Ramen Noodle Salad with Aubergine and Mango

Thought I'd share with you another Ottolenghi recipe I made the other week.

This appealed to me as it is apparently Ottolenghi's own mum's "wow" dish that she makes for when guests come over. Awesome.

Due to poor planning and organisation on my part I was unable to cook the recipe exactly as per the recipe in Plenty but I did my best. Bailey unfortunately was not a big fan of this one as he found the dressing too sweet and citrusy - he thought it needed something else to tie it together. Plus he hates mango. An unsatisfied customer!

That got me thinking about how cool this dish would be as part of a barbecue buffet. I'm going to try it out (probably following the recipe properly) for my next summer gathering and see how it goes down. I predict, it will be a hit!

Recipe:
120ml rice vinegar
5g Splenda
1/2 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 handfuls basil leaves
2 handfuls coriander leaves
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 onion
2 aubergines
250g dried ramen noodles
1 mango

Start by making the dressing. Mix the vinegar, Splenda and salt in a saucepan. Place over a low heat for a few minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add to it the garlic and chilli flakes.

Add the lime zest and juice. Slice the onion thinly and chop the herbs before adding all this to the dressing and put to one side.

Cut the aubergine into cubes.

Heat up a frying pan and add the aubergine until golden brown.

Place the aubergine in a collander, sprinkle with salt and leave to cool.

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain the water off and leave until cool.

 Peel the mango, cut it up into bitesize chunks and arrange on the plates.

Toss the noodles with the dressing, aubergine and herbs. Pile on top of the mango and serve!