Sunday, August 2, 2009

It's too hot to cook


When the temperatures are above 100 degrees for over a week, the last thing I want to do is eat something hot. That's when this recipe comes out of my bag of tricks. Chinese chicken salad is refreshing, filling, and nutritious.


CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

SALAD
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast meat, cooked, cooled, and shredded
1 head shredded iceberg lettuce
1 cup green onions, chopped
3/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
3/4 cup toasted sliced or slivered almonds
1 package maifun (rice sticks or bean threads)**
Vegetable oil for frying

DRESSING
1/4 cup salad oil
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar


Combine chicken, lettuce, onions, and cilantro in a large bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Fry 1/4 package maifun in vegetable oil as package directs. Set noodles aside after fryng. Place all dressing ingredients in jar and shake to mix. Immediately before serving add dressing and maifun to salad and toss. Top with almonds. and sprig of cilantro.

Serves 4

It's really quite fun to watch these noodles puff up as they hit the hot oil. But, be sure all noodles get submerged in oil. Otherwise, you will have some very hard uncooked pieces of maifun. I usually cut the maifun into 1 inch pieces with a sissors to make it easier to get full coverage in the oil.


Complete this meal with a loaf of french bread and butter. A bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio or Reisling would go nicely with this salad.

4 comments:

  1. This is a great summertime meal. Thanks for sharing it.

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  2. I understand that a steak salad is also filling and very refreshing during a hot spell. The steak is usally left over from a barbecue so you don't have to heat up the oven or grill. Slice it very, very thin and it gives a nice taste and chewiness to an otherwise routine salad. Even my guy likes it.

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  3. That gives me a great idea for next weeks blog. Thanks for the comment.

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  4. Yum! I'll be putting this in my files!

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