Nigel Slater’s noodle salad with sprouted beans and peanuts

Use whatever noodles you have around for this crisp, light salad. I have suggested brown rice noodles but only because that is what I had in the house. The dressing is at its most refreshing when sharp, sweet and hot, but tweak it to your liking, adding more palm sugar or lime juice as you wish.

Serves 4
sprouted mung beans 100g
carrot 1 medium-sized
brown rice noodles 100g
cucumber 1 medium-sized
coriander a large handful
mint leaves 15
pak choi 2 crisp, juicy heads
roasted, salted peanuts 40g

For the dressing
limes juice of 2
light soy sauce 2 tsp
palm sugar 2 tsp
small hot red or green chilli 1
garlic 2 small young cloves

Rinse the mung beans under icy-cold running water and drain. Scrub the carrot, slice thinly lengthways, then into matchstick-size strips. Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave to soak for 10 minutes till swollen and tender. (Check the cooking instructions on the packet depending on the noodles you are using.)

Lightly peel the cucumber, then slice in half from stalk to tip, scrape out the seeds and core with a teaspoon and discard them. Cut the cucumber into pencil-thick slices. Remove the leaves from the coriander, leave any small ones whole, and roughly chop the larger ones. Do the same with the mint leaves. Shred the pak choi.

Toss the mung beans, carrot, cucumber, pak choy and herbs together. Drain the noodles and toss with the vegetables and herbs.

Make the dressing: mix together the juice of the limes, the light soy and sugar. Finely chop the red chilli and add to the dressing. Peel, smash, then finely chop the garlic. Toss the dressing, vegetables, herbs and noodles together. Finally, coarsely chop the peanuts and scatter over the salad.