Lime turmeric rice noodles salad with asparagus

Lime turmeric rice noodles salad with asparagus

In this salad, the noodles are not passive - they are tasked with being a carrier of big flavour. The addition of ground turmeric to the cooking water imbues them with smokiness and a luminous sunny tint. Credit for this technique must go to the iconic Heidi Swanson, cookbook author and creator of one of the OG food blogs 101 Cookbooks – I borrowed the idea from her som tum noodle recipe in her most recent book Super Natural Simple.

The dressing is sweet, tangy, salty. It is designed to be bright and vivacious - up the lime if you want more pizzazz. The asparagus is seared until it becomes sweet and juicy, but it should retain a slight crispness. Its buttery nuttiness pairs really well with the earthy, smoky turmeric-laced noodles.

Serves 4

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Ingredients

• 350g (12-ounces) thick rice noodles
• 3 teaspoons (1 US tablespoon) ground turmeric
• 450g (1 pound / 1 bunch) asparagus, woody ends removed and cut into 5cm (2-inch) pieces
• extra virgin olive oil
• 225g (8-ounces) baked tofu (pre-baked tofu like this), sliced
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• Big handful of Asian herbs such as coriander (cilantro), Thai basil, Vietnamese mint (rau răm), roughly chopped
• 1 - 2 limes, halved
• 50g (1/3 cup) toasted almonds or peanuts, roughly chopped

Lime-maple dressing

• 1 lime, juiced (2-3 tablespoons)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or brown sugar)
• 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely grated
• 1/2 - 1 red or green chili (pepper), sliced (to your liking)
• sea salt and black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the rice noodles and turmeric and cook according to packet instructions until the noodles are al dente. Drain and run under cold water, tossing to cool them down. Drain again.

2. Meanwhile to make the dressing, place the lime juice, maple syrup, tamari or soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and chilli (pepper) into a bowl and whisk to combine. Season with sea salt and black pepper. The dressing should be tangy sweet, salty, and spicy.

3. Heat a large fry pan (skillet) on medium high heat. When hot, add a drizzle of olive oil along with the asparagus. Season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing often, until the asparagus are crisp-tender, bright green and slightly charred, 3-4 minutes.

4. Place the noodles into a large bowl and add the tofu, asparagus and the dressing. Toss to combine. Add most of the herbs (keeping some aside for topping) and toss. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

5. To serve, top with remaining herbs and the nuts, and drizzle generously with lime.