PEANUT CHICKEN & NOODLE SALAD
One of my all-time favourite salads. I LOVE Asian flavours and I’ve been making this salad since I was a teenager. It’s just delicious and so Moorish.
You can use whatever noodles you like – vermicelli, soba, egg – whatever works for you!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
180g somen noodles (thin vermicelli noodles that contain wheat)
1 cup wombok, roughly chopped
1 small red capsicum, cut into thin strips
2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into strips of julienned
1 large carrot, cut into strips or julienned
1 cup edamame, thawed
1 ½ cups cooked chicken, chopped
5 spring onions, finely sliced
1 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup peanuts, toasted and chopped
Peanut Dressing:
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 juicy lime, juice squeezed
1.5 tablespoons Canadian maple syrup
2 tablespoons tamari
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped or grated
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Water to thin
Method:
For the dressing: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or small jog, except the water. The dressing will be quite thick, gradually add a teaspoon of water at a time, then whisk and check the consistency. You want to thin it out, but not too much that it makes the salad too wet. Set aside.
Place a medium-sized saucepan onto high heat. Bring to a boil, then add the somen noodles and cook for no longer than 3 minutes (they become soggy if you overcook them). Drain, run under cold water and set aside.
To assemble the salad: In a large bowl, add the cooked somen noodles, wombok, red capsicum, cucumber, carrot, edamame, spring onion, chicken, mint and peanuts. Drizzle over half the dressing and then toss through. Add more dressing little by little, until the salad is coated, but not dripping (you may have some dressing left over). You can garnish with some more fresh mint leaves before serving.
Tip: If you have extra peanut dressing left over, store it in a screw-top jar and will last for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.