cherry chicken salad- grain of salt

some dishes are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. this particular meal represents the latter. ok, not so much greatness… rather… cherries.

it’s summer here in australia, and while we’re making news around the world for our unseasonably cold weather, there are still cherries about and you can be damned sure i was first in line the day they went on sale. 

wanting to make the maximum of these precious red jewels, i have taken it upon myself to add cherries to pretty much everything at the moment. the pork cherry glaze was a hit, while the cherry curry still needs work. while i continue to, quite literally, put a cherry on top of everything, i thought i’d share the best result so far.

take one hundred grams of cooked and drained rice vermicelli noodles and place in a large bowl. add two finely sliced green shallots, one carrot; peeled in to long strips, a cup of pitted and halved cherries, and a handful each of fresh mint and coriander leaves. toss in one cooked chicken breast, shredded.

for the dressing combine one tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce, the juice of one lime, one teaspoon of rice wine vinegar, one teaspoon of soy sauce, one teaspoon of sesame oil and one tablespoon of vegetable oil. whisk together in a small bowl, or shake thoroughly in a jar, then pour over noodle salad mixture. toss all ingredients together in the dressing, then arrange on plate. top with toasted sesame seeds.

the addition of cherries is a surprising twist on this fairly simple asian noodle salad, and looks pretty too. 

now, how does everyone feel about cherry stroganoff?

(photo editing by the amazing paul mackay)