Colleen's Crunchy Salad

Nardia’s mum, my mother-in-law, Colleen Symonds, died this week and one of the strongest bonds between us, apart from her daughter, was her crunchy salad.

So, this week I’ve been making this salad, using Collsy’s recipe with annotations, in her honour.

I have been pretty happy with it, even though it will never be at her standard.

I’ve pledged that I’ll be happy to keep making it in her honour whenever family members gather in her name.

If you’d like to try it, I find it goes well with any barbecued or roasted meats (or other protein sources), and, typically, I would have a little meat and a volcanic pile of this salad. I’ve even been known to eat it on its own as a complete meal – typically on Boxing Day!

Colleen’s Crunchy Salad recipe

(serves 8-10 people, or one Stevie)

Dressing ingredients

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup white vinegar

½ cup rice bran oil (or light olive oil)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Method

Add all dressing ingredients into a clean jar, close with a lid and shake vigorously until mixed.

This can be kept in the fridge until serving time.

Salad ingredients

1 packet instant plain noodles | Changs Original Fried Noodles

1 Chinese cabbage (medium to large), shredded or finely chopped

1 red onion (small), finely chopped

½ cup flaked almonds

Method

Toast almonds in a moderately dry, hot fry pan. Keep stirring until they start to brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Cabbage and onion can be added to bowl and kept in the fridge until serving time.

Prepare to serve

Just before serving, add almonds, noodles, and dressing to the bowl of cabbage and onion, and mix thoroughly.

Some final notes about this salad

You can add grated carrot or diced red capsicum, if you wish. And I’m sure you can substitute the sugar with something else.

One trick Colleen used was to mix the dressing in a jar and put the rest of the ingredients in a large, Tupperware bowl. Then at a picnic or at a Christmas or family celebration, the dressing was shaken, poured into the large bowl, and everything was mixed just before serving.

For family and friends, here is Colleen’s video

For a short time after the funeral service, we will leave this video here in case you’d like to watch it again.

And here is the funeral service

Colleen Symonds Funeral Service from TBS Productions on Vimeo.