Chicken, pea and noodle salad recipe

Simple, lightly sauced noodles that make the perfect comfort food even if you're on a health kick.

This chicken, pea and noodle salad makes a great lunch or dinner option, and is one of our best healthy chicken recipes. Don't be put off by the long cooking time. In fact, it actually includes an hour of 'resting' cooking, where the chicken cooks off the heat. Once you've brought the pan to the boil, you simple turn off the hob and leave it for an hour. From that point, the dish only takes 10 minutes to cook and assemble. This recipe serves 4, but any leftovers can be saved for the next day.

Ingredients

• 6 spring onions
• 1 bay leaf and a few sprigs of thyme
• 6 whole peppercorns
• Pinch of salt
• 2 chicken breasts, about 300g total weight
• 150g sugar-snap peas or mangetout, or a mixture of the two
• 250g dried fine egg noodles
• 2 handfuls of pea shoots
• 1 tbsp finely chopped toasted cashew nuts or 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

For the dressing:

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 3 tbsp lime juice

Method

1. Trim and roughly chop 2 of the spring onions and put in a shallow pan with the bay, thyme, peppercorns, a pinch of salt and about 600ml cold water. Bring to the boil, then put the chicken breasts in, take the pan off the heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid and leave for an hour to cook (off the heat). Shred the chicken.
2. Blanch the sugar-snaps or mangetout in boiling water for 2 mins, drain, rinse in cold water and plunge into iced water.
3. Cook the noodles according to pack instructions. Drain, refresh, and then drain again.
4. Mix together the sesame oil, soy, sugar and lime juice to make a dressing. Toss half through the noodles and divide between 4 plates or bowls. Top with pieces of shredded chicken, sliced sugarsnaps or mangetout, and thin strips of spring onion. Top with the pea shoots. Drizzle with the rest of the dressing and sprinkle with cashew nuts or sesame seeds.

Top tips for making chicken, pea and noodle salad

Flatten the chicken breasts a little to even thickness before cooking. You can use tuna or steak instead of chicken. Add thin slices of mango or finely sliced cucumber and celery to bulk out the salad.

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