Au Pair

This "salad" is "au pair" (at equals with) with any meat filled dish. Maybe that's why I called it "salad au pair". Maybe 'cause it was around the time that I wanted to become a au pair (that phase lasted for a couple of years). Maybe I called it that because...

To be honest, who knows? Because I sertainly don't. It was a long time ago. 

"Salad au pair" was probably the first recipie that I created. And just to let you know, we're using the term "recipie" very lightly. It's more a combination really. But you don't get "combination"s. You get "recipies". So just pretend it's a lot more complicated than chop, boil, mix. Just pretend people. Use your imagination. 

I do believe that this "recipie" started of being called "noodles au pair". Well, I know that it was. It was me who called it that. So, I don't actually here you asking, why did you change the name from "noodles au pair" to "salad au pair"? Well, because by the time its assembled, it's cold. If it's cold, it becomes a salad. 

I think. I need some good foodie bibles. At would stage does it go from a noodle dish to a noodle salad? Please, I think I need some help over here! On that conundrum and some suggestions for the books that would answer that type of conundrum as well.

Right, so we've assessed it's not a recipie. It's not a hot noodle dish. It's not a salad. Well, it is, maybe, but there's no lettuce. Shall we get onto what this actually is.

Noodles/Salad Au Pair is...

• Vegan
• 4 of your 5 a day (No, really)
• VERY filling
• Tastes just as good cold as it does hot
• Perfect for packed lunches
• One pot (plus a chopping board and knife. Make it in a microwavable bowl and that's even less washing up.)
• Customisable. Use whatever noodles you have- soba, rice, gluten free, wholewheat, spaghetti (if you really must), instant. 
• Quick (How long does it take you to boil your noodles?) 
• Easy
• Requires no specialised equipment. If you haven't got the required equipment, then what you are calling a kitchen is NOT a kitchen. Just to let you know. 
• Made with ingrediants you can get in just about any supermarket. 
• Low fat and low salt, if you're into that kind of thing. 
• Made with all natural ingrediant (check you're noodles)
• Yummy (In my humble opinion.)

I don't have The Flavor Bible. I can't guarentee to you that you will find the combination as good as I do. To be honest, this is just a happy marriage of the things that I can almost always find in my kitchen. (My parents do most of the shopping. The fate of what I chuck in my noodles is in their hands.) Most of the ingrediants are fairly sweet, and so I quite like the touch of sharpness and saltiness that the olives add. I like the crisp crunch of the apple, the sticky consentrated sweet of the apricots (plus that little bit of iron), and the watery coolness of the cucumber. I like the way that they each add a different element to the combination. Oh, and then you add the noodles, and who doesn't love noodles? (Actually, I have met someone...) And the noodles seem to add a subtle base flavor that melds all the components together. And they add a nice texture too. To repeat, who doesn't like noodles? (Apart from that one person I met...) 

I will admit that this salad is completely full of fruits. But 2 of them are fruits that masquerade as veggies. So, if we feign ignorance, that's two fruits and two veggies. Also, due to the fact that it's so full of vitamins, you can have vegan pepperoni pizza for tea. Nothing like a bit of good stuff to balance out the fun but not so good stuff.

Not that this stuff isn't fun, but sometimes you want that pizza, right?

Right.

So these are all things that we pretty much always have in. I mean, the dried apricots and the olive and the noodles are STORE CUPBOARD ingredients.

So, since you PROBABLY have all the stuff in your kitchen, if you want to make this, I better give you the "recipe".

Salad Au Pair

Ingrediants

* 1 Green Apple (Okay, so it can be red, but it has to be green) 

* 1 1/2 " of Cucumber

* 3/4 Dried Apricots

* 7 Green Pimento Stuffed Olives (Also called the green ones with the orange stuff in) (Okay, they can be black, okay, they don't have to be pimento stuffed, but it looses something if they're not) 

*1 serving of your favourite noodles, or which ever ones you have in your cupboard

Method

1. Start the noodles cooking. I don't know what type of noodles you are using, so cook according to packet directions (I've always wanted to say that). If your packet doesn't have directions, consult the mystic Google. 

2. Chop up the cucumber. Cut it into rounds, then cut each round into 6 chunks.

3. Chop up the apple, into pieces about the size of the cucumber.

4. Chop the dried apricots into small dice

5. Drain (and possibly wash, depending what they are in) the olives. Slice them into about 4/5 slices widthways. Yes, some of the orange stuff will fall out, don't worry about it.

6. Drain your noodles. REALLY WELL. 

7. Choose your container. If you're packing it up, choose one with a lid. If you're not, I don't know why you would want a lid. Try a bowl. To give you an idea, I used a 1.2l box. 

8. Chuck it all in you're container, and mix it up. (Carefully, Dad gets angry if he finds bits of noodle on the kitchen table). 

Note

Okay, so you might have noticed that there's no dressing on this salad. Please, leave it like that. Let the flavours of the produce provide the flavour, don't drown them out.