Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Dieting in style - this chicken salad is tangy and delicious but gentle on the hips. For an even gentler recipe, it's also very nice if you steam or poach the chicken instead of frying it.

Serves 6: 190 calories per serve

1 small Chinese cabbage, finely shredded
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
500g (1lb) chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and cut into strips
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
1/3 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2/3 cup chopped mint
2/3 cup chopped coriander (cilantro)

Cook the chicken and onion in the oil at high heat in a wok in two batches. Cool. Combine the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar and ½ teaspoon salt and mix well until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Toss together the cabbage, chicken and onion, dressing, mint and coriander.

This is nice with some cashews tossed through as well.

Warm Salmon Salad with Caper dressing

This is a summer favourite. I ripped it out of a trashy women's magazine and now I make it almost every week in the summer. Tasty and healthy!

Serves 4

150g green beans, trimmed and cut
½ bunch asparagus, trimmed
500g fresh salmon fillet
80g baby spinach leaves
½ cup chopped parsley
125g cherry tomatoes
2 french shallots (scallions, sliced finely)

Dressing:

Juice from 1 medium lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon baby capers, drained
Salt and fresh ground pepper

Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well

Fill a large frying pan with water and cook the beans and asparagus for a few minutes, until just tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and rinse in cool water. Add the salmon to the hot water and simmer uncovered for 5-7 min, depending on the thickness of the fillet, until just cooked. Drain the salmon, cool slightly and flake into large pieces.
Combine the spinach, parsley, tomatoes, asparagus, beans and shallots in a large bowl. Add the salmon and toss. Divide between 4 plates, drizzle with dressing.