Bok choy and Ramen noodle salad

Ladies who lunch. It sounds dainty, but it is not. When you throw a potluck, all the rules of dietary etiquette go right out the front door because everyone brings their A game.

So the members of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, Chapter AG in Franklin, Tennessee, held a potluck yesterday. You have to understand that these are women who know their way around the kitchen. We all practically brought bibs with us. Generally, we try to coordinate our offerings so that there are not too many casseroles and not enough salads. But I forgot this cardinal rule of potluck gamesmanship and made my famous bok choy and ramen noodle salad. Apparently, it is world famous because two other sisters brought their own versions. This is somewhat akin to two women wearing the same dress at a party. Fortunately, all the salads looked completely different and we spaced them out on the buffet table so as not to draw attention to the similarities.

Here’s how it always goes. As you move down the buffet line you attempt restraint. You take a little bit of the tortellini salad and just a dab of the shrimp scampi, a wee smidge of the chicken linguine casserole and just one deviled egg. But before you know it, you look at your plate and realize it resembles something common at the Golden Corral. You are slightly embarrassed until you see everyone else has done the same thing. Then you come back for seconds and aren’t too shy to make a third trip for the caramel cake.

And then you realize you’ve gone and done it. You’ve made a big, fat pig out of yourself. And you feel fine about that.

Bok Choy and Ramen noodle salad

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup white sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

¼ cup butter

1 package Ramen noodles, crushed

¼ cup slivered almonds

¼ cup sesame seeds

4 strips cooked bacon

1 head bok choy

5 green onions

Combine vinegar, oil, sugar and soy sauce in a bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine. Reserve.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the noodles, almonds and sesame seeds. Saute until golden brown. Reserve.

Slice the white stalk of the bok choy into thin bite-sized pieces. Slice the green leaves of the bok choy into equally bite-sized pieces. Slice the green onions, including green parts, thinly and add to bok choy.

Sprinkle Ramen noodle mixture and bacon over the top of the salad. Add the dressing and toss thoroughly.

One Comment

  1. JoAnn Rhodes Grose
    September 27, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    mmmm, i’m going to try this!

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