Crunchy cabbage and papaya salad

This salad makes a lovely light meal, but works just as well as a side dish for a braai. In the latter case, serve it as an “assembly salad” so you can easily store any leftover toasted noodles, crispy onion and croutons in separate airtight containers. Serves 4 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 5 minutes

YOU NEED

DRESSING

• ½ cup (125 ml) sunflower oil

• ¼ cup (60 ml) whitewine vinegar

• ¼ cup (50 g) sugar

• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) soya sauce

• flavour sachet included in instant noodles pack

SALAD

• 1 packet (73 g) instant noodles (such as Maggi 2-Minute Noodles), crushed

• 1 firm, ripe papaya (about 300 g), peeled, halved, seeded and sliced

• 1 large red apple, peeled, cored and quartered

• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) lemon juice

• 1 red onion, chopped finely

• 1 small red cabbage, shredded finely

• 100 g feta, crumbled

• 100 g crisp dried onion (“onion crunch”), available in supermarkets’ freshproduce departments

• 80 g croutons

THIS IS HOW

Make the dressing Combine all the ingredients in a jar, shake and set aside.

Make the salad Heat a pan and dry-fry the instant noodles until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Combine papaya and apple, sprinkle lemon juice over, and toss until well coated.

Mix red onion and cabbage, and arrange on a shallow serving platter. Scatter feta over, and top with papaya and apple.

Mix noodles, onion crunch and croutons in a bowl and sprinkle some over the salad. Drizzle some dressing over the salad.

Place the remaining crunchy ingredients and salad dressing on the table for tucking ito more. >