We love this salad for an easy midweek meal. It’s full of Asian inspired flavours, fresh herbs, crunchy peanuts and seasonal veggies and takes less than 30 minutes to whip up.
This Week
2 Dec - 8 Dec
Lemongrass and Ginger Pork Meatballs with Vermicelli Noodle Salad
- Under 30 minutes
- 4
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Meal Prep Guide
Prepare the vegetables – store together in an airtight container with a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Finely slice 1 red capsicum.
- Shave ⅓ of a cucumber into ribbons with a vegetable peeler.
- Finely slice ¼ of a large white cabbage.
Prepare the salad dressing.
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 lime (zest and juice)
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 tsp ginger (grated)
- 1 red chilli (finely sliced)
Method
- Combine all ingredients in a small glass jar and shake well to combine. Store in the fridge.
Tips
Tips
- You want to slice the cabbage as finely as possible so it can soften and take on all the flavours from the dressing. Make sure you use a really sharp knife when slicing or even use a mandoline if you have one.
- The meatballs only need to cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Pork mince can overcook easily and unlike chicken you can eat pork when it’s still a little pink.
Shortcuts
Vegetables
- You can leave out the noodles and add some finely sliced cos lettuce or extra cabbage.
- Add some grated or shaved carrot.
- You can use red cabbage instead of green cabbage.
Protein
- Swap out the pork mince for chicken mince.
- For a vegetarian option, marinate 300g tofu in 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp tamari, 2 stalks lemongrass (finely chopped), 1 Tbsp ginger (grated) and 1 clove of garlic (crushed). Pan-fry in coconut oil for 2-3 minutes or so on either side until golden brown.
Other
- Swap out the peanuts for cashews or sesame seeds.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 600g Pork mince
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp tamari
- 2 stalks lemongrass (finely chopped)
- 1 Tbsp ginger (grated)
- 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
- Pinch of pepper
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil (for frying)
- 1 Tbsp tamari
- 2 tsp honey
Salad
- 1 red capsicum (finely sliced)
- ⅓ cucumber (peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler)
- ¼ large white cabbage (finely sliced)
- 1 fresh chilli (sliced)
- 100g vermicelli noodles
- ½ cup fresh mint (roughly chopped)
- ½ cup fresh coriander (roughly chopped)
- ⅓ cup dry-roasted peanuts (roughly chopped)
Dressing
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 lime (zest and juice)
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 tsp ginger (grated)
- 1 red chilli (finely sliced)
Method
- Start off by preparing the meatballs. Add the pork mince to a large mixing bowl and add the fish sauce, tamari, lemongrass, ginger, garlic and pepper. Mix well and roll into small balls (about 1 heaped tablespoon of the mince mixture). Set aside.
- Soak the noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes, rinse under cold water, drain and set aside.
- Add a tablespoon of coconut oil to a large pan over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the meatballs and cook for 3-4 minutes or so on either side until cooked through.
- While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the salad ingredients and make the dressing. To make the dressing add all ingredients to a small glass jar and shake well to combine.
- Once the meatballs are cooked, remove from the heat and drizzle over 1 Tbsp of tamari and 2 tsp of honey. Toss the meat balls around so each one is coated in the honey, tamari mixture.
- To assemble the salad add all of the vegetables, herbs, noodles, peanuts and chili to a large platter and pour over the dressing. Toss well and top with the meatballs and any pan juices.
Variations
Vegetables
- You can leave out the noodles and add some finely sliced cos lettuce or extra cabbage.
- Add some grated or shaved carrot.
- You can use red cabbage instead of green cabbage.
Protein
- Swap out the pork mince for chicken mince.
- For a vegetarian option, marinate 300g tofu in 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp tamari, 2 stalks lemongrass (finely chopped), 1 Tbsp ginger (grated) and 1 clove of garlic (crushed). Pan-fry in coconut oil for 2-3 minutes or so on either side until golden brown.
Other
- Swap out the peanuts for cashews or sesame seeds.
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