In 2013 I'm going to continue to expand my eating repertoire. This year I'm going to find at least 10 salads that I like and make them every now and then. I've established that traditional salads with lots of lettuce are not my cup of tea. For me, a salad has to have a bit of oomph and lots of flavour and usually contain vegetables, cheese, nuts or some sort of carb.
Just before Christmas we had lunch at a friend's house and she made a delicious crunchy noodle salad. Apparently everyone knows about the recipe but being a non-salad lover, it was the first time I'd tried it. Well, I loved it so much I made it again for Christmas Day then again for lunch a few days later.
We've been watching Jamie's 15 Minute Meals a lot lately and one thing I've learned from him is making the most of my food processor. I am a little bit obsessed with the slicer attachment. I used it to slice up potatoes for potato bake for our Christmas party and what used to take me at least 10 minutes, took about 30 seconds.
I figured it would work jut as well to chop up cabbage for the salad as well as my fresh haul of vegetables from the Noosa Farmers Markets last week. Combining the Chinese cabbage with zucchini, carrot and snow peas made a colourful combination and so my crunchy Asian vegetable salad was born. Slicing the veges with the 2mm blade meant they were fine enough to not be too crunchy to bite through easily but still kept their freshness.
I changed up the original sauce a little to make it a bit healthier (there was ¼ of a cup of oil in the original recipe). The hardest part of the whole salad is probably heating the sauce to dissolve the sugar.
It's definitely something I can quite up in Jamie's 15 minutes.
It's a perfect side dish for a summer barbeque but add some chopped up chicken and it's a meal in itself. It's my favourite lunch at the moment.
The only thing you have to remember is not to add the noodles until the last minute or they'll go soggy. Enjoy!
What about you? Do you prefer leafy or vegetable salads?
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ large Chinese cabbage
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 medium zucchini
- 10 snow peas
- 1 hand full of chives
- ¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- ½ packet (50g) Chang's fried noodles
- Place the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, water and sesame oil in a saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove to a jug, stir through the olive oil and set aside to cool.
- Use a food processor to finely shred all the vegetables.
- Toss the vegetables with the nuts and then add the cooled dressing.
- Add the noodles at the last minute and toss them through then top with the toasted sesame seeds.
Katherine Martinelli says
I made this salad and absolutely loved it! It's sure to be in my regular rotation - thanks so much for a great recipe :-)
Claire says
You're very welcome Katherine. Glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing with the SRC!
Christine @ Cooking Crusade says
I love these crunchy salads too and also had a similar one on Christmas Day lunch - thanks for sharing your recipe :) I'm very jealous of Jamie's amazing food processor slicer attachment - sadly mine does not have one but fortunately not all of his recipes use it :)
Jess says
I'm right there with you - I need more going on in my salads than just lettuce. I've nearly forgotten about the magic of crunchy noodles in a salad like this one, but I'm so glad you happened by it. It's such a fun thing to bring to a potluck - always a hit!
Claire says
I'm sure it's something you can find pretty easily over there Jess!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
Physically I can't eat a lot of leafy greens so veggie salads are for me. Broccoli slaw, quinoa salads, etc - perfect for me. I'm going to make your crunchy asian veggie salad tomorrow. It looks wonderful, Claire!
Claire says
Let me know what you think!
Hotly Spiced says
The thing about Jamie's 15 minute meals is that there's at least two hours of cleaning up! I love the look of this salad. It has so much crunch and texture xx
Claire says
Yes that's true Charlie. He uses so many pots and appliances. It definitely doesn't include cleaning time.
Stephanie @ henry happened says
God bless the food processor! I'm loving the idea of throwing it all in there & letting it do the work. And I'm intrigued by a noodle salad - i've never made one!
Claire says
Isn't it fantastic? I'm so glad I invested in one last year.