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Raw salad with lime dressing and peanuts recipe

You can substitute in other green vegetables, they just have to be raw - Haarala Hamilton
You can substitute in other green vegetables, they just have to be raw - Haarala Hamilton

Thrillingly fresh and vibrant. You can substitute in other green vegetables, they just have to be raw.

Timings

Prep time: 20 minutes

Serves

Four as a side dish

Ingredients

For the dressing

  • finely grated zest of 1 lime and juice of 4

  • 1½ tbsp soft light brown sugar

  • 1 tbsp fish sauce

  • 1cm piece of ginger, grated to a purée

  • 1 garlic clove, grated to a purée

  • a tiny drop of sriracha, added to taste

  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil

For the salad

  • 100g baby spinach leaves

  • 80g frozen or fresh peas, defrosted if frozen

  • 80g young broad beans (podded weight)

  • 100g sugar snap peas, sliced along their length

  • 100g small young courgettes, trimmed and finely sliced

  • ½ red medium-sized chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

  • ½ green medium-sized chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

  • 2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

  • 15g coriander, leaves only

  • leaves from 8 sprigs of mint

  • 15g Thai basil, leaves only

  • 1½ tbsp roasted peanuts, roughly choppe

Method

1. Make the dressing first so it’s ready to go. Whisk the lime zest and juice together with the sugar in a small bowl, until the sugar dissolves. Add all the other ingredients, whisking with a fork. There are chillies in the salad but I love a tiny drop of sriracha in the dressing; just be careful about the quantity. Taste it for sweet-sour balance and adjust if you need to.

2. Roll a small handful of spinach leaves together and slice them finely. Do this until you have sliced all the spinach. If your peas have been frozen, blot them gently using kitchen paper – wetness is the enemy of this kind of salad as it dilutes the dressing and also makes it hard for the dressing to coat the various components.

3. Just before serving, put everything, except the peanuts, into a bowl and toss together with the dressing. Taste a couple of leaves to make sure you don’t need to add anything; it’s a punchy dressing. Scatter on the peanuts and serve.