Build the whole party meal around versatile Asian salad.

Byline: HOME COOKING By Jim Boyd The Register-Guard

Shannon Poynter of Lorane provides a recipe for Almost-Asian Cabbage Salad, which she tosses together from a variety of vegetables and nuts, Mandarin orange segments and toasted Top Ramen noodles.

Poynter and her husband, John, own Hey Bayles Farm, where they grow organic produce that's sold at the Lane County Farmer's Market and through annual subscription (Community Supported Agriculture shares).

A former public school teacher, Poynter home-schools two children: Jin Joo, 5, and Ezra, 8.

Specialty: "I think my specialty is menu planning," she said. "I love to make food for people and to feed people, and I think I'm really good at putting together a menu ... We grow all kinds of things, berries, all different vegetables and all that - so I just go out onto the farm and see what looks good and then put a menu together based on that."

How she began cooking: "My mom brought me into the kitchen when I was very young. There are pictures of us making cookies when I was 2, 3, 4, around then," Poynter said.

"And my mom (Ginevra Ralph) was a great cook, too. We had lots of dinner parties when I was a kid. She thought it was great to have me with her in the kitchen with her all the time, which is what I do with these guys as well," Poynter said, gesturing toward the two children.

"So she was an early influence, and then my dad (David Bayles) is another fabulous cook, sort of guy cooking, but I've learned a lot from him as well."

Poynter grew up in a rural home south of Spencer Butte "and so I cooked to entertain myself as a kid," she said.

"If it was a rainy Sunday or whatever, I would just cook in the afternoon to keep myself entertained."

She had some professional cooking experience during the summers when she was 16 and 17. Stephanie Pearl Kimmel, now managing partner at Marche, took Poynter on the first summer as an unpaid apprentice at Kimmel's first restaurant, Excelsior Cafe, and then hired her the second summer to prepare salads and other cold dishes.

Her biggest cooking success: `Just bringing people together and having them enjoy food, that's what I do.

"I throw large dinner parties probably once or twice a week - `large' as in between eight to 16,' she said, explaining that she usually does all the cooking but occasionally will ask guests to bring side dishes.

"Just the other day, I did a great big Indian curry and I had everybody bring a different chutney or rice, and I did tandori chicken also to go with that, and some Indian breads," she said.

"And tomorrow, we're having grilled steaks and two different kinds of savory tarts, a leek-and-olive and the other one is chard-and-pine-nuts, and a spinach salad and asparagus.

"Really, it's what I like to do, so I do it fairly often."

Her biggest cooking failure: "It was at another one of these parties. ... The menu was sort of dim sum, but California-style dim sum. So lots of different appetizers, things that you pick up with your fingers. ... I made chicken drumsticks that were coated in water chestnut flour and deep-fried.

"I hadn't done very much deep-frying before. I thought I did it perfectly with a timer and a thermometer and the guests ate them and they were absolutely raw," she said.

"Nobody wants to eat raw chicken, it was very embarrassing.

"I also made little individual molten chocolate cakes, the kind that are supposed to spread out all over the plate," she said, "and they were hard as rocks."

However, Poynter said she had made eight or 10 different dishes for the party, so there were lots of other things for the guests to eat.

Her favorite cookbooks: Her favorite cookbook authors are Mark Bittman, Barbara Tropp, Deborah Madison and Marcella Hazan.

Why this recipe was chosen: Poynter said she got this salad recipe from a friend a long time ago.

"It's great for parties. That's why I chose it," Poynter said. "It's very easily adaptable. You can put in whatever you want or take things out.

"And people love it. It is the most-requested recipe that I have, and kids love it. It's just a great party food."

Poynter said the salad can be served with rice as a main dish. She takes the salad to potlucks. And she serves it as a side dish in a meal of Asian-style marinated and grilled meat with a cold noodle salad to provide the starch.

Almost-Asian Cabbage Salad

1 head napa cabbage, chopped medium fine

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups asparagus, cut in pieces

8 ounces frozen, shelled edamame (soybeans)

2 cups snap or snow peas

1 can (11 ounces) Mandarin orange segments, drained

2 packages Top Ramen (break up noodles and throw away flavoring packet)

1 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons olive oil (for frying tofu)

1 pound firm tofu or 2 cups cooked chicken, cut into small squares

For the vinaigrette:

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup rice vinegar 

3 teaspoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

Place the chopped cabbage and chopped green onions in a large serving bowl.

Blanch the broccoli florets, pieces of asparagus, edamame and snap or snow peas separately, each for about 2 minutes. (Use the same pot of water and scoop the vegetables out with a slotted spoon.)

Cool blanched vegetables with cold water, drain and add to cabbage.

While vegetables are cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet and add the raw Top Ramen noodles, slivered almonds and sesame seeds. Stir occasionally until brown. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

In the same skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry the tofu over medium high heat until golden. Let cool.

Put dressing ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously.

When ready to serve, place noodle mixture and tofu or chicken with the vegetables in the serving bowl and toss with dressing.

To nominate a cook for this feature, mail to Home Cooking, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440; fax [phone]; contact Jim Boyd at 338-2363, or [phone]; or e-mail jboyd@guardnet .com. Include the nominee's name and phone number, your name and phone number, and why you think he or she is an interesting cook.