Who doesn't love that summery flavour of a delicious light colourful Thai inspired salad. It's always the way that I think... wow it's SO much effort, I need to have all the herbs and dressings and it all gets complicated. Well I made it simple and DELICIOUS! I literally used all the veggies in the fridge. The secret to making it amazing is coriander and peanuts and toasted sesame oil, these are the three flavours that for me scream out 'FRESH THAI SALAD'

I threw this together for dinner in about 20 minutes, you will need (all veggies are optional, depending on what you have in the fridge, that is what is awesome about this dish, anything works really):

celery - sliced real fine
cucumber - - sliced real fine
radishes - quartered
collard greens (or any greens you like)
carrot - grated
fennel - - sliced real fine
cabbage (optional) - grated
coriander - chopped
fresh mint - chopped
spring onion
peanuts (roasted salted are the best)
garlic - grated
ginger - grated
lime - juiced
a box of pad thai rice noodles, or general rice noodles / pasta
toasted sesame oil
mirin
amino acids ( I use this in replacement of soy sauce or tamari)

The Noodles: It's important to use rice noodles as they are much lighter than wheat and don't get as starchy. Put them in boiling water for a few minutes then drain under cold water and set aside.

The Veggies: Chop / grate the vegetables into a big dish, I gently sauted chopped up greens, you could do the same with kale or whatever else you like, maybe broccoli. It just adds another layer. Let them cool before adding to the veg so not to make the cucumber soggy.

The Dressing: I put a garlic clove and a chunk of ginger (depends on how hot you like your dressings) both grated into a jar, then I added a good slog of toasted sesame oil, a swig or mirin and a swig of amino acids. Just keep adding till the taste makes you go "mmmmm" and you smile a bit feeling chuffed with yourself, like a chemistry teacher :)

Assembly: Put the noodles, veg and dressing all together and mix up, add chopped coriander (and mint, if you like). I warmed up the peanuts in a pan on the stove just to bring out their oils, then crushed them in a pestle and mortar to get them all crushed up.

Serving Suggestion: Pop the peanuts on the top of the salad before serving so they don't go soggy. Chop up a spring onion and sprinkle on top. I then squeezed the juice of a lime on the top as well to give extra ZING magic.

ENJOY :)