Lisa's Crunchy Chicken Salad

Cate Berger, parent of Will Berger '19, shares this salad, a perennial favorite of the Rusticus Garden Club from Lisa Gerard of Pound Ridge, NY.

This salad is about contrasts: crispy noodles against tender shreds of chicken, the sweetness of sugar vs. the tartness of vinegar, the pungency of scallions a counterpoint to the neutrality of iceberg lettuce.  When looked at in this way, the salad has endless variations and substitutions.  You need only your imagination to jump from this starting point to a fresh salad that works year-round, from a light summer salad to a hearty winter offering.

Instead of lettuce or with lettuce: shredded napa cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, celery, kale, edamame.

Instead of ramen noodles: fried wonton strips, fried onions.

Instead of almonds: pecans, walnuts.

For sweetness: dried fruit, manadarin oranges, shredded mango.

For my salad, I added shredded carrots and dried cranberries for color and texture.

As for the salad dressing, you can start with a ratio of 1 part sugar to 2 parts vinegar, as is noted below. You can add a little sesame oil and/or soy sauce.  A little mayo if you want it creamier.  You can also add sriracha, a garlic-chili sauce to provide some heat.

Note: Take a look at Will's Egg in the Hole recipe for a great breakfast treat.

Lisa's Crunchy Chicken Salad
Serves 6

1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped and shredded
6 green onions, chopped
1 lb. chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

4 tbs. butter
1-2 three oz. packages Ramen noodles (discard seasoning packets)
2 tbs. sesame seeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Dressing
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup (rice) vinegar
2 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine lettuce, green onions, and chicken in a bowl.  Set aside.  Break up ramen noodles, using 2 packages instead of 1 if you want more crunch. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Melt butter in the skillet and add broken up noodles, sesame seeds and almonds.  Stir until gold brown, careful not to burn the noodle mixture.  Cool on paper towels. Please note that the noodle mixture can be made the day before and stored in an airtight container or Ziploc bag.

Whisk dressing together and toss with lettuce, chicken, and green onions.  Just before serving, add crunchy noodle mixture and toss.  Serve immediately.

Other SLS Cookbook Recipes which include crunchy ramen noodles:

Chinese Chicken Salad, p. 30
Asian Slaw, p. 32
Coleslaw Salad with a Twist, p. 33

Fontella's Curry Chicken

Today I was at school with my kids to welcome and give a tour to a group of prospective families who were considering our school. Fontella, a fellow parent and friend, was there too with her daughters, and she gave me a warm hug and freely shared her lovely smile.

Last year, Fontella brought a Jamaican curry chicken to one of the school's Multicultural family group get togethers. It was the best curry chicken I had eaten, because the chicken was the softest and silkiest I had ever tasted. It was addictive. After that night, I would fondly tease Fontella with a "Where is my curry chicken?"

Well today was no different. I went on and on about where was my curry chicken, hugged her goodbye, and went home.

A couple hours later, I got a call from Fontella. Surprise! She went home and actually made curry chicken, and she called me to come pick up some.

Don't you agree I have lovely friends?

This time she made a curry with Trinidadian curry powder, which she called a dark curry.

I asked her how she went about cooking curry, since I was taught how to make other curries -- Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, Jamaican, Indian, and Guyanese -- from other friends.

Like my Jamaican friend Coleen, Fontella uses pre-mixed curry powders, bought from the local Caribbean store. There's Jamaican and Trinidadian curry powders, duck/goat curry powders, etc.

If Fontella is using chicken breasts, she slices it thin and dusts it with Goya adobo powder, cumin, onion powder, and salt and pepper, so that it can marinate in the spices.

She fries some garlic in oil and takes it out so it doesn't burn. After frying whole allspice berries in the oil until fragrant, she adds the curry powder, chicken, onions, and garlic and cooks them slowly for a few minutes, then adds a little water and cooks it at a low simmer, as Fontella says, "until it's done."

We figured out this was about 15 minutes.

Eat with rice for a lovely meal.

P.S. Fontella's handsome, young son reminds us to avoid those allspice berries -- they're for flavor, not for eating!

SuSu Chicken Marsala

One gloomy winter week in January 2009, my friend Su swept me away from school for a restorative lunch at her favorite Italian restaurant. In addition to the main entree of friend therapy, I had a veal and shrimp piccata and Su enjoyed veal marsala. I've made this chicken marsala in her honor. Thank you, Su.

To make this an easy weeknight meal, I used packaged sliced chicken. Of course, you can take chicken breast, slice it yourself, and pound it so it's even. I also used packaged sliced mushrooms. This will serve 3 people and of course you can double or triple the recipe.

3/4 to 1 lb. prepackaged sliced chicken
Flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1/2 tbs. butter
2 slices bacon (or 2 oz. pancetta), finely chopped
1 8 oz. package sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. tomato paste (I use Amore paste in the tube)
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
Italian seasoning
1 cup sweet Marsala
1/2 cup chicken broth
Lemon
Fresh chopped parsley
A tsp. of cornstarch mixed with a couple tsp. of water

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge both sides in flour, shaking off excess flour.Heat saute pan over medium heat.

Add 1-2 tbs. of oil and cook chicken on both sides, 4-6 minutes per side depending on the thickness. If cooking in batches put chicken on a plate, covered loosely with tin foil, in the oven.Add a little oil and little butter in the skillet. Add bacon and cook for one minute. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook until bacon is browned and mushrooms are cooked, around 8 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and a little italian seasoning. Add tomato paste and cook with mushrooms until the tomato starts caramelizing. Take out mushrooms and set aside.

Add marsala wine to skillet and simmer five minutes, letting it reduce and the alcohol burn off. Add back mushrooms and chicken broth, and cook until sauce is reduced, another five minutes. taste, add salt and pepper as needed, and add shot of lemon as needed. Add cornstarch slurry, and stir, letting it come to a simmer for final thickening and add parsley.Poor sauce over chicken and serve.