10 Sep / Ramen Slaw
My friend Lani makes the most amazing salads.
They’re always a Technicolor delight with colors spanning the rainbow—green, purple, orange, red. A dish pleasing to the eye always entices eating, that’s what I say. Sweet, sour, salty, crispy, crunchy–they have all the required elements to ignite a flavor explosion in the mouth.
Yes, Lani’s salads are so fine even the most hardened of veggie-haters will succumb to their charms.
There’s the broccoli salad she brought to a spring potluck. It contained raw broccoli (raw!) yet it was gobbled up in no time; although the crumbled bacon may have had something to do with its appeal …
Ramen in the raw–actually they’ve been fried in oil so they’re technically not raw.
And just last week, I was introduced to her lovely ramen slaw. My dear husband threw me a surprise birthday party and all my friends showed up bearing, instead of gifts, a potluck dish each!
I loved Lani’s ramen slaw at first bite. It was a sweet and tangy mess of shredded broccoli, carrots, and cabbage, and, best of all it contained ramen bits! I squealed like a little girl when I found ramen bits tossed throughout. It reminded me of one of my favorite childhood snacks—Mami, short for Maggi Mee. We basically ate the ramen out of the package, throwing out the seasoning packets (I think, I hope!).
Needless to say, I was eating ramen slaw for the next three days until sadly, it all disappeared.
Do you use ramen in a surprising way?
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Lani’s Lovely Ramen Slaw
Lani’s mom has been making this salad since she was a little girl growing up in Utah. Her mom uses a mix of broccoli- and cole- slaw but Lani prefers just broccoli slaw. I couldn’t find either so I picked up a bag of Asian slaw which was very similar to coleslaw with the addition of cilantro and green onions.
Sweet, tangy and crunchy, it’s a great pot luck dish that everyone will love. Plus, the ramen bits are definitely a conversation starter! Who knew ramen could actually be “healthy?”
Makes: A good sized potluck serving (12 to 14 people)
Time: 10 minutes, plus sitting time
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup distilled white or apple cider vinegar
2 (3.5-ounce) packets ramen noodles (chicken flavor), crushed
2 (12-ounce) bags of your favorite slaw
1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds (almonds or peanuts would be tasty too)
In a large serving bowl, mix together the oil, vinegar, sugar and seasoning packets (you can use one or both; or, if you’re watching your sodium intake or are sensitive to MSG, season with salt and pepper instead) until the sugar completely dissolves. Let the dressing sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
Give the dressing a quick stir. Add the slaw followed by the crushed noodles and seeds. Toss to mix well and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Note: You can halve the amounts for a family-sized serving