in the fridge for several hours, or overnight, to allow the flavors to blend and develop.

Here are our Ramen and Almonds, all nicely toasted 🙂

Don’t put this on the salad until you are ready to serve it. I store it in a plastic bag and put it on the individual servings. 

And voila! Our beautiful Chinese Chicken Salad – that I scarf down for lunch several days a week 🙂

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One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.

~Anonymous