Chinese Cabbage Salad

My friend Kelly first introduced this yummy salad to me.  My husband loves it so much that it was actually him that begged the recipe from her!  We love cabbage at our house and the little wrinkles in nappa cabbage seem to hold on great to the delicious dressing.  This recipe is perfect for baby or wedding showers, or any big get-together really.  If you want to add some oomph then throw in a few roasted chicken breasts cut up.  We had that for dinner one night and it was fantastic!

Chinese Cabbage Salad
submitted by Brittany ~ The Sisters Cafe

2 1/2 pounds nappa cabbage, thinly sliced
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 1/2 packages ramen noodles
6 Tb butter
1/4 C sliced almonds
1/4 C sesame seeds

Dressing:
3/4 C peanut oil*
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
 
Toss cabbage and green onions together in a large serving bowl. Open Ramen noodles and place them in a gallon sized freezer zip lock bag and pound them into small pieces with a meat mallet or rolling pin.   Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Melt the butter and then add almonds,  sesame seeds and Ramen noodles.  Cook the mixture stirring frequently until it becomes a golden brown.  Set the crunchy mixture aside to cool.

Pour sugar, peanut oil*,  soy sauce and rice vinegar into a medium saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Let it boil for one minute. Then set it aside to cool. When you are ready to serve, toss the cabbage and green onions with the crunchy ramen mixture and pour the dressing over the top to  coat. Serve immediately. 

*If you do not have peanut oil you can do this:

Place 3 T of peanut butter into a glass measuring cup and pour canola oil over the top of the peanut butter. Your total measurement with the peanut butter and oil should be 3/4 C.  Put the peanut butter/oil mixture into the microwave and heat it for 30 seconds.  Stir until the peanut butter dissolves.

Recipe source: adapted from Jamie Cooks It Up!