More Crunch for Your Munch Chinese Salad

Submitted by Sharon123

"I make this for our potluck at church and people beg me to bring it again! Adapted from Cooking Live-Episode: America's Best Fourth of July: Salads. Update: I hve found I can toast the seeds, ramen noodles, and nuts under the broiler with no butter for just a few minutes, and they get nice and crisp, but watch carefully, they can burn quickly!"

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• Salad

• 1 large napa cabbage, chopped (you may use other cabbages but I like this one best)
• 5 scallions, diced (green onions)
• 1⁄2 cup finely grated carrot (I process in food processor)
• 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 cup butter (I use about 4 tbls.)
• 2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles (don't use soup flavoring)
• 1⁄2 cup sesame seeds
• 1⁄2 cup sliced almonds
• 1⁄4 cup sunflower seeds

• Dressing

• 1 cup sunflower oil (or corn or any neutral tasting oil) or 1 cup a light olive oil (or corn or any neutral tasting oil)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1⁄2 cup rice vinegar
• 2⁄3 - 1 cup sugar or 1/2 cup honey
• salt and pepper

directions

1. Mix cabbage, scallions and carrots in a large bowl, set aside.
2. Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Break noodles in small pieces and stir to brown and get crispy, along with sesame seeds, almonds and sunflower seeds. Seeds and nuts will start to brown. Remove from pan, drain and cool on paper towels. Or alternatively, place on baking sheet-without the butter, and broil for just a few minutes, watching carefully so they don't burn(lower your fat intake!).
3. To make dressing, mix together all ingredients in a jar with lid and shake to dissolve the sugar. Dressing can be made a day ahead of time.
4. Toss together all salad ingredients and add dressing, just before serving. You may have dressing leftover to use for another salad.

Reviews

[Nikoma]

This was different and very yummy! However I liked it MUCH better after sitting in the dressing overnight in the fridge. Right after tossing together I really wasn't impressed. You really can't stop eating it. It might qualify as a problem lol

 

[Norah Bennett]

Made this twice and really enjoyed it. I did a few modifications to suit my personal taste. I added a can of drained mandarin orange slices and some diced chicken breast. The original recipe had just a little too much oil for me, so I cut it in half and added 1/2 cup of the orange juice from the can. I used the broiler method for the nuts and noodles to keep the fat down ,and I used the honey option. It was delicious with out the added fat! It's a keeper, I will make it again. Thanks so much for the recipe!

 

[Chabear01]

Made twice first time exactly per the recipe but found the sesame seed kept sticking in my teeth so reduced them by half the second time. I liked the dressing which was very nice and light in flavor. Will make this recipe often but leave the sesame seeds out altogether as they were a problem for my teeth. I almost forgot to mention that the second time I grilled some chicken and added that diced to the salad to serve as a main dish. Thank you for a lovely salad. Made for KK's Chefs Pick event.

 

[Kittencalrecipezazz]

Once you make this salad you just cannot stop eating it, it is that good1 I did add in a small minced garlic clove to the dressing, about 1 teaspoon if that, I used chopped cashews in place of the almonds as that is all I had, thanks for this great recipe Shar!

 

[Gatorbek]

This was a great lunch! I love the addition of sesame seeds to the noodles, it gave the salad a wonderful flavor. Unfortunately, I was out of almonds, but I'm sure they would add even more depth. I used less than 1 tablespoon of butter, to cut the amount of fat, and the noodles toasted up nicely. I was able to toss this together in under 20 minutes, even grating the carrots by hand, so I guess it depends on how quickly your noodles cool. The dressing was a tad sweet for me, next time I may cut the sugar in half, just for personal preference. Still, it was delicious! Thanks!