Recipe of the Week: Thai Lemongrass Salad

Our daughter has been scouring cookbooks this week making lists of recipes she would like me to try. This has proven to be a great help because deciding what to cook can sometimes be more time consuming than making the meal. Of course, the other benefit is that she can’t complain about what shows up on the table, a big bonus when feeding a teenager. This recipe turned out to be a real winner. It is light and has a refreshing taste and would be a great dish for a hot summer day. If you cook the rice the night before, it’s simply a matter of tossing the ingredients together. The recipe calls for chicken and that’s what I made it with, but we all agreed that fried tofu would also be delicious.Thai Lemongrass Salad2 tbsp peanut oil2 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped2 small red chilies, seeded and finely chopped4 spring onions, sliced4 cups cooked rice (long grain works best)3 cups shredded cooked chicken (optional) or fried tofu1 cup shredded mint¾ cup cilantro leaves (coriander), chopped4 kaffir lime leaves, chopped3 tbsp lime juice1 tbsp sugar2 tbsp fish sauce

Heat a frying pan or wok over high heat. Add the oil, lemongrass, chilies and spring onions and cook for 3 minutes. Place rice, chicken or tofu, mint, cilantro, lime leaves and lemongrass mixture into a bowl and toss to combine. Combine the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce and pour over the salad. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 4

This recipe is from Off the Shelf by Donna Hay