Muriel’s favourite Salad

This refreshing salad recipe came from Muriel who lives far away in Perth, Western Australia. Muriel insists on crediting her daughter Chloe with this recipe, so thank-you Chloe O’Leary, and keep them coming! Chloe and her friend Paula are also responsible for the delicious Rosemary Shortbread Biscuits recipe on this site – do give them a go, they are amazing!

This salad is so easy to prepare, and is perfect if you’re having a salad-y dinner, or if you’ve been asked to bring a dish to a family party – do you remember family parties? They used to be a thing.. – and will be again!

In the meantime, here’s a sunny-day salad full of bright colours for you!

EQUIPMENT:

• A medium-large heat resistant bowl
• A sieve
• A large mixing bowl – I use my big Mason Cash bowl for this.
• A smaller bowl  to mix the dressing
• A set of cooking tongs
• A potato peeler or Julienne cutter.
• A balloon whisk
• A sharp knife
• A pretty serving bowl

INGREDIENTS: This makes a big, big bowl of salad, so it’s perfect for a family or a crowd. just reduce quantities if you want a smaller salad.

• 100g vermicelli noodles
• 500g cooked chicken at room temperature, shredded
• 1 large red pepper, finely sliced – see NOTE 3
• 1 large yellow pepper, finely sliced
• 1 carrot in julienne strips or ribbons
• 100g bean sprouts, or pea shoots
• 100g Sugar snap peas, washed and shaken dry, cut in half or quarters.
• A handful of Coriander, or flat-leaf Parsley, stalks finely chopped, for serving
• A drizzle of Olive oil, just before serving.

Dressing:

• 2 tbsps. light Soy sauce
• 2 tbsps. Olive oil
• juice of a half a lime or lemon
• 1 finger of fresh Ginger, peeled and grated

METHOD:

• Cover the noodles with boiling water and leave for 5 minutes until they’re fairly soft. See NOTE 1
• Drain and refresh under cold water; drain again.
• Roughly chop the noodles and put them into the large mixing bowl.
• Put the julienned carrots into the bowl you used for the noodles – and cover with boiling water. Leave them for 5 minutes, then drain, refresh, and drain again. Add them to the mixing bowl. See NOTE 2 for ‘refresh’
• Wash and drain the Sugar-snap Peas and the beansprouts (separately) and drain well. Cut the sugarsnap peas in half or quarters. Add them to the bowl.

• Add the shredded chicken, carrots, beansprouts and peppers, then toss gently together. I found my kitchen tongs useful for doing this. If you prefer, you can add the noodles and vegetables in alternate layers, which will make them easier to mix.
• In the smaller bowl, whisk the sauce ingredients together. Taste and check for seasoning; mine needed salt.
• Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix gently to combine, give yourself a few minutes to do this.
• Transfer the salad to the serving plate or bowl
• Sprinkle over the Coriander, drizzle with Olive Oil, and serve!

NOTES:

1. I gave the noodles 8 minutes, and to me, they were a little over-done, so I’m going to say 5 minutes, and see how they look to you. Don’t forget to use a timer!
2. To refresh something is to cook it briefly in boiling water, and then to drain it, and immediately plunge it into cold, cold water. This does a couple of useful things – it stops the cooking process, so that vegetables will retain their crispness, plus it keeps the item’s natural colour so that they don’t get that delightful ‘grey’ look!
3. If you’re concerned about using raw peppers – they don’t agree with everyone – I would suggest that you stir-fry the peppers and sugarsnap peas briefly, then add to the salad as normal.
4. One of my favourite flavours is the magic combination of fresh Ginger and Lime or lemon; the lovely deep saltiness of the Soy Sauce just adds to the yumminess of this refreshing salad.
5. I used 3 Chicken breasts for this salad. I poached them gently in hot Chicken stock until they were cooked, then shredded them. However, this is a fantastic salad for using up the remains of a roast chicken – and how about leftover Turkey at Christmas? You heard it here first!
6. I think that this would be a great salad for a picnic – as long as you kept it well chilled at the bottom of your Cool box!  Just give everyone a bowl and a fork, and let them get stuck in!