Crunchy Asian Noodle Salad | Healthy Vegan Recipe

This crunchy asian noodle salad recipe is a great way to use seasonal veggies in a more unique way. Sprouts have a more delicate and sweet flavour than cabbage. Their leaves are also much finer making them great to eat raw in salads without giving you a jaw ache from all the chewing! This asian inspired salad uses sprouts, carrot and spring onion for a basic but delicious veggie combo, added to rice noodles and edamame and an amazing dressing made with almond butter. This healthy vegan recipe is not only satisfying but full of nourishing vitamins, healthy fats and plant based protein.

I love to serve this asian noodle salad with pan fried tofu for extra protein, or even tempeh or a faux-chicken if I have some around. It’s a great healthy vegan recipe to meal prep as you can store the dressing separately and just add before serving.

My asian noodle salad is also free from refined oils, sugars and processed ingredients making it a great healthy option for those winter days where you want something light and easy. For more whole foods plant based recipes, click here!

Almond Butter	Almond butter is the base of this amazing dressing as it’s super creamy without being too overpowering. Use the runny kind, I personally like “Pip and Nut”s smooth almond butter.
Light Soy Sauce	Light soy sauce has a more vibrant, salty flavour than dark soy sauce and it also helps to keep the salad dressing light in colour so I recommend using light soy sauce for this recipe.
Rice Vinegar	Rice vinegar is used to balance out the sweet and salty flavours coming from the soy sauce and dates,it makes this salad taste super fresh. You can find rice vinegar in the wold foods section of the supermarket.
Dates	To make this recipe completely sugar-free I used dates. Pre-soak your dates for an hour in hot water before starting this healthy vegan recipe. See below for substitutions.
Garlic and Ginger	Ginger and garlic are also used in the dressing to provide some more flavour. Do not exceed the recommended amount here – they are to be eaten raw in the dressing and so can be very overpowering if not balanced properly.
Sprouts	Sprouts are a lovely seasonal vegetable that I think are finally starting to get some appreciation after a long history of being unfairly hated! I love to eat sprouts raw as they have a really delicate sweet flavour and the leaves are nice and fine. Simply remove the outermost leaves and slice finely.
Carrot	Carrots provide a nice crunch and sweetness, you can cut these with a julienne peeler or like me, just grate them.
Edamame	Edamame beans are an amazing source of healthy plant based protein. You can buy them frozen and just defrost in the microwave quickly. If you add them frozen, directly into the salad they will also defrost very quickly for an easy way to add more protein. 1 cup has around 18 grams of protein!
Rice Noodles	Vermicelli rice noodles are the ones I recommend for this salad, they cook really quickly and hold onto a dressing really well.
Spring Onion / Chilli	Both are optional garnishes to the asian noodle salad. Add some freshly sliced chilli if you like a bit of heat!
Almonds	Almonds roughly chopped and then toasted in a non-stick pan add a delicious crunch and even more flavour and plant based protein.

You can substitute almond butter for peanut butter, I find peanut butter has a much more intense flavour but it is still very delicious. If you use peanut butter, consider swapping the toasted almonds for some roughly chopped salted peanuts instead!

Rice noodles can be substituted for any type of noodle you like, including wholewheat, soba or udon.

The dates can be substituted in the dressing for 1 tbsp maple syrup, or 1 tbsp white sugar. If you do make this substitution you will not need to use a blender at all and can simply whisk the dressing ingredients together.

This crunchy asian noodle salad requires minimal cooking thanks to the fast cooking rice noodles, and can be made quite quickly, especially if you have a food processor to help with chopping the sprouts!

If you’re making this in advance, pre-soak a couple of dates in hot water for at least 10 minutes, but an hour would be better. If you don’t have any dates presoaked you can substitute them for 1 tbsp maple syrup / granulated sugar and skip the blending step. Simply whisk together in a small bowl.

Start by making the dressing, in a blender add the almond butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, 2 pre-soaked dates, water, ginger and garlic and blend until smooth.

To prepare the toasted almonds, roughly chop the almonds and add to a non-stick pan. Toast on a medium/high heat for a few minutes until they turn a golden brown. Remove from the pan as soon as they’re done to prevent burning. Set these aside for later.

Set the dressing and almonds aside, and prepare the veggies. Finely slice the sprouts, or use a food processor attachment to do this for you if you have one. Grate the carrots and finely slice the spring onion. Place the veggies into a large mixing bowl. Add the edamame beans – they will defrost quite quickly and don’t need cooking.

Prepare your rice noodles according to package instructions. Once they’re cooked, drain and rinse under cold water to cool them down and stop them from sticking to eachother.

Add the rice noodles to the bowl with the veggies and pour over the dressing. Mix well to combine then add the almonds and other toppings. You can serve this asian noodle salad straight away, but for best results, let the salad marinate in the fridge for an hour before serving. It will save in the fridge like this for a couple of days. To make it last even longer, store the rice noodles, veggies and dressing in separate containers for easy on-the-go healthy vegan lunches.

Enjoy!

For more delicious, easy salad recipes, click here!