Noodle salad with chilli nuts

Salad is not just about lettuce, this zingy noodle salad is perfect for popping in your lunchbox. 

Ingredients

For the salad

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• ¼ cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, finely chopped
• ¼ red pepper, finely chopped
• 100g/3½oz egg noodles, cooked according to packet instructions
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chilli nuts

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 50g/2oz peanuts
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp chilli flakes

Preparation method

1. For the noodle salad, put the vegetable oil, soy sauce and honey in a large bowl and mix well.
   
2. Add the cucumber, pepper and cooked noodles, season with salt and pepper and mix well.
   
3. For the chilli nuts, heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the peanuts for 3-4 minutes. Drain off the oil and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, then add the salt and chilli and stir well to coat the nuts.
   
4. Put the noodle salad in a bowl, sprinkle over the nuts and serve.
    

 Top recipe tip

You may not think of a honey as a store cupboard ingredient but it can be very useful for achieveing a sweet and sour balance in Asian cooking.