Bok Choy Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite salads of all time. I can't believe I've been doing this blog for well over a year and haven't made this yet! This is the perfect salad for any occasion - I recently served it for a luncheon at work and it received rave reviews. Bok Choy is a fun vegetable (used primarily in Asian dishes) that has wonderful crunch. If you've never used it before, this is a great way to try it.

Start by making the wonderful crunchy noodles. Break up the ramen noodles with the heel of your hand,



then pour them into a mixing bowl.



Add the almonds



and the sesame seeds.



Sprinkle with the sugar and stir to combine, then pour the melted butter over this mixture.



Stir well to coat the noodles then transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet.



(Still too hot to turn on the oven when I made this so I did this in 2 batches in my toaster oven!)

Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden.



Let cool completely. Try to keep yourself from eating all of this right off the baking sheet. It is yummy. But you need it for the salad - it's what makes the salad so special!

While the noodles "toast" you can prepare the vegetables.

Separate the bok choy stalks and wash them - bok choy is a bit like celery except the stalks are white and the tops have large dark green leaves.



Trim up the bok choy by cutting the ends off the stalk (discard the end)



and then cut the leafy section off and set aside cause you'll be using it later.



I'm going to "chop" the bok choy in my food processor - you can do it by hand if you prefer. Cut the stalks lengthwise into 2 or 3 skinnier pieces for dicing.



Now you should have a pile of "sticks" and a pile of leaves.



Fit the food processor with the thickest slicing blade and then stack the sticks into the feed tube.



Process them through, and repeat with all the remaining bok choy stalks. Pour the chopped bok choy into a large bowl



then coarsely chop the leaves.



Add the leaves to the bowl, and then add the sliced green onions.



Prepare the dressing in a measuring cup. Add the oil, red wine vinegar,



soy sauce



and sugar



and whisk well to dissolve the sugar.

Assemble the salad 30-45 minutes before you are serving it. Add the chicken to the vegetables,



then add the noodles.



Stir it up to mix everything together, then pour on the dressing.



Stir well to coat everything.

One thing that's great about this salad (besides the taste and uniqueness!) is its transport-ability. You may have noticed the "change in scenery" since I assembled this salad at work. It's so easy to bring the "pieces" (vegetables, chicken, noodles and dressing) and then assemble it at your location.



Savor the last days of summer with this delicious salad.

Get inspired at Cooking Thursday, Food on Fridays, Friday Food and Foodie Friday, This Week's Cravings.

Bok Choy Chicken Salad

2 Tbsp. sugar
3 packages Ramen noodles, crushed (discard seasoning packet)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup slivered almonds (3-4 oz.)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 large head bok choy, chopped
4-5 green onions, sliced
4 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

Dressing:
3/4 cup oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar

In a medium bowl, combine crushed ramen noodles, almonds, sesame seeds and sugar. Stir to mix. Drizzle melted butter over and stir well to coat all the noodles. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes until golden, stirring occasionally. Cool completely.

In a measuring cup, combine all dressing ingredients and whisk well to dissolve sugar.

Combine chopped bok choy, onions and chicken in a large bowl. Add cooled noodle mixture and pour dressing over salad. Stir well to coat all vegetables, chicken and noodles.