Asian Noodle Salad
Servings: 4 to 6 serves
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR DRESSING
- ½ cup sweet chili sauce
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried mint
INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD
- 600 g chicken tenderloins trimmed of the tiny white tendon (I don’t like using it)
- Sprinkle of dried herb of choice dill, basil, mint or coriander all work well … just use one
- Sprinkle of sea salt flakes
- 50 g to 100g baby spinach leaves use as much as you like
- 250 g tiny toms leave whole if small, or cut in half if large
- ½ red pepper cut into thin strips
- 1 large carrot peeled and cut into thin strips (I use a julienne peeler for this)
- 2 small Lebanese cucumbers cut in half, seeds scooped out, and cut into thin slices
- 2 radishes thinly sliced
- 4 spring onions thinly sliced
- Fresh herbs of choice: use the amount and variety you wish washed and cut chunky (e.g. parsley, coriander, basil leaves, mint leaves)
- Noodles of choice: consider Thai Rice Noodles Singapore noodles, or zucchini noodles (1 packet of noodles is usually enough based on the volume of other ingredients used)
Instructions
METHOD FOR DRESSING
- Mix all the ingredients together and place into fridge whilst preparing salad
METHOD FOR SALAD
- Lightly oil your Varoma tray and place chicken on top (the oil will stop the chicken from sticking making it easier to wash)
- Sprinkle with dried herb of choice and a little sea salt flakes
- Place 1 litre of water into TM bowl and place Varoma into position (I always use a litre of water when steaming in case I decide to continue steaming more food AFTER I have finished with what I was originally steaming … one litre will give you an hour’s steaming time)
- Steam chicken for 14 minutes / Varoma / speed 3 … check for doneness, and if necessary continue for another minute or two (I find 16 minutes is perfect, but I check at 14 to ensure I don’t overcook the chicken)
- Put chicken aside and allow to cool for at least fifteen minutes (this can be done well in advance if wished, and kept stored in the fridge until ready to use)
- Place all the other veggies and herbs into the salad bowl
- Make the sauce if you haven’t already done so
- Prepare your noodles of choice as per packet directions (once drained run cold water over the noodles to cool, then add to the salad ingredients)
- Or alternatively prepare your zucchini noodles and add to the salad bowl
- Slice or tear the chicken into shreds and add to the salad with half the dressing and mix together … I find the best way to do this is with your hands … sorry … but they do a better job than anything else in my view
- Check the salad for seasoning and add more dressing if necessary
- Serve in large bowls with extra dressing on the table
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge until the following day
Notes
When the days are hot and you really don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen preparing the dinner meal, then this is the salad for you.
It can be adapted to be vegetarian (use avocado and / or chick peas instead of chicken), gluten free (use rice noodles or zucchini noodles), and you can use chicken which you cook yourself (see recipe … and this can be done in advance), or if time is really short, then purchase a cooked BBQ chicken from the butcher (try to get free range if possible).
If you already have some cooked meat left over from another meal, then slice that up and use it instead of chicken and your dinner couldn’t be simpler.
Use whatever salad veggies you like, it can be really simple if you don’t have much: just spinach, cucumber, tiny toms, spring onion and herbs is fine with the noodles … but obviously the more you have the more volume you will get.
Use whatever herbs you have, but I find basil and parsley fabulous, and if you like coriander then throw a heap of that in too … if you grow your own herbs then mint is a blessing as well, but you don’t want to have to buy a whole lot just for one dish. So again, it comes down to what you have easily available.
If there is just two of you, then this salad keeps really well for the next night’s dinner … or lunch … so you can tick off two meals with one lot of effort.
I always make more salad dressing than I need as it keeps well in the fridge and can be used on other dishes during the week (the family love it!), and I like to have extra dressing on the table for anyone who wants more.
You can make this salad as big or little as you like simply by cooking more chicken and using more vegetables. So the amount I am giving you will serve 4-6 (depending on appetites), with maybe some leftovers for lunch the next day (again, depending on appetites).