Vietnamese prawn and noodle salad with lime, lemon grass and ginger dressing

No cooking time

Serves 4

200g (7oz) cooked king prawns

½ a cucumber, quartered, seeds removed and finely sliced

2 carrots, peeled and finely sliced

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 red chilli, seeds removed and thinly sliced

1 tbsp coriander leaves, plus 1 tbsp for garnish

1 tbsp mint leaves

Finely sliced spring onions, to garnish

300g (10½oz) cooked rice noodles

For the dressing:

2 stalks of lemon grass

1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsps fish sauce

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic

3 limes, juice and rind

2 tbsps caster sugar

Using a pestle and mortar or food processor, blend the lemon grass, ginger, shallots and garlic into a paste. Add the juice and rind from the limes, fish sauce and sugar, stirring well.

To assemble the salad, combine the noodles, prawns, sliced cucumber, carrots, red onion, chilli, coriander, mint and dressing in a bowl.

Toss everything to mix, divide the salad between four plates and top each salad with a few coriander leaves and spring onions to serve.

Handy hint: Don't even try to slice vegetables with a blunt blade. This could be the moment to treat yourself to a cutting-edge knife.