Asian Inspired Salad
No waiting for the summer to arrive for a healthy, tasty salad. This one can be made any time of year and is especially good if you have any leftover chicken, duck or turkey. There’s quite a list of ingredients, but no worries, it really is worth the effort. Play with the leaves depending on the season, this is one of those versatile recipes that can change as fast as the weather,.
For the Dressing
- ½ red onion, roughly chopped
- ½ small red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- Juice ½ orange
- Juice ½ lime
- Extra virgin olive oil
For the Salad
- 150g cooked turkey, chicken or duck – shredded
- 115g cashew nuts
- 115g dried cranberries
- 2 teaspoon Five Spice powder
- 1 tablespoon clear honey
- Seasonal salad leaves
- A good handful of fresh mint leaves
- A good handful of fresh coriander leaves
- 75g Pomegranate seeds
Start with the dressing:
- Keep the olive oil to one side and blitz all the remaining dressing ingredients in a food processor or Thermomix. Measure the blitzed sauce and twice that amount in olive oil, give it a quick mix and keep to one side.
Now for the salad:
- Heat up the cooked meat, once warmed through add the cashews and dried cranberries and warm through. Stir in the spice powder and honey and heat until everything is toasty hot, about 5 mins.
- Put all the leaves and fresh herbs into a serving bowl, pour over dressing to your taste, toss through, pile the hot meats and berries on top and garnish with pomegranate seeds.