Chinese Chicken Salad

This recipe has been in my cookbook for a long time. I recently developed a hankering for it, and ended up modifying it slightly from the way I made it decades ago. Its distinguishing characteristic is the addition of ramen noodles--not too surprising, given that I acquired the recipe during my college years. The salad has a lovely Asian flavor and a wonderful variety of crunchies.

One modification I made to this recipe was to cook the chicken in much the same way I do for other Asian salads (see here and here). How can something with this much sugar be bad?

Chinese Chicken Salad

1 large or 2 medium chicken breasts

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

2 cups water

1 head cabbage, finely chopped

4 green onions, finely chopped

1 package chicken flavored ramen noodles, broken up (save the flavoring packet)

1/2 medium-sized green pepper, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Cook the chicken in the teriyaki sauce and water over medium heat for 30-45 minutes until they are easily shredded. Shred into small pieces.

Combine all of the vegetables, the ramen and the chicken in a large bowl. Add the sesame seeds and almonds. Toss with the dressing and chill one hour before serving.

Dressing

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

ramen flavoring packet

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pour over salad.