Kid Vs. Produce

First of all, let me just get the obvious out of the way.  My child is not wearing a shirt in the photo.  This is fairly common dinner attire around here in warmer weather, and while I’m not exactly proud of the fact that he’s not wearing a shirt while eating, it doesn’t trouble me much.  This year, produce.  Next year, manners.

Anyhoo… the salad wars rage on here at the Circus.  One of my favorites, precisely because it is complete trash, is a salad made from shredded cabbage and some other stuff, topped with crunched up ramen noodles and almonds that have been sauteed in butter and then sprinkled with that packet of death that comes with it. Ramen isn’t so bad you say?  Let Maki over at Just Hungry give you the rundown on why ramen is very, very bad for you.  I could top the salad with Doritos for the same nutritional effect.

Let it never be said that I’m high-brow over here.  Here’s what we started with:

• About 1/2 head green cabbage
• About 1/2 head purple cabbage
• Sliced mushrooms
• Sliced carrots
• Green onion
• Diced red bell pepper

Which in and of itself isn’t bad.  But then you take one package of instant ramen, slivered almonds and butter:

And you saute those little suckers until they are golden and ready to absorb all that nasty flavoring from the little foil packet.

Once the topping has cooled, I just tossed it all together and then made a quick dressing out of 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.  Or something similar to those proportions.  I’m a bad measurer.

The Verdict?  Surprising even me, The Boy is holding steady in his pretty strong dislike for firm greens.  He likes spinach because it bends to his will when he bites it.  For some reason, he isn’t a fan of greens that crunch.  That said, he ate his entire serving (except for the mushrooms) and didn’t complain as much as usual.  Both girls liked this one – and my husband wanted me to add some chopped chicken next time.

Oh yes, there will be a next time.  This stuff is like crack.