Vibrant Malay Salad

Vegan

Prep: 15 mins Cooks: 10 mins

Ingredients (Serves 2)

Metric

Imperial

For the dressing

1 tbsp 1 tbsp peanut buttersmooth or crunchy
5 cm 5 cm gingerpeeled and grated
5 cm 5 cm lemongrassfinely diced (tender base only)
2 tsp 2 tsp palm sugaror honey/ maple syrup
10 ml 0.3 fl oz sesame oil
1 tsp 1 tsp fish sauceor tamari if vegan
2 tsp 2 tsp soy sauce
1 1 red chillideseeded and finely chopped
3 3 garlic clovesgrated

For the salad

50 g 1.8 oz baby tomatoesdiced
10 g 0.4 oz thai basilroughly chopped (or regular basil)
10 g 0.4 oz mintfinely diced
10 g 0.4 oz corianderfinely diced
10 cm 10 cm rhubarbfinely diced
100 g 3.5 oz brown rice noodles
1 tbsp 1 tbsp sesame oil
300 g 10.6 oz smoked tofu
25 g 0.9 oz white sesame seeds
1 1 limezest and juice
3 3 spring oniontrimmed and finely chopped

Lunch Dinner

This recipe comes from my book ‘Eat to Beat Illness’ and has got to be one of the most flavourful dishes in the book. Bursting with incredible colours inspired by Malaysian cuisine, it is a celebration of how the healthiest way of eating can be vibrant and exciting. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients: it’s actually very quick to make and you can find all the components in most supermarkets. The large quantity of fresh herbs represents the concentrated sources of polyphenols known to fight inflammation; they’re a perfect balance for the heat and citrus in this delicious recipe.

Prep: 15 mins Cooks: 10 mins

Ingredients (Serves 2)

Metric

Imperial

For the dressing

1 tbsp 1 tbsp peanut buttersmooth or crunchy
5 cm 5 cm gingerpeeled and grated
5 cm 5 cm lemongrassfinely diced (tender base only)
2 tsp 2 tsp palm sugaror honey/ maple syrup
10 ml 0.3 fl oz sesame oil
1 tsp 1 tsp fish sauceor tamari if vegan
2 tsp 2 tsp soy sauce
1 1 red chillideseeded and finely chopped
3 3 garlic clovesgrated

For the salad

50 g 1.8 oz baby tomatoesdiced
10 g 0.4 oz thai basilroughly chopped (or regular basil)
10 g 0.4 oz mintfinely diced
10 g 0.4 oz corianderfinely diced
10 cm 10 cm rhubarbfinely diced
100 g 3.5 oz brown rice noodles
1 tbsp 1 tbsp sesame oil
300 g 10.6 oz smoked tofu
25 g 0.9 oz white sesame seeds
1 1 limezest and juice
3 3 spring oniontrimmed and finely chopped

Mix the dressing ingredients together in a large bowl, or blitz them in a small food processor if you want the dressing to be smooth.

Toss the baby tomatoes, lime zest and juice into the bowl of dressing. Once combined, add the herbs, rhubarb and spring onions.

Put the rice noodles in a saucepan of boiling water (off the heat) and cover for 5 minutes (or cook according to the packet instructions), then drain, cool and toss through the salad.

Heat the sesame oil in a small frying pan over a low-medium heat, add the tofu and brown it on both sides until crisp on the outside and soft within. Remove from the pan and slice into 3cm cubes.

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan for 30 seconds, scatter them over the salad with the fried tofu and serve.