Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

I spend a lot of summer weekends barbecuing with friends and family, and I always like to bring something to the party.  This noodle salad is light and refreshing and always seems to be a big hit!

Ingredients (for a party size batch):

1/4 cup cooking oil (I like coconut or avocado oil)

1 Tbsp. minced ginger

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

4 green onions

1 kg. chicken (breasts or thighs work perfectly)

1 carrot

1 parsnip

1 yellow or green zucchini

1 long English cucumber

250 grams rice vermicelli noodles

1/2 cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp. fish sauce

Juice of 2 limes

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp. chipotle pepper flakes (optional)

1/4 cup pea shoots (optional)

Directions:

1. Prep all ingredients before you start trying to cook anything.  Roughly chop the raw chicken into cubes, slice the green onion, peel and grate/shred/spiralize the carrot and parsnip, grate/shred/spiralize the zucchini and cucumber, but keep the cucumber separate from the rest of the vegetables.  Chop the pea shoots, if using.  Place dry rice noodles in a large bowl.  Mix the soy sauce, fish sauce, juices and pepper flakes (if using and set aside).

2.  Put a large pot of water on to boil.  

3.  While the water is heating up, heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the ginger, garlic and onion, and cook for about 2 minutes.

4.  Add chicken and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is fully cooked (10 to 20 minutes, depending on how big your pieces of chicken are).

5. When the water boils, you will blanch  the carrot, parsnip and zucchini and then strain and set aside.
6.  Put another large pot of water on to boil.  When the water boils, pour it over the rice noodles and let them soak for 5 minutes.  Then, drain and set aside.
7.  Once the chicken is cooked, mix all ingredients in a large dish and pour the sauce on top.  Mix well and refrigerate to really let the flavors blend.

If you want to make a smaller serving, you can halve or quarter the recipe quite easily.