Glass noodle salads have been a favourite of mine for years, they’re beautiful to look at and have the most fantastic texture – sort of chewy and definitely not soggy. For like as long as I can remember actually… I’ve had it in my head for a while now that glass noodles just aren’t Paleo and will cause me a whole world of problems, so I’ve just not been eating them. Then I had the sudden face palming revelation that glass noodles are in fact made of starch from mung beans and peas (less commonly sweet potato) – they’re naturally gluten free and as they’re just made out of starch, in fact resistant starch, you’re not going to get a nasty blood sugar spike from them, nor do they contain any noticeable amounts of phytic acid. Glass noodles although semi-translucent when dry, are glass-like and translucent when cooked – hence the name.
You can buy two versions of glass noodles; mung bean or sweet potato. The mung bean variety are much thinner (often labelled as vermicelli) and sweet potato glass noodles are slightly less glass-like and a tad on the thicker side. The great news is that you don’t actually even have to cook them – just pop them in a bowl, cover with hot water, and rest for 12-15 minutes before rinsing with cold water. Just bear in mind that these have zero flavour due to being made of starch so seasoning is a must. They’re also great dropped into soups.
If you want to make this a little more substantial just add some wild salmon (tinned/steamed), grilled chicken breast, or even sliced hard boiled egg. If you’re vegan some fried tofu would go down a treat.
So if you’re looking for a fantastic dish to impress your friends and family with, this is the one – sweet, spicy, tangy, and perfectly textured.
- 200g mung bean or sweet potato glass noodles
- 2 medium sized carrots (finely shredded)
- 1 red pepper (finely sliced)
- 1 yellow pepper (finely sliced)
- ⅓ medium sized cucumber (shredded)
- 4 spring onions (finely sliced)
- 4 tbsp fresh coriander (chopped)
- 4 tbsp fresh mint (chopped)
- ⅓-1/2 cup cashews (toasted and crushed)
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- 1" piece fresh ginger (peeled and finely grated)
- Juice and zest of 1 large lime
- 4 tbsp organic white wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 4 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp chilli flakes
- 2 tbsp Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos
- 2 tsp Himalayan pink salt (if coarse grind)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Start by placing your noodles in a large bowl, cover with freshly boiled water, being sure to immerse the nests fully, and leave to stand for 12-15 minutes.
- Whilst your noodles are soaking prepare and combine all of your ingredients for your dressing together in a small bowl and prepare your remaining salad ingredients.
- Next drain your noodles in a large sieve (I did mine in batches) and rinse with cold water. Drain well and squeeze to remove any excess water. If you like your noodles to be more manageable then you can snip them a few times with some kitchen scissors to reduce the length.
- Place your noodles into a large bowl, pour over your dressing and toss well to coat. Add your remaining salad ingredients but reserve a small handful of your toasted cashews. Toss well to coat and serve into individual bowls. Top with the remaining toasted cashews and serve.
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