Oriental Surprise Salad

Well you know what they say, ask and you shall receive! Just as I was blogging that I needed a new recipe, my uncle just so happened to come into my office and ask if I by chance wanted a copy of this recipe! He had printed out an extra copy for someone over the weekend and they forgot to take it. Since I commented once on how much I enjoyed this salad so he thought I might like a copy of it. Now how’s that for timing! And what’s better on a hot summer day than a dinner that doesn’t require turning on the oven? Not much if you ask me! Plus the whole thing took hardly any time at all!

The recipe is called Oriental Surprise Salad. What’s the surprise? Well I’m not sure, if I had to guess I’d have to say the curry powder. Typically I can’t stand curry. Would never think to order anything with the word curry in it & would certainly never think to try a recipe that called for it. Lucky for us though, I had tasted this one before without knowing that it contained curry powder. Hence the surprise… for me anyways. I was sold. I loved it. I mean come on, it’s got frozen peas, cashews & those awesome little chow mien noodles! How could I not be won over?? Now just so you know, I added the shredded cabbage part since it was our main dish. I wanted to be more “salad like”. And boy oh boy it was a great addition! But you don’t have to add that. You also don’t have to add the chicken. The first time I had it, they had chosen to leave it meatless. I also think some green onion would be a fantastic addition. Enjoy!

Oriental Surprise Salad

1 ½ cups diced, cooked chicken or turkey

2 ½ cups celery

¾ cup mayonnaise

1 Tbls fresh lemon

½ tsp curry powder

½ tsp garlic powder

1 (24 ounce) package frozen peas

1 cup cashews, broken
1 (5 ounce) can chow mien noodles
1 bag of shredded cabbage*

Directions:

Combine meat, celery, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic & curry in a large bowl. Toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to over night. When ready to serve, remove from fridge, add frozen peas and toss well. Place a bed of shredded cabbage on each dinner plate, spoon salad over cabbage and top with cashews & noodles. (You can mix the cashews and noodles in when you add the peas, but if you plan on having any leftovers, they will get soggy.)