We all have a few meals that stay with us through our lifetime. Something we loved when we were kids and still love to make it as adults. This is one of those recipes. My mom would make this often, especially during the summer time and I never felt like there was enough of it. No matter how much I had on my plate I wanted more. It is a great side dish with burgers or all by itself with some grilled chicken.
If you have read other posts on Curly Bug you are well aware that we get a CSA box every other week. More often than not they include a vegetable called kohlrabi which is a wild looking vegetable. I grate it up along with the thinly sliced carrots and cabbage in this salad and it is fantastic.
Salad Ingredients:
1 package of chicken flavor Top Ramen
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 medium-sized cabbage thinly sliced (you can use green and/or purple cabbage and kohlrabi, enough greens for your largest salad bowl)
4 stalks of celery chopped
5-6 carrots finely chopped (I usually just buy the shredded carrots in a bag, saves a lot of time)
optional– 2 grilled chicken breasts chopped
How to make:
Find your largest salad bowl.
If you are doing this all by hand (like I sometimes do since we have no food processor) just start chopping. Chop celery and cabbage and grate or thinly slice carrots.
The easier way is to buy 2 bags of shredded cabbage and 1 bag of shredded carrots and pour them in the bowl. Then chop celery and add to bowl.
Then if you want to, grill or cook some chicken breasts with your favorite seasonings (I used 21 seasoning salute from Trader Joes and some lemon juice) and when they cool down, chop them up and add to the salad.
While you are chopping ingredients turn your oven to 350 degrees and place crushed up Top Ramen noodles and sliced almonds in the oven. I have found the best way to get them brown but not burned is to set the timer for 5 minutes. Then when the timer goes off, check and add 2 minutes each time until brown.
Dressing Ingredients:
1 package of seasonings from Top Ramen noodles
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar
dash of salt and pepper
How to make Dressing:
Combine all ingredients by whisking together.
Here is where you get to decide how crunchy you want your salad.
Option 1: When I was a kid my mom would make this and save the noodles and sliced almonds and dressing for right before serving. It was crunchy and really good.
Option 2: Make the salad in the morning or early afternoon and add the dressing and browned noodles/almond slices too. Then toss the salad generously, cover and place it in the refrigerator until dinner. Right now, this is our preferred way to eat it.
Any leftovers are good for a couple of days.
We love this salad as a side dish to brats, hot dogs, burgers and even turkey meatballs or as a main dish with a good dinner roll.
Enjoy.
Looking for more recipe inspiration? Check out this CSA link-up:
My mom used to make a similar salad all the time. Like you said, its great as a side to burgers, bbq, etc. I host a weekly CSA link party and would love for you to participate by sharing your CSA posts. Check out this weeks link party…http://inherchucks.com/2012/04/26/whats-in-the-box-23/.
I love your idea for using kohlrabi. I have only received it once in my CSA box and I made a ham bake with it. My husband LOVED it! http://inherchucks.com/2011/10/31/what-is-kohlrabi/
How cool, a CSA link party, I would be happy to participate. Thank you for reading and I will be sure to check out your ham bake recipe, we get kohlrabi at least 6 or more times in a year.
Ah! Another use for kohlrabi! Usually I just throw it in a stir fry, but I’m getting tired of that. I’m a vegetarian, so the chicken is out for me, but I’ll have to brainstorm substitutes…
snap peas would be awesome in it too. How do you use kohlrabi in a stir fry? cut into chunks? When I scoured the web for ideas of how to use it most people grated it up, so I thought it would work in this salad well. Thanks for your comment.
I usually slice it thin. Chunks would probably be fine, but they’d take a bit longer to cook. It is good in a stir fry, but I’m just getting tired of stir frys lately!
I think my kids would get a kick out of a recipe that uses top ramen.
Too funny! My boys love crunching up the noodles and love the salad too.
Kohlrabi makes a great slaw.
Thanks for sharing your recipe – will have to give it a whirl.
You are welcome. Enjoy!