Crunchy Loaded Chicken Salad

Can you believe that, until I made this recipe, I had never tasted ramen noodles?  Even though every grocery store in my neighborhood sells them.  Even though I graduated from college and they're considered the inexpensive staple food of undergrads everywhere.  Somehow, they never happened until now.  I wanted to add some crunch to a chicken salad and read that ramen noodles are a great addition but I didn't understand how.  All of my experience with noodles is that they're not tasty when they're raw and soft when they're cooked.  This whole ramen business was very confusing.

I'm sure all you long-time ramen eaters would have had a good laugh watching me examine the alien package.  But I put the noodles in a pan with a little butter, browned them and tasted them.  Yum!  And they did add the crunch I was looking for.  This may have been my first little package of ramen noodles but I suspect it won't be my last.  As for the rest of the salad, it's a bit of a cheat since I used a store bought rotisserie chicken.  Don't you love those?  But it's loaded with lots of veggies, was very filling and made a great weeknight dinner.  Enjoy!






Ingredients
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Package (3 oz.) ramen noodle soup mix
2 Cups shredded cooked chicken (homemade or store bought)
1/4 Red onion, thinly sliced
2 Stalks celery, diced
4 Cups coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
2 Tablespoons craisins, dried cranberries or raisins

Dressing:
1/4 Cup mayonnaise (low fat is fine)
1/4 Cup sour cream (low fat is fine)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Teaspoon sugar
1/2 Teaspoon mustard
Salt & pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a pan, add the ramen noodles and saute on medium heat until the noodles turn light brown.  Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients together and add the chicken, red onion, celery, coleslaw mix and craisins.  Top with the crispy ramen noodles before serving so they don't get soggy.  Makes approximately 4 servings.