Asian chicken, noodles & peppers

I've broken the charger for my iPod shuffle.  Not the end of the world, but not really the way to start the day, either.  In an effort to distract myself I thought I'd have a run through of a tasty asian-inspired chicken and noodle salady-type dish I came across in Hawera last week. It sounded tasty, so best way to find out, try it. And I can tell you, it was good. Really good. The fat udon noodles made it, for me, but you could use rice noodles, or those flat ones (can't remember what they're called, but you can buy packs of them, dried and rolled up). 

Salads are great, 'cause nowadays salad can often really mean 'salad'.  Long gone are the days of the poor wilted piece of iceberg, sitting lonely on a plate, completely starkers, lucky if a rogue slice of tomato, cumcumber or grated carrot stopped by (no disrespect to the iceberg, it was, and remains, my favourite lettuce, for it's crunchy goodness).  Today green salads are exciting, either due to their varied ingredients, or tasty dressings (see bottom of this post for a chilli citrus gem).  And 'salad' can mean with meat, vegetarian, hot, cold, the possibilities of salad creation are endless. So, here you go, an noodle salad from the new-age world of non-lettuce-based hot salads. I loved it, so hopefully you do too!!

2 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breastes / 6 boneless thighs

salt and pepper

1/2 cup sweet thai chilli

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

c. 1/2 cup water

400 g cooked noodles (udon)
2 red capsicum, thinly sliced
1 tbsp sesame sauce
2 chopped spring onions
2 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Heat oil in pan.  Brown chook.  Add sauces, ginger and water. 
2. Cover and cook over low heat for 6 minutes each side. 
3. Cook noodles. 
4. Fry peppers in sesame oil.  Slice cooked chook.  Toss together with noodles, cooking liquid, peppers and onions.  Sprinkle with seeds.  YUM!! 

If you think a little salad on the side might be the ticket, then try a basic green salad (so as not to overpower the flavours in the noodle dish).  If you want to dress it up a bit, I'd recommend this Annabel Langbein creation, possibly the most versitile dressing ever - it works with salads, on meats, as a marinade, a dipping sauce (a thin one)...  Yum.  Just whisk/stir all ingredients together. 

juice of 1 orange

juice of 2 limes/lemons

3 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp hot chilli sauce (mild, if you prefer)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tbsp sugar

salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp each finely chopped/minced mint and coriander