Ramen Noodle Cold Salad

A lot of the country is starting to get into Fall weather. Not here in San Diego. Over the last 2 or 3 weeks we’ve had some of the hottest, muggiest weather in a long time thanks to 2 hurricanes which came up the coast of Baja California and cut inland far enough south to do us no good at all. We got virtually no rain but 100 plus temperatures and humidity. It’s been miserable.

What do you do when it’s “butt stinkin’ hot” and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen but you want something cool and refreshing, cheap and tasty with just enough meat so you know you’ve eaten something? You get creative.

So I had an idea. Often my food ideas start with a flavor that my imagination puts into my mouth and starts me salivating. And because of that my newest recipe for “Butt Stinkin’ Hot Ramen Noodle Cold Salad” was born.

Now there is a little bit of cooking involved—not much but a little. And the idea is to do it either the evening before or in the morning. Because this is going to be a cold dish. There’s 3 basic parts—Ramen noodles, pickled vegetables and grilled chicken breast.

And man is it good! So here we go:  (print version at bottom of post)

Butt Stinkin’ Hot Ramen Noodle Cold Salad

Ingredients

½ lb boneless/skinless chicken breast (or shrimp or pork or beef whatever you want)
1 tbsp Lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 cup red bell pepper
2/3 cup onion (red, white or green)
1 jalapeno pepper
¾ cup cucumber
3/4 cup vinegar—white or rice
¾ cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 pkg of Ramen noodles (3 oz per pkg)
2/3 cup peanuts
2/3-3/4 cup Ken’s Asian Sesame salad dressing

Directions
Get out a cutting board, chef’s knife, a plastic freezer bag, 1 large bowl, 1 medium bowl, 1 flat container and a meat tenderizer.
Prep the chicken breast by putting it in the freezer bag.
Use the flat side of the tenderizer (or the bottom of a sauce pan) to gently pound the chicken breast to about ½” thickness.
Mix lime juice, soy sauce and sesame oil together.
Put the chicken in the flat container and pour the mixture over it. Flip it a couple of times to coat.
Start cutting the bell pepper, onion, jalapeno and cucumber into strips about 1” long and 1/8” thick.
Put all vegetables into medium bowl and add the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper.
Stir thoroughly. Put in fridge for at least 1 hour.
Turn on your grill or get out a skillet to cook the chicken on the stove.
Grill or pan cook for about 3-4 minutes per side.
Remove chicken. Let it cool and then slice it into thin 1”x ¼” strips. Put back in flat container (rinsed).
Get out a large pot (like for pasta) and put 1 ½ (appx.) qt of water in it. Put on stove turned high.
When boiling, take each block of ramen and break it in half, then break each half in half and put it in the water.
Boil for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from stove and drain in sink in a colander.
Put noodles into the big bowl.
At this point you can put everything in the fridge until mealtime or you can build the salad.
(The longer you let the vegetables “pickle” the better it will be though).
Put the vegetables and chicken in the big bowl with the ramen. Stir thoroughly
Add the peanuts. Add the salad dressing (or you can make your own “Teriyaki”).

(print version at bottom of post)

That’s it! A few steps but they’re simple steps. You can serve this right away or put back in the fridge to cool and “come together”. And it is tasty!

I concocted this because it’s just been so ungodly hot lately and I wanted something with these textures plus a bit of meat. This is a party for your tastebuds. It’s cooling. It’s filling. It’s pretty healthy. And…it’s cheap!

The Cheap Bastid Test: The chicken cost about $1 and the ramen was 4 for $1 or $.75 for 3. The vegetables were about $.75. I used a handful of peanuts from a big jug so it cost about $.25. And the little bit of Ken’s cost about $.25 (we always buy it on sale and with a coupon). And let’s call the other ingredients $.50—it was all stuff I keep on hand. So what’s the total. I come up with $3.50 for a salad that will feed 4 for dinner. (Oh and if you want to stretch it a bit, add another thingey of ramen noodles).

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!