Fast & Easy Gluten Free Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls

      Have you ever tried Vietnamese food?  Okay, besides pho.  Last summer my daughter Michelle and I made Vietnamese vermicelli salad bowls.  They were delicious—just like in the restaurant!  We got this recipe off the Food Network and tweaked a few things.  

   A lot of times when I’m checking out a recipe, I’ll look at about three or four of them and then make changes.  I made this recipe again in August.  This is definitely one of my favorite gluten-free summer dinners!  

Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls– for 6 

1.         Make chicken Marinade:  In a small glass bowl mix:  1 T lemongrass powder, 1 tsp. garlic, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1 tsp.  sugar,  1 T fish sauce, and 1 tsp. all-seasoning powder.

2.         Marinade chicken:  Cut 2 chicken breasts into thin strips. Mix the marinade and let the chicken sit for up to 24 hrs.

3.  Prepare noodles:  Boil or soak 8 oz of vermicelli noodles.  I've done it both ways.  Drain and set aside.

     

4.   Prepare condiment platter:  
(1)  Cut 1 carrot into strips. 
(2)  Slice an  English cucumber into strips. 
(3)  Chop up 1 cup of cilantro.
(4)  Slice 4 green onions
(5)  Tear up 8-10 basil leaves. 
(6)  Chop up a bowl of peanuts for sprinkling on top.

5.  Make the dressing (this is called Nuoc Cham):  Combine 1/4 cup of sugar with 1/2 cup of warm water and stir until combined.  Add to this 1/4 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 of a lime that is juiced, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 T of fish sauce, and 1 tsp. red chili peppers.  Stir and allow to sit about 30 minutes.

6.   Prepare lettuce:  Wash enough green leaf and/or romaine lettuce for each bowl.    


7.  Grill chicken:  Grill on medium-high heat until done.  On this day I simply stir fried the chicken in my cast iron pan, and it came out great!

8.  Assemble the salads:  
(1)  In everyone's bowl arrange lettuce and noodles. The recipe calls for putting the noodles on the bottom, but I like to put them on the top of the lettuce.  
(2)  Pass the condiment platter and let everyone take what they like. 
(3)  I usually divide the chicken and put it in little individual glass bowls for everyone to put on top.  Pass the dressing.      

The dressing is what makes this salad so amazingly delicious!  It's a great way to eat a lot of vegetables, too!    

List of Other Salads on this Blog:

Greens/cabbage:
Make it Yourself Thai Peanut Dressing for Mandarin Salad  (My friend Judi's recipe)
KFC Copycat Cole Slaw   (A friend shared this with me)
Belizean Coleslaw    (From Internet search)
Antioxidant Rich Kale Super Salad  (A copycat from a deli, dressing from Syre School Cookbook)

Main Dish Salads
Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Cabbage Salad   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa  (A remake from something I ate at a restaurant)

Mexican Grilled Salmon & Mango Salad   (From a Betty Crocker summer cookbook)
Jackson Square Shrimp Salad   (From my Syre School cookbook)
A Northwest Salad Favorite - Cobb Salad with Blackened Salmon & Shrimp

Pasta & Quinoa:
Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad  (Something I picked up over 20 years ago!)
Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls   (From an Internet search)
Michelle's Greek Quinoa Salad   (My foodie daughter's own delicious creation!)
 Another Great Salad with Quinoa - Janah's  Original Quinoa, Cranberry & Feta Salad  (a recipe my daughter came up with)

Vegetable:
Jeremy D's Sensational Greek Salad   (My son-in-law's recipe)

Grandma's Perfect Potato Salad   (Family recipe)
Rose's Refreshing Cucumber Salad   (From a Chinese friend)
A Great BBQ side Salad - Curried Pea Salad  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)

Dot's Easy Bean Salad  (Recipe from an  83 yr old friend of my father's)
A Great Summer Side - Broccoli Salad  (From my Come & Dine cookbook)

Fruit:
Grandma Marilyn's Frozen Fruit Salad  (My mother-in-law's recipe)