the goose loves chinese chicken salad

I know you are all patiently waiting to hear about my awesome anniversary present from Billy. Too bad, though, because it doesn't photograph easily, so it'll be a little while before I get photos of it up here.

In the meantime, I have LOTS of posts that will leave your tummy grumbling! Mine already is, and I just had breakfast...

First off is one for my mom - I finally made her recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad! I think there's a more politically correct name for this, but we're going for the familiar.

I haven't gotten her permission to share her secret recipe over the internet to my "millions" of followers, but I'll give you the basics.

Toast dry Ramen noodles, almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and any other nuts and seeds you squirreled away last winter. Watch the toaster so they don't burn! (Note - if you have a vertical "pop-up" toaster, I do not reccommend throwing your seeds and nuts in it to toast them. Use your oven.) Then whip out some chicken and fry it in the pan (or bake, or broil, or boil, or whatever). Chop roughly. Meanwhile, have your husband cut up the lettuce. And then mix the dressing. The basics are olive oil (the good stuff!), vinegar (red wine, white wine, apple cider, balsamic, or all of these...), the Oriental Ramen packet seasoning, and soy sauce. Whisk vigorously, or shake in your cruet if you are fancy like my mom and have one of those. :) (Mom - why didn't you tell me to put one of those on my registry??) Oh yeah - here's the lettuce. We used napa cabbage from our farm share (the original inspiration for making the salad) and a romaine heart, too. Good to note - we cut up an entire head of napa and an entire heart of romaine and got about 5 lettuce-servings-worth. THEN we talk to my mom who says that cut lettuce gets brown, so don't cut it all. Bad timing. So we crossed our fingers and sprinkled some lemon juice over the cut lettuce we weren't going to use. The next day, I took some lettuce to re-create the salad at work, and it was green and crispy! We then enjoyed another serving each of salad with the remaining lettuce two nights later, and not one brown leaf! So use lemon juice. That's the secret. Or just don't cut so much. Mmmm Ramen. Reminds me of college. And finally, the best part. Mixing it all together! Well actually eating it is most fun. And most tasty. Just eat it right away, otherwise it'll get soggy and yucky. See, Mom? We eat healthy! :)