Vietnamese-style Chicken Salad

Recipe 4/30 of my 30 day recipe series to help you get healthy and lose weight in January

CALORIES PER SERVING: 253 (SERVES 2)

I’m yet to meet anyone who doesn’t enjoy the zingy freshness of Vietnamese food, so I’m sure you will love this aromatic chicken salad. The recipe uses pre-cooked chicken, which you can buy from the supermarket, but allow extra time if you need to pan-fry some from raw.

PREP TIME: 15 mins

COOKING TIME: 5 mins

INGREDIENTS:

For the salad

• 1 tsp sesame seeds, to garnish

• 75g green beans, trimmed and halved

• 1 red or yellow pepper, sliced

• 100g beansprouts

• ¼ cucumber, diced

• 200g pre-cooked chicken, without the skin, shredded

• 2 spring onions, sliced

• a small handful of mint leaves, chopped

For the dressing

• 1 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 tsp rice vinegar (or other white vinegar)

• 1 tbsp runny honey

• 1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped

• 1 garlic clove, finely grated

• juice of 1 lime

• 1 tsp sesame oil

METHOD:

Heat a small frying pan and toast 1 tsp sesame seeds for 1 minute until golden, then set aside in a small bowl.

Using the same pan, make the dressing. Add 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp runny honey, 1 deseeded and chopped small red chilli, 1 finely grated garlic clove and juice of 1 lime to the pan and bring to a simmer.

Stir for a further minute or so, then turn off the heat, stir in 1 tsp sesame oil and set aside to cool.

Bring a small pan of water to the boil and blanch 75g traimmed and halved green beans for 1 minute.

Drain and run under the cold tap to retain the nice green colour then transfer to a serving bowl.

Add 1 sliced pepper, 100g beansprouts and ¼ diced cucumber, and toss together.

Top with 200g skinless shredded chicken, 2 sliced spring onions and a small handful of chopped mint leaves.

Dress just before serving and top with toasted sesame seeds.