Quick & easy Vietnamese inspired salad

We have had some very hot weather in Melbourne. My little house with all its charm and potential is a hotbox in the heat. The last thing I want to do when the house feels like an oven is to turn any cooking appliance on to make my dinner. One such night I opened my cupboards looking for inspiration and my gaze rested upon a packet of rice vermicelli. I hadn't made the salad in years but the recipe is simple and for the past three weeks I've had it at least five times. At a friends request I'm posting the recipe on this blog.

Rice vermicelli often comes divided up in serving sizes. This following recipe serves two (and as per usual it's a little relaxed in it's quantities). I think the traditional salad that this is based off is called Goi Ga. I've cheated a bit with the dressing but when it's hot, I'm bothered which means a few shortcuts.

Ingredients

Wombok (Chinese)
cabbage

• Rice vermicelli
• 1 - 2 carrots grated
• a handful of snow peas sliced thinly
• 1/2 red capsicum sliced thinly
• 2 cups of finely chopped cabbage (wombok cabbage works best)
• handful of herbs chopped (coriander &/or Vietnamese mint)
• poached chicken shredded or your preferred unflavoured canned fish

Dressing

• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• chopped coriander

Pulling it together

• Soak the rice vermicelli in boiling water for 4 - 5 minutes
• Prepare the remaining salad ingredients
• Toss together the 'dry' ingredients (including the soaked rice vermicelli)
• In a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients to taste (depending on the fish oil and your lime juice you may prefer different ratios of ingredients)
• Drizzle some of the dressing over the salad but not all of it. I usually put half of the dressing in a little jug for people to add more to their own taste.

Result

This really is quick, easy and as a bonus is also really fresh tasting and healthy. The ingredients are not expensive and the only part which can make the experience go awry is the dressing. You really do need to taste test it as you go.

I use poached chicken most often and as I poach chicken a lot I always seem to have some cooked in the fridge. I'll post a blog soon about my method of poaching chicken with is fool proof (as it proven that I can do it), healthy, delicious and super super easy.

Variations

The beauty of this dish is it's easy to adjust based on what you have in your kitchen or what you want it to look like. Try purple cabbage for something a little more eye catching. You can use common mint and Greek basil if you don't have any coriander or Vietnamese mint. You can use just about any vegetable. You can use grated zucchini or add chives or thinly sliced cucumber. If you can eat it raw you can try it in this salad.