Orient Express

Since becoming a stay-at-home-mom, I have really tried to expand my repertoire in the kitchen.  Unfortunately, my all-day-not-just-in-the-morning sickness with Duncan put the kibosh on that in the first few months here in Tennessee, and the trend of quick, easy, and probably not all that healthy carried over even when the morning sickness was gone.

With the arrival of fall came a renewed desire to try better.

And with a little – and I mean minimal, whoo-hoo! – effort on my part and an easy recipe from my handy Betty Crocker cookbook, I did this:

I am most proud of myself for trying a recipe chock full of things I don’t even like – namely cabbage, vinegar, black pepper, and mandarin oranges.  But you know what?  It was yummy!  (Like, yummy enough that Jim and I both had second helpings!)

So, because I love you, I share the recipe with you, too:

Crunchy Oriental Chicken Salad
Prep time: 10 min; Cook time: 5 min; serves 6

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 package (3 ounces) Oriental-flavor ramen noodle soup mix

2 tablespoons sesame seed

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups cut-up cooked chicken

1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts

4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

1 bag (16 ounces) coleslaw mix

• In 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in seasoning packet from soup mix.  Break block of noodles into bite-size pieces over skillet; stir into butter mixture.
• Cook noodles 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in sesame seed.  Cook about 2 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until noodles are golden brown; remove from heat.
• In large glass or plastic bowl, mix sugar, vinegar, oil, and pepper.  Add noodle mixture and remaining ingredients; toss.  Serve immediately.

***The only way I deviated from the recipe was to add the cut up chicken to the saute pan so the flavors from the toasted nuts and noodles transferred to the chicken, too.

This would be a great dish to take to a potluck or picnic, since there isn’t any dairy-based product like egg or mayo in it.

So, yea me!  For branching out and trying something new for my family.  I’ll have to make this open-the-cookbook-and-just-point-to-a-recipe a regular habit.  Bon appetite!