A Treat without Buying a Plane Ticket

The only time I get this treat is when my flight to or from Nashville lays over at Dallas Love airport. I think it’s time to fix that.

Here’s a meal in a dish that requires only a few minutes of prep time, and even that can be combined with prep for another chicken dinner. The noodles make the salad – but if you’re off wheat, try a can of La Choy crispy rice noodles. Better yet, make your own (recipe below).

Asian Chicken Salad

Ingredients

1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP honey mustard
1 TBSP grated peeled ginger
3 TBSP vegetable oil
3 TBSP sesame oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken – your favorite parts
1 small head Napa cabbage in bite-size pieces
1 carrot, thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 pound snow peas, cut diagonally
Salt
1/2 cup chow mein noodles

Whisk vinegar, soy sauce, honey mustard, and ginger in a medium bowl, then add the oils in a slow stream.

Marinate chicken 10 minutes to overnight in 1/4 cup dressing.

Grill chicken over medium heat, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Cool slightly, then cut into ½-inch pieces to toss with vegetables or into thin slices to top the salad.

Toss cabbage, carrot, scallions, and snow peas with the remaining dressing in a large bowl.

Adjust salt.

Top with chow mein noodles.

Additives and Substitutions

Red cabbage
Thin-sliced sweet onion
Colored sweet peppers
Crisp lettuce – romaine, for example
Sesame seeds, peanuts, almond slivers, or cashews
Shaved fresh ginger
Cucumber chunks
Wild salad greens
Leftover cooked beans or corn
Jicama, radish, or water chestnut slices

Crispy Rice Noodles

I simplified this recipe from The Spruce Eats and it works beautifully. After all, La Choy and billions of Asian cooks figured it out somehow!

Ingredients

1 package thin rice noodles
1 cup oil

Separate rice noodles into manageable amounts. Use scissors to cut into 4-5″ lengths. Save just a couple of long noodles to test oil heat.

Heat oil over medium-high heat for at least a minute in a pan with sides: the smaller the pan, the less oil.

Test a few noodle pieces by dunking the ends. The oil is hot enough when the submerged parts “bloom” quickly into puffy, crispy noodles.

Drop handfuls of noodles in hot oil. In a few seconds, flip them once, then remove. Drain on paper towels.

Note

If you immediately sprinkle with salt or other spices, you’ll love these as snacks.

Crispy noodles pick up humidity quickly, and then they’re soggy noodles, instead.