January 5, 2012: Low Fat Oriental Chicken Salad

I wanted to use a bit of leftover chicken I had in the freezer for dinner. My first thought was to make this chicken casserole that my husband so loves but, unfortunately, it’s filled with tons of calories. I decided, instead, to turn it into a lovely Oriental Chicken Salad. I used several different recipes to come up with this combination; the salad dressing is fat free and virtually calorie free so feel free to use as much as necessary to flavor your salad.

Low Fat Oriental Chicken Salad

Dressing

2 cups water

2 T. Truvia

3 t. dry pectin

1 T. rice wine vinegar

1 t. soy sauce

1 t. minced garlic

1 t. kosher salt

¼ t. black pepper

¼ t. paprika

1 package ramen noodles

1 cup water

½ t. chicken bouillon

3 cups torn green leaf lettuce

1 cup shredded Napa cabbage

2 green onions, white and green parts sliced on the diagonal

2 mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 rib celery, thinly sliced

½ cup cooked, shredded chicken

3 baby carrots, cut into matchsticks

1 T. roasted sunflower seeds

Combine dressing ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat to boiling, whisking frequently. Cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes, until slightly reduced. Remove from heat, cool, and refrigerate.

Bring cup of water to boiling in saucepot. Add ramen noodles and boillon. Boil for 3 minutes then turn off heat and allow to cool (noodles will absorb excess liquid).

Combine lettuce, cabbage, onions, mushrooms and celery. Toss with 1/3 to ½ cup of dressing. Place in serving bowl and top with chicken, ramen noodles, carrots and sunflower seeds.

Serves one with approximately 525 calories – but this is a BIG salad and has enough protein to satisfy.

October 14, 2011: Ramen Noodle Cabbage Salad Recipe

I first tasted this recipe at one of our women’s Bible study meetings, courtesy of the wonderful Linda Davis (thank you Linda!!), but apparently it’s been around awhile. I fell in love with the Asian flavors. I was able to easily find the recipe online but had a concern over the extra calories added by butter. I decided to make a slimmed down version packed with lots of flavor and this is what I came up with. And since October is National Pasta Month, this recipe is perfect to include right now!

Ramen Noodle Cabbage Salad

½ head Napa cabbage

2 green onions, sliced on the diagonal

1 T. sesame seeds, toasted (toss them in a heavy skillet on medium heat for a few minutes)

2 T. sugar

2 T. rice wine vinegar

1 T. sesame oil

1 T. water

Seasoning packet from ramen noodles

1 package ramen noodles, Oriental flavor

Slice the cabbage head in half and remove base; slice the green leaves thinly. Combine cabbage with remaining ingredients, except ramen noodles, in serving bowl. Refrigerator for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend. Just before serving, crush the noodles in the packet and add to the salad (if you want them crispy; if you prefer them soft, add right away, before refrigerating).

Serves 4

Tip: If you want to make this into a main dish, simply add cooked, shredded chicken breast meat.

September 10, 2011: Easy Ramen Alfredo Recipe

Today we laid our dear, sweet, thoughtful, kind Christian sister, Ruthalie Heffner, to rest. She is now at peace in Heaven with the Lord. I miss this dear lady a lot! Although she was 96 years old, she was sharp as a tack and had a memory much better than my own. I'm just thankful she didn't have to suffer; after waiting for all of her family to arrive, she went home with Jesus the night of September 4th. RIP Ruthalie.

I ended up making my husband’s favorite Kansas City sirloin steak marinade recipe again just to make him happy (since he thinks I experiment in the kitchen far too often) and found myself with another stray package of plain ramen noodles. I did a bit of sleuthing online and was absolutely astonished to find literally hundreds of recipes that use ramen noodles. I never thought about it before, but they can really be used just like any other type of pasta.

Kansas City sirloin steaks, mushrooms in garlic and shallot vinaigrette and cheesy ramen noodles.

Since I had half a jar of leftover prepared Alfredo sauce in my fridge, I just boiled the noodles for about 5 minutes, drained them, and added the sauce. You could also add Velveeta for a quick and easy mac and cheese recipe or toss them with spaghetti sauce and Parmesan cheese.

So there you have it – one of the quickest, easiest side dishes I’ve ever shared with you!

August 13, 2011: Kansas City Sirloin Steaks Recipe

When I first saw the ingredients in this recipe, adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Grilling, I thought they were somewhat unusual and I was worried if my husband would like it. But after grilling these steaks, I have to say this is a winning combination! In fact, my husband loved it so much he said I should bottle this stuff and sell it! He even requested that we have it on hand every time we eat steak. Guess that means he liked it!

Kansas City Sirloin Steaks

1 T. prepared horseradish

1 T. lemon juice

1 t. minced garlic

2 t. sugar

2 t. paprika

1 t. ground black pepper

1 seasoning packet from a package of beef-flavored ramen noodles (save the noodles to use in an Asian salad)

2 thick, 8-ounce sirloin steaks (although there’s enough sauce to marinate at least, perhaps 4 steaks)

Combine all ingredients except steak. Rub mixture on steaks and marinate in the refrigerator for two hours minimum. Remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before grilling.

Preheat grill to medium. Cook for about 20 minutes total, flipping once, for medium doneness.

Serves 2.