what? 2 in the same day?

Ok. Somehow I've gone from blogging once a year to doing two in the same day. Josh, meet blog world. Blog world, meet Josh.

I actually have nothing to do today, so I gave myself a free day. I got hungry, and was too lazy to go to the store, so I decided to cook. We have a lot of stuff that needs to be eaten quickly, so I decided to throw something together that I would like to pass on for you to try, laugh at, rave about, whatever. I made an oriental chicken salad the other day at work that was, don't mind if I say, awesome..and wanted it again. Problem is, I didn't have half the ingredients I needed and once again was too lazy to go to the store to buy them. It's a co-workers recipe that I borrowed, so he can have the credit.

Here's the original recipe: (serves about 12...or 8 *1o House* firefighters)

Here's what your going to need...

- 4 pounds of chicken

- A grill

- 8 bags of oriental flavored ramen

- 4 bags of cabbage

- Almonds

- Green onions

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 3/4 cup OLIVE oil

- 1/2 cup rice vinegar

- Sweet Thai Chili sauce

What's what your going to want to do...

1. Marinate chicken in Thai chili sauce, grill, let chill (or warm, whichever)

2. Mix shredded cabbage, cruched up ramen noodles (raw), almonds, and cut up green onions

3. Make sauce: Sugar, olive oil, rice vinegar, 4 packets of seasoning from ramen...mix until blended

4. Dice up chicken, mix it in, drizzle with sauce.

Let it set for atleast a couple hours...the flavor really penetrates everything and the ramen noodles soften up just a bit.

Anyways, back to today. That's what I wanted. But couldn't have it. So I improvised.

We had some carrots, half of a green cabbage head, half of a red cabbage head, left over edemame (shelled), 4x6 oz of natural chicken breast, and whatever is in our seasoning cabinet.

Here's what I came up with...

Salad:

- Shredded cabbage

- Diced carrots (7)

- Couple hand fulls of craisins

- Dash of sesame seeds

- Chopped up pecans (about 12)

- 1/2 cup edemame

Mix this together

Sauce:

Adjust amounts to quantity and flavor

- Teriyaki sauce

- Soy sauce

- Sriracha hot chili sauce

- Apple cider vinegar

- White sugar

- Olive oil (EVOO)

- Sesame seeds

- Orange juice

- Lemon juice

Meat:

- I just boiled the chicken

Once this is all done, chop the chicken and submerge it in some sauce, place chicken over salad, then drizzle some more sauce over it to taste.

After-thoughts:

- I could have doubled the chicken and sauce for the amount of salad I came up with

- Grilling the chicken would have provided a little more flavor

- Next time I think I will try chopping up some mandarin oranges, or serving them on the side

What I think:

It came out nice! It's a very crisp, zesty, colorful and light salad that's perfect a summer day. The cool veges and warm chicken make a nice combo and the sauce adds a nice kick (you can adjust for desired spice and zest). Plus, it's healthy and probably low in calories. The edemame and chicken will give you a lot of protein and vegetables and craisins are a good source of vitamins. If you're able, try using fresh local produce for much needed active bacteria. Be creative!

Let me know what you think and if you think of something I can add for next time.

Enjoy!