throwback asian sesame chicken salad

This is one of those recipes that takes me back to college. When cooking consisted of tossing easy things together, eating ramen, and making homemade salad dressing using ramen flavor packets. I use a lot of the same ingredients here… but I do prefer a homemade dressing.

Ingredients:

2 panko crusted sesame chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 head of napa cabbage, core removed and shredded thin

3 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 package of mikes mighty good ramen noodles, sauce packet discarded

2 Tbsp slivered almonds

1 cup shelled edamame

3 persian cucumbers, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1 large can of mandarin oranges, drained

6 green onions, sliced on the diagonal

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/3 cup avocado oil

1/4 cup coconut aminos

juice of one orange

1 tsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp ginger

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Crumble the uncooked ramen noodles into bite sized pieces on the baking sheet. Add sesame seeds and slivered almonds. Bake until golden brown, around 7 minutes, checking often— will go from golden brown to burnt in seconds. Let cool.

In a large bowl, mix cabbage, chicken, edamame, cucumber, onions and oranges, and cooled almonds, ramen and sesame seeds. Toss to combine.

In a mason jar or similar lidded container, combine oil, vinegar, coconut aminos, fish sauce, juice, sugar, ginger, garlic, and salt. Shake.

This will likely make more dressing than you need, so toss a little bit at a time with the salad until cabbage is just glistening.