Here's what I'm having for lunch today (easy work/brownbag recipe)

[Shakespeare]

Dunno if anyone's ever posted it down here, because it's certainly made the rounds, but figured I'd share (I LOVE this salad).

EASY chinese chicken salad (this makes enough for TWO salads):

Couple of cups (or more) each of iceburg lettuce (I actually use an iceberg/romaine mix from Trader Joe's) and napa cabbage.

Cubed chicken meat (about a cup and a half; use however much you want)--this can be from a leftover roast chicken, from chicken you cook from scratch, or from those pre-"grilled" breast fillets like you get at Costco.

3 or 4 chopped green onions

tangerine sections, when they're in season

Noodles from one package of oriental flavor ramen noodles, broken up and toasted in the oven

Dressing:

The flavor packet from the oriental ramen noodles
1/4 cup salad oil (I prefer olive or sunflower oil)
Slightly less than 1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar

I keep the dressing and noodles in separate containers from the salad (small plastic container and a snack-sized ziploc for the noodles), and toss it all together when lunchtime rolls around. Yum!

[mike_c]

1. you know, that sounds like a good use for those "flavor packets..."

...that come with the noodles. I normally dispose of those as hazardous waste. Actually, I'm a bit allergic to MSG so I probably won't be trying this with the flavor packets, but here's an alternative dressing you might want to try:

1/4 cup lime juice
1 clove garlic, pounded to a paste with 1/4 tsp salt
1 thai chili, minced and pounded with the garlic
1 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar) pounded with the garlic and chili
1 Tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam)
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
3/4 cups olive oil + 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

Pound the garlic, chili, palm sugar, and salt to a paste in a mortar or grind with the flat of a knife on a cutting board. Mix well with the fish sauce, mustard, and egg yolk, then whisk in the oil a little at a time until it's emulsified. Toss with the salad.

This is way more than enough to dress one salad, but it will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

[fortyfeetunder]

2. Great idea!

I use angel hair cole slaw for my salads and when oranges aren't in season, I substitute either canned mandarins or use pineapple.

And speaking of chicken..the canned Costco chicken works in this recipe too!