Gluten-free chicken noodle salad

By Gretchen McKay

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There are no noodles in this colorful chicken salad, but there are oodles (and oodles) of spiralized vegetables.

That makes this dish ideal for people with wheat sensitivities, who often have to forgo traditional noodle dishes such as pasta, ramen and one of my favorites, beef lo mein.

Long, fine strands of carrot, cabbage and cucumber are the stars of this Thai-flavored salad, which gets a bit of crunch from peanuts and just the right amount of heat from chile-lime dressing.

I couldn’t find pak choi, so I substituted thinly sliced Napa cabbage. Roasted or grilled chicken breast is ideal, but there’s no shame in using a rotisserie chicken. If you don’t have a spiralizer, my sympathies! They’re so fun, and not nearly as scary as a mandolin. But you easily can use a julienne peeler to cut the veggies into long, fine strands.

Depending on how wet you like your salads, you may want to double the amount of dressing.

GLUTEN-FREE CHICKEN NOODLE SALAD Serves 2

For salad

51/2 ounces cooked chicken breast slices

1 head pak choi (Chinese cabbage)

1 carrot, cut into long thin strands or strips with a spiralizer or julienne peeler

1 cucumber, cut into long thin strands or strips with a spiralizer or julienne peeler

1 shallot, thinly sliced

11/2 ounces mixed coriander and basil leaves, with a few mint leaves, roughly chopped

11/2 ounces roasted, salted peanuts

For dressing

4 tablespoons lime juice

2tablespoons fish sauce

1 to 2 hot red chilies, chopped

1 tablespoon agave syrup

1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil or other neutral-tasting oil

Mix all the salad ingredients except dressing in a large bowl. Make dressing by placing ingredients in a separate bowl and mixing together well.

Pour dressing over salad, toss well and serve.