Crunchy Romaine Toss

I thought about making this for a long time, but kept hesitating. I was curious about toasting the raw ramen noodles, but the idea made me nervous (and intrigued at the same time). I imagined they would taste stale. Plus I hear ramen noodles and start having college flashbacks (which isn't all together bad, but can be a little freaky).

I must have been feeling bold, because I dove right in and made this for company. Lucky for me it was a big hit! The dressing is wonderfully sweet and salty. There's a nice pungent touch from the scallions. And it's loaded with crunch from the broccoli, walnuts and noodles - which did not taste stale, but more like those those crunchy chow mein noodles you buy in a can (which some people think are low class, but they can suck it, because I love those). This was the kind of salad that I think would be a real crowd pleaser. I would totally bring it to a pot luck (no matter what, it's bound to be better than the jello mold jigging in the corner). 

CRUNCHY ROMAINE TOSS

Yield: 6 servings

dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 (3 oz.) package ramen noodles, broken

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli

1 small head romaine lettuce, torn

4 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup chopped roasted walnuts

1.      In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine all the dressing ingredients; shake well.

2.      Discard seasoning packet from noodles (or save for another use). In a skillet, saute noodles in butter until golden.

3.      In a large bowl, combine noodles, broccoli, romaine, scallions and walnuts. Toss with dressing and serve immediately.

from allrecipes.com (submitted by Bissy Crosby)

dressing ingredients (adding soy sauce)

ramen noodles

They're not hard to break up, just use your hands.

toasting the broken ramen noodles

broccoli

I'm not a big fan of raw broccoli, so I chopped mine into very
small florets. And I didn't mind the texture at all. In fact, I liked it.

chopped scallions

everything but the dressing

I used green leaf lettuce, but I kept the recipe as is
(I like the name Crunchy Romaine Toss - it works).

adding the dressing

.