Warm Chicken Cabbage Salad

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A big head of Napa Cabbage in my produce delivery last week prompted me to pull this recipe out of my cookbook where it's been hiding for years. I first ate this salad at my girlfriend's house way back when I was pregnant with Peach. I loved it, and that surprised me because I don't usually like fruit and meat together. But, I did, and I asked for the recipe, and then I never made it. But I remembered it and when I went through the salads in my cookbooks I would always think, "I should make that recipe."

I'm glad the farmer planted Napa Cabbage this year because this salad-for-supper was a real treat. The kids even liked it, except for one who wouldn't try it, and ate a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner. Since he is my one nut allergy, I went ahead and added the nuts to the salad. If he were eating it, I would just offer them on the side.

I doubled the recipe, so if looks like a lot of salad, that's because it was. But four of us ate almost every bite (college boy was at work, but high school boy ate as much as four people). I modified the recipe a bit, first by grilling the chicken. I think it had a lot more flavor that way, but you can use some leftover cooked chicken, or rotisserie chicken. Just make sure it's cooked before you put it in the dressing. The rest of my modifications I've included in the recipe.

Warm Chicken Cabbage Salad

Dressing ingredients:
¼ c. cider vinegar
2 T. oil
1 t. seasoning from Chicken-flavored Ramen noodle package
2 T. hot water
1 t. dried tarragon
½ t. Dijon mustard
½ t. Worcestershire
1 t. sugar

Salad ingredients:
1/2 c. crumbled dry Ramen noodles
1 c. halved seedless red grapes
3 c. chopped Napa cabbage
1 c. chopped Romaine
1 c. shredded red cabbage
1/2 c. chopped walnuts, toasted
3 c. chopped, cooked chicken
salt and pepper to taste



Combine dressing ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove all but 2 T. or so and set aside. Add chicken to 2 T. dressing in saucepan and heat until chicken is hot. Toss hot chicken with salad ingredients and the rest of the dressing. Salt and pepper to taste.

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