Chinese cabbage and crispy noodle salad

(serves 4-6)

I'll confess this one straight up, this is a 'off-the-back-of-the-packet' recipe. I take zero credit for it but am super surprised myself that it's actually seriously delicious and amazingly simple! I tried this recently when we were invited over to a friend's place for lunch and she made a whole range of delicious salads and BBQ meat. The meal was so well thought out and made from their own home-grown herbs and vegetables, it was absolutely delicious and I was inspired to give this recipe a go afterwards! I was also inspired to have a garden, but that is still a work in progress lol...

I have to say, i've never really eaten cabbage raw before (part of the Asian upbringing i guess!) but it's quite naturally sweet and i quite like all the crunchy textures in this salad! It's also one of the cheaper vegetables that keep for longer in the fridge, and easy to wash and cut, bonus!  Looking into the health benefits of Chinese (or Nappa) cabbage, also known as wombok, it is low in calories, has antioxidant properties, good levels of iron, potassium, Vitamin C and K. So overall, pretty healthy except that the dressing may need to be modified slightly to reduce the sugar content. A great accompaniment to grilled and BBQ meat!

Prep time: 15 min

Ingredients
100g Chinese cabbage (wombok)
50 g red cabbbage
5 stems green shallots
100 g Chang's Fried noodles
100 g slivered almonds, toasted (optional)
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, to garnish

Dressing
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp castor sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup olive oil

Method

1. Cut the Chinese cabbage into thin slices. Toss, wash and dry the leaves.

NB. An easy way is to lay the half-cabbage flat side down, and start slicing thinly from the end away from the core. Keeping the core on keeps the cabbage together, then as you get closer to the core you can cut out the core.

2. Cut the shallots into thin 5cm slices.

3. Make the dressing by combining all ingredients and stir vigorously (or shake in a bottle)

4. Toss the cabbage and shallots with half the dressing, then add the almonds and fried noodles when ready to serve!