Oriental Chicken Salad

First of all, I am well aware that this picture is not a good one, and it's all blurry too.  It's the only picture I have of the salad though, and I figure something is better than nothing!  :) 

This is one of my kids' favorite meals.  They all love Oriental Chicken Salad.  You know, the kind with crunchy Ramen noodles (uncooked, broken up straight out of the lovely 20 cent plastic package.  What can I say?  We like the finer things in life!)  I think it might just have something to do with the fact that we love the flavor of red wine vinegar.  We might even just splash a little extra on the top for a little more zing.  Sometimes.  When we want to take a walk on the wild side of  dinner.  I got this recipe from Jennifer Larsen (a lady in my neighborhood growing up) about 25 years ago- and to this day I have not found a better recipe for this kind of salad.  I hope you like it, too!

Oriental Chicken Salad

1 head of cabbage, chopped
2 pkg. Ramen noodles, broken into bite sized pieces (chicken flavor, reserve one seasoning packet)
1 can water chestnuts, diced
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (I rarely remember to toast them)
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 C. celery, diced
4 teriyaki chicken breasts, cooked, cooled, and chopped (find recipe here. )

Toss all of the ingredients together.  Mix in salad dressing about a half hour before serving.  Don't mix it in before that or it will all get soggy.

Dressing:

4 Tbs. sugar
6 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 pkg. chicken seasoning from Ramen
1 C. canola oil (I usually only use 1/2 cup)

Mix the sugar, vinegar, pepper and chicken seasoning in a blender.  While continuing to blend, slowly pour in the oil.