Like the Restaurant Version, Only Better

You might as well confess. We’ve all done this before – waited in line among a teeming, noisy crowd at this popular restaurant because you just had to have that Oriental Chicken Salad of theirs. Have you ever asked yourself if they put some kind of addictive drug in there, one that makes you come back time-after-time, blind to anything else that might be on the menu? Surely they must!

Go ahead, look at the list of ingredients. There’s no secret ingredient, nothing really remarkable. You probably have most of these items on-hand on your pantry or refrigerator right now. So what is it, then? What keeps you coming back?

There are two secrets to this dish. First, there’s the combination of all of these particular ingredients. Sweet and savory dressing components bathe the bland lettuce, cabbages and cucumber and attract you, because opposites always have that effect on each other.

But the biggest secret lies in this salad’s texture. The crunch factor is off the charts! You can barely hear your dinner companions talking above the sound in your own head as you chew! Romaine, sturdiest of the lettuces, two kind of cabbage, cucumber, almonds and dry chow mein noodles – that’s a mouthful of crunch!

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS.

Quick Tip:  Cut your romaine lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Do the same with the cabbages, or shred them. This will make it easier to get the “perfect bite” that contains all of the salad ingredients at once. Put your salad greens (lettuce, cabbages and cucumber) into a bowl and add salt and pepper. Toss to distribute evenly. Not doing this is why your homemade salad never quite tastes like the one from the restaurant.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Kristyn at lilluna.com