Check out this light and delicious vegan friendly noodle salad with courgette, red cabbage and carrot. Tossed in a flavoursome sesame dressing with an extra dusting of sesame seeds.
When you think of a salad you might not automatically think of it containing noodles but I promise this is a must try. It is so tasty and so filling.
Ribboned Courgette
Courgette is a wonderful vegetable like a marrow. Courgette is also known as zucchini, but in the UK we call it courgette. This is what I will refer to in this recipe.
Most people I know don’t actually eat courgette raw. I think this is a great recipe because it shows how versatile courgette actually is. Check out my other courgette recipes.
Use a Vegetable Peeler
In order to create the thin ribbons of courgette, take a vegetable peeler and peel along the length of the courgette. It is that simple.
Adding Salt
Whilst we aren’t cooking the courgette, we are going to use salt to draw out some of the water from it. This is an optional step, you can just add the courgette as it is, however this may add too much liquid and water down the dressing.
To dry out the courgette, place the ribbons in a colander and sprinkle over a generous amount of salt. The water will be drawn out of the cells and by placing it in a colander, the water can run down out of the holes at the bottom. Place the colander on the draining board or on top of some kitchen paper which will absorb the water. I have suggested leaving the courgette for 30 minutes at least but feel free to leave it for an hour or so so remove even more water. I also recommend leaving it for longer if you are a larger amount of courgette.
Noodle Salad
What type of noodles should I use in a noodle salad? I used these Sharwood medium egg noodles and they worked perfectly. These were what I had in my cupboard which is why I used them and they also are so easy to cook. Just pop them into some boiling water for a few minutes and thats it!
If you wanted to use something else, I would suggest a similar medium sized noodle or perhaps a thinner noodle. Thin noodles would work well as they will mix with the other ingredients easily.
Vegan Noodles
I am aware that the Sharwood noodles are not vegan. They are made with egg. If you want to make this vegan then you need to use egg-free noodles. There are plenty of options out there so find some vegan noodles that work for you. Instead of egg noodles, you can use rice noodles. Rice noodles are made from rice flour and water so are vegan friendly. These are widely available and easy to prepare.
Noodle Salad Sesame Dressing
Sesame Oil
I love sesame. There are three sources of sesame in this noodle salad. Firstly, we have the sesame oil which is the base of the dressing. If you don’t have sesame oil then you could use olive oil instead, however you will be missing out.
Sesame Seeds
Secondly, we have the sesame seeds. I absolutely adore sesame seeds and they add quite a lot of texture and flavour to this dish. I specifically used black sesame seeds as I think they look cool. They contrast with the ribboned courgette quite nicely. If you don’t have black sesame seeds then you can use white sesame seeds instead.
Sesame seeds are also also a great source of protein. You can read more about why I think protein is so important to your diet in my article here.
Tahini
The last source of sesame is from the tahini. Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds and is a favourite in middle eastern recipes. I absolutely love tahini and I think it adds so much to this dish. It is something that I love to cook with, check out some of my other recipes with Tahini.
Simple Noodle Salad
This dish is so easy to put together, just mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl. That’s pretty much it. It is great served cold but if you want to you most definitely can eat it hot – just pop it in a wok or frying pan for a few minutes and stir well.
This makes a great main or side dish and is perfect for a lunch or dinner. Serve immediately or make ahead of time and leave covered in the fridge. Serve with a few extra spinach leaves and some tasty hummus.
Ribboned Courgette Noodle Salad
Ingredients
- 300 g Cooked Noodles Remember that these need to be egg free for this to be vegan
- 1 Courgette
- 200 g Red Cabbage
- 1 medium Carrot
- 4 medium Spring Onions
- 2 tbsp Fresh Chives
- 20 g Black Sesame Seeds Or regular sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
- ½ Lime
- 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Maple Syrup Or honey
- 1 tsp Tahini
- Salt
Instructions
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel the courgette into ribbons. Place these in a colander or sieve and season generously with salt. The salt will draw out the water from the courgette so place the colander over some kitchen paper or on a draining board. This can be left for 30 minutes.
- Cook your noodles according to the instructions and place aside to allow to cool down.
- Finely grate the carrot and chop the red cabbage into thin strips. Chop or slice the spring onions.
- In a jug, mix together the sesame oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, tahini and the juice from the lime.
- In a large bowl, mix together the courgette, carrot, spring onion, cabbage, sesame seeds, chives and noodles. Pour over the sesame dressing and toss together.
That looks absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Let me know what you think! Glad you like the look of the recipe 🙂