Healthy Crunchy Asian Slaw

Sometimes I do make recipes while only half paying attention. An example is with this salad. It was a dish served at Bali Goddess Retreats where they serve healthy but tasty and not punishing food. This Chinese or Asian slaw was one of my favourite items because I could see how good for me it was from the vegetables in it yet it tasted wonderfully good.

I know it's a hard sell to try and convince you to eat salad in Winter. I get it. You'll find me buried underneath roasts, stews and pies with one arm peeking out from the pile grabbing a pastry. But if you're craving fresh flavour, this is a great salad and well worth making. I've made a few adjustments based on the fact that I was half paying attention to it. The crunch is satisfying, the herbs fresh and the sesame based dressing is a deliciously tangy with a touch of sweetness. Better still it can be made in 10 minutes!

Dear Reader, I confess that I am the person that will miss the first ten minutes of a movie on television because I'm busy playing with my phone and then wonder why I can't follow it. It usually starts with me ignoring the studio intros and then the credits and before I know it, I have no idea who the main character is and what they're doing.

Someone recently told me about watching "12 Years a Slave" with a friend. Her friend was flummoxed by the flashback scenes and would ask aloud, "Hang on, did he escape? Whaaat? Why is he dressed in those nice clothes?" and then was startled when Brad Pitt popped up three quarters of the way through the movie saying, "Wait, that's Brad Pitt. Has he been in the movie this whole time?"

So tell me Dear Reader, do you always watch the credits? And is your smartphone always within easy reach?

Crunchy Asian Slaw

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Salad Ingredients

• 1/3 of a whole Chinese cabbage/wombok, thinly sliced
• 1 cup green beans, thinly sliced diagonally, blanched and refresh, drain
• 100g/3.5ozs bean sprouts, blanched and refresh, drain
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 red pepper, julienned
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mint leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves
• 1 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped, to serve

Dressing Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar, finely grated
• 2 large red chilies, deseeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated

Step 1 - Toss all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl (except the peanuts). Combine all dressing ingredients together and shake or whisk. Just before serving, dress the salad and add the peanuts and toss to combine.