This salad is inspired by a similar one my mum makes when I visit in the summer. There are so many possible variations of this – you could change the dressing you put on, the protein source, or the veg combinations. This one is zingy for sunny days!
This is another of my ‘just throw it together’ kind of recipes, so quantities aren’t fixed, they’re just rough measures and you can tweak them, omit or add as you like. This makes it particularly easy to prepare when you’re short for time but want something really fresh and satisfying.
This recipe serves 4, and is ideal for putting into food boxes in the fridge to take to work or school.
Ingredients
- 4 blocks of thin rice noodles, soaked as per instructions on the pack
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- 6 small tomatoes, sliced or quartered – I used little yellow ones, but any cherry or miniature tomatoes will do
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1/4 of a large cucumber, cut into small cubes
- A handful of sweetcorn (cooked – I always have a tin in the cupboard for salads like this)
- A handful of coriander, washed and roughly chopped
- 1 pack of vegan deli chicken pieces (or any cooked protein source of your choice – cubed tofu would work well)
- A big glug of soy sauce – perhaps around 1/4 cup
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp lime juice (I use a bottled one so it’s always on hand in the fridge, and lemon juice works if you haven’t got lime)
- 1 tsp agave syrup (or other fruit syrup of your choice)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds (I use black sesame seeds)
Method
- After soaking and running under cold water, but the drained noodles into a large bowl
- Throw in chopped vegetables and coriander
- In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice, syrup and grated ginger (I grate my ginger straight into this bowl so the juice goes in too. It also saves on washing up!)
- Throw the dressing into the large bowl with the noodles and veg, and mix it all together really well. I often find that using my hand gets the noodles well covered in the dressing, and the veg and herbs well incorporated
- Portion into 4 bowels, or lunch boxes, then divide your vegan protein pieces over the salad, and finish by sprinkling with the sesame seeds
Enjoy!