Perfect for a Beach Party: Crunchy Cabbage Salad

This is one of my FAVORITE meals my mom makes.  Whenever I come home to visit and am asked what meals I would like, my reply usually includes this Crunchy Cabbage Salad recipe, Chicken with Salad on Top (will share soon!), and steak from my dad!  YUM!
     I'm pretty sure my mom first made this for a party we were having and I have to say it's the perfect salad for a big group.  It's easy to double, triple, and even quadruple the recipe (if only I knew enough people to invite).  A and I are going to the Cororlla on the OBX next weekend for a much-needed 4-day break!  We've already started planning what meals we're going to cook (only the 2 of us would start planning almost 2 weeks in advance what food and alcohol are needed for a weekend at the beach)!  We'll be celebrating one of our friend's birthdays that weekend, so we've been trying to figure out a good, easy recipe to serve to a good-sized group that is palatable to everyone.  We've decided on Chili for dinner (I'll share that recipe Friday!) and we're still working on the birthday dessert.

     Now what to eat the rest of the weekend?  Pasta of some sort is always easy, but then we're sticking to our usual carbs and meat.  I figured this cabbage salad is an easy (and quick!) way to introduce some greens into our weekend menu amongst all the carbs, meat, and beer.  This salad is yummy, crunchy, and not just a boring ol' lettuce and dressing salad.  The toasted Ramen noodles on top give it crunch and flavor, plus the charged up vinegar Asian dressing means that I'm usually licking the bowl clean at the end of the night!

I almost forgot!  The ABSOLUTE BEST part of this salad is that it can BE MADE AHEAD OF TIME!  You prepare the salad "goodies" and the cabbage separately; as long as you refrigerate  the cabbage and keep the toppings in a sealed container, you can make it up to 2 days ahead!  If you're bringing it to a party, keep the chopped ingredients in plastic bags and a separate container with the dressing, then mix it all together upon arrival!

CRUNCHY CABBAGE SALAD

The original recipe serves about 6 people, but this is the doubled recipe I always use since it's normally for a big group.  It's easy to decrease or increase the amount of ingredients necessary.  Ready In: 30 minutes;  Serves: 12

Ingredients:

Napa Cabbage @ the Farmers' Mkt

Bok Choy leaves

For Salad:
1 head Bok Choy
1 head Napa Cabbage
2 bunches of scallions, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 packages Ramen noodles (chicken flavored), broken
4 tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup raw slivered almonds
For Dressing: (you can adjust all of this to taste)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

The Crunchies: almonds, sesame
seeds & toasted Ramen noodles

3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sesame oil
3/4 cup white sugar (up to 1 cup if you like it sweeter)
4 tbsp LITE soy sauce (again, you can adjust to taste)
Preparation:
Make the Salad:
Chop the cabbage heads and bok choy; add to a large bowl.
Chop the scallions and keep in a separate container; cover both containers and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Make the Crunchies:

Watch the crunchies carefully...
I got distracted and did this a few
weeks ago!
(Good thing Ramen's cheap)

While still in the packaging, use your hand/fist to gently bang and break up the noodles.  Be careful not to get too aggressive - the packaging might break and then you'll be cleaning up Ramen noodle pieces for weeks!  Discard the included flavor packets.

Melt the butter in a pan; mix in the broken Ramen noodles, sesame seeds, and almonds; stir to coat evenly.  Watch the noodles carefully; you want the noodles to brown nicely, but careful not to let them burn!  This can happen quickly, so I really stand watch on the noodles and stir pretty consistently until  they're browned.
Make the Dressing:
In a small sauce pan, heat the vinegar, sesame oil, vegetable oil, sugar, and lite soy sauce (you can also do it in the microwave, but you have to heat it to melt the sugar).  I simply stir the ingredients together, making sure to not let it boil, but just cook long enough until the sugar dissolves.  


When ready to serve, remove from the cabbage and scallions from the fridge; combine 3/4 crunchy mix with cabbage and scallions and dressing; toss to spread dressing.  Sprinkle last 1/4 of crunchies on top for a finished salad ready to eat!
Again, if you bring it to a party, the easiest way to transport is good ol' ziploc bags.  Use large ziploc bags for the cabbage, a smaller one for the scallions, another small one for the crunchies, and then have the dressing in a separate container.  It's quick to mix up so you can do it right at the party for a fresh salad (I just suggest bringing your own bowl so you're not too presumptuous!!)

For our beach getaway, I won't be adding almonds because we'll have a nut allergy in the house.  The salad is equally as good without the almonds (sometimes I even like it better)!  When I make my GIGUNDO-SIZED Cabbage Salad, I'll make sure to take pictures so you can witness how much it makes!!!

...t-minus 8 days until the beach!