This Salad ROCKS!

Gordon Ramsay is a genius.

A few months ago I received a copy of his latest cookbook, Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite.  I had saved up enough bonus points at The Good Cook to receive a free cookbook, paying only shipping.  This was the book I selected, and when I got it, I sat down and went through it, noted a few recipes I’d like to try and then promptly put it on the shelf and forgot about it.   Well, given my recent cooking slump, I forced myself to go to the shelf and pick up a book that I hadn’t cooked out of yet.  This one won the lottery, and when I flipped through, I just knew that this Rice Noodle Salad with Shrimp and Thai Dressing had to be made.  If you have the book or have seen the book, you understand the appeal, because the photo of this one in the book is so appealing.

The one time I tried rice noodles, it was a dismal disaster.  I’d prepared the noodles like pasta, and boiled it too long, so they ended up very mushy.  I also found the flavor a bit odd, and overall, we just decided that we weren’t big fans.  So I really thought about just using regular pasta with this salad.  But when I was shopping last week, I decided to go with the rice noodles, and added them to my cart.  The package directions told me to boil like pasta in salted water.  Gordon told me to pour boiling water over the noodles and let them soak, so I followed Gordon’s method and ended up with rice noodles that didn’t taste funny or were mushy.

Another important component of this salad was the shrimp.  The recipe calls for already cooked shrimp, and I did debate picking up pre-cooked shrimp.  But then I remembered Ina Garten’s Roasted Shrimp and Orzo Salad that I made last year, and I remembered that wonderful roasted shrimp, and I decided on uncooked shrimp, so I could cook my own. (Roast at 400ºF for 5 minutes after tossing shrimp with salt, pepper and oil.  That’s it.)

In theory, this salad should have come together really, really quickly.  The noodles needed to soak for five minutes, the shrimp needed to roast for five minutes, the snow peas needed to blanch for two minutes, and how long can it take to slice a few vegetables and put together a dressing? Apparently a while, because the whole assembly took me some time.  I think now that I’m familiar with it, I could put it together in about 15 minutes total.  The only change I made to the recipe was with the fish sauce.  I had fish sauce on my shopping list, but somehow missed it while shopping.  So I ended up using 2 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter. Oh, and I used a serrano chile for the red chile.

And it was wonderful.  Seriously, this salad is nothing short of spectacular, and to be honest, I would expect no less from a Michelin-starred chef.  In fact, it was so good, that I’m sitting here honestly wondering if the leftovers in the fridge would make a good breakfast!  Every flavor in this salad just worked together so perfectly.  The burst of shrimp with the sesame noodles, coupled with a hit of chile and the cilantro… this is so good, not only is it company worthy, but I would serve this to royalty!  The kids were not fans, but I truly don’t care, that just means more for me, and when I make this again, I’ll just be sure to have plenty of other things on the table for them to eat, because this will be made again many times.  I can see this being a perfect dinner for a hot summer day because you can make it in the morning and let it sit in the fridge all day.  I bet you could even grill the shrimp for a wonderful flavor.

I’ll tell you, I cannot wait to try a few more recipes out of this book. They will be coming soon, that’s for sure.

Rice Noodle Salad with Shrimp and Thai Dressing

from Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite

serves 2-3

3 1/2 oz. thin rice noodles

drizzle of sesame oil

7 oz snow peas or sugar snap peas

1 large sweet red pepper

1 large sweet yellow pepper

2 green onions

7 oz. peeled, cooked shrimp

handful of cilantro leaves

1 TBS toasted black or white sesame seeds

Dressing:

1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed

1 small red chile, seeded and minced

2-3 TBS lime juice, or more to taste

2 TBS fish sauce

1 TBS light soy sauce

2 1/2 TBS jaggery or soft brown sugar

2 TBS toasted sesame oil

Directions:

Bring a kettle of water to a boil.  Place the rice noodles in a large heatproof bowl and pour on boiling water, ensuring that the noodles are fully immersed.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 5 minutes, or until the noodles are tender but still retaining a bite.  Drain and immediately toss with a drizzle of sesame oil to sop them from sticking together.

In the meantime, blanch the snow peas in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes until they are just tender, but still bright green.  Refresh in a bowl of iced water, then drain well.  Cut the snow peas on the diagonal into 2 or 3 pieces.  Halve, core, and seed the peppers, then cut into long, thin slices.  Trim and finely slice the green onions on the diagonal.

For the dressing, put all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk lightly to combine.

Put the shrimp, green onions, snow peas and peppers into a large bowl and add the drained noodles, cilantro leaves and sesame seeds.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to coat.  Eat immediately, or chill until ready to serve.

Note: If you are preparing this salad for a packed lunch, let the noodles cool completely before tossing with the other ingredients.