Friday, January 17, 2014

Crunchy Loaded Chicken Salad

Crunchy Loaded Chicken Salad

Can you believe that, until I made this recipe, I had never tasted ramen noodles?  Even though every grocery store in my neighborhood sells them.  Even though I graduated from college and they're considered the inexpensive staple food of undergrads everywhere.  Somehow, they never happened until now.  I wanted to add some crunch to a chicken salad and read that ramen noodles are a great addition but I didn't understand how.  All of my experience with noodles is that they're not tasty when they're raw and soft when they're cooked.  This whole ramen business was very confusing.

Crunchy Loaded Chicken Salad
I'm sure all you long-time ramen eaters would have had a good laugh watching me examine the alien package.  But I put the noodles in a pan with a little butter, browned them and tasted them.  Yum!  And they did add the crunch I was looking for.  This may have been my first little package of ramen noodles but I suspect it won't be my last.  As for the rest of the salad, it's a bit of a cheat since I used a store bought rotisserie chicken.  Don't you love those?  But it's loaded with lots of veggies, was very filling and made a great weeknight dinner.  Enjoy!






Ingredients
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Package (3 oz.) ramen noodle soup mix
2 Cups shredded cooked chicken (homemade or store bought)
1/4 Red onion, thinly sliced
2 Stalks celery, diced
4 Cups coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
2 Tablespoons craisins, dried cranberries or raisins

Dressing:
1/4 Cup mayonnaise (low fat is fine)
1/4 Cup sour cream (low fat is fine)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Teaspoon sugar
1/2 Teaspoon mustard
Salt & pepper to taste

Crunchy Loaded Chicken Salad
Melt the butter in a pan, add the ramen noodles and saute on medium heat until the noodles turn light brown.  Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients together and add the chicken, red onion, celery, coleslaw mix and craisins.  Top with the crispy ramen noodles before serving so they don't get soggy.  Makes approximately 4 servings.

7 comments:

  1. Ooh this sounds really. I've had more than my fair share of those cheap ramen packages but never munched on them uncooked. I think I might have to give it a go.

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  2. I'm not gonna lie - that blows my mind a little! I've eaten so much ramen in my lifetime I've probably had enough for both of us. I grew up with a salad using uncooked ramen in this style, as well...but it didn't have chicken - I love that addition. This is definitely going on my must-try list!

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  3. What a fantastic way to use ramen! I have been definitely craving salad lately and this looks like a winner. Be sure to stop by my link party today, #OmNomNomFriday, and sure your fantastic creations. Have a great weekend :)

    Happy Blogging!
    Happy Valley Chow

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  4. Ramen noodles make me swoon (and remember the days when that's all I could afford to eat) ;)
    GREAT lookin' recipe, Anita!

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  5. How did you get to be your advanced age (grins*) and not ever have Ramen? I could live on it as well as other types of noodle bowls. And seeing this, I am sooooo gonna add this to my repertoire of ramen dishes. This sounds fantastic, Anita!

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  6. I love all the varieties of ramen noodle salads, but yours is more elegant than the ones I usually run into at picnics and such! You didn't miss much not eating ramen cooked in "hot pots" in college...they're much better in salads :)

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