Chinese Chicken Salad - Ramen Style

It's planting season here and my personal in-house farmer friend has got his garden on!  Us rookies admitted that we completely over planted last year and definitely learned our lesson.  So, we discussed this year's selections and he mapped out his seedlings to get started.

Last year we definitely realized that in order to achieve our cases of dill pickles that my husband is so great at, we need much, much, much more fresh dill to be planted.  There are so many people that make dill pickles here, I swear the dill is going to be sold on the black market.

Good thing our fresh produce is right around the corner, because we cannot get enough of this Chinese chicken salad.

Oriental Cole Slaw with Ramen Noodles (a.k.a. Chinese Chicken Salad)

1 bag shredded mixed cabbage with shredded carrots
2-3 green onions, chopped 
1 package chicken flavored ramen noodles, crushed
2 ounces slivered almonds
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
2-3 cooked chicken breast, diced

Dressing:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1 package ramen seasoning (from the noodle package)
1/4 cup Best Foods Real Mayonnaise with Olive Oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Put crushed ramen noodles, slivered almonds and sesame seeds in a pie dish and bake 5-10 minutes, until ight brown.

Mix all dressing ingredients.

Combine cabbage mix, green onions and toasted noodles, almonds and sesame seeds.  Wait to toss with dressing until just ready to serve.

Original Peanut Coleslaw and Uncle Rick

We are T minus 24 hours before Rick (my husband's brother) arrives.  There are three very important things to remember when you are preparing for Rick's visit.

Summer sailing with Rick in Newport Harbor.

1.  Get plenty of sleep ahead of time and rest up because we have many late nights with a lot of laughter while he is here and each morning we are up early with our coffee time together and start all over again.

2.  Prepare your liver for many beverages.  Rick has impeccable taste in the best wines and always introduces us to some incredible vineyards.

3.  Try to lose 5 pounds before he comes because we gain at least 10 pounds back from all the amazing cooking.  My husband and Rick love to cook together and I get to benefit the rewards of some really awesome meals.  Their specialty is anything carnivore that can be smoked, grilled or roasted.

Two Peas in a Pod (or a Duffy boat in this case).

It was a year ago when Rick was last here and I remember all of us sitting around the dinner table discussing a cooking blog that I should start up...great ideas always happen around the family table.

The fun in the kitchen never ends!!

My husband and his family grew up in Southern California near a great BBQ restaurant called Wood Ranch BBQ.  I really miss this place - must try to get one here in Colorado, especially with all the bbq lovers around the Rocky Mountains.

I love, love, love their coleslaw and get cravings for it now and again.  This is the perfect and quick salad of fresh ingredients to get my energy level up for this week's visit.

Copycat Recipe:
Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill "Original Peanut Coleslaw"
Courtesy of food.com

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix, packaged, shredded
• 1 1/2 cups red cabbage, packaged, shredded
• 3/4 cup celery, finely sliced
• 1/3 cup green onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• garlic pepper seasoning
• 1 cup dry roasted peanuts

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine coleslaw, red cabbage, celery and green onions.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together wine vinegar, water, sugar, seasoned salt, garlic powder and oil.
3. Mix dressing with coleslaw; stir in garlic pepper and peanuts and toss well.
4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.