Enjoy this beautiful low-carb Thai shrimp and noodle salad that comes together in minutes

We have a recipe for a beautiful, healthy and very low-calorie and low-carb Thai shrimp and noodle salad. It’s a snap to make, too, using pre-cooked shrimp and noodles with fresh raw veggies.

We’ve made a few changes to the classic Thai salad, called yum woon sen, to make it lower in carbs.

First, rather than using the traditional glass noodles, which are made from sweet potato starch, we use tofu shirataki noodles. They’re made from a root vegetable called konjac with a little tofu added. They’re springy and soft and absorb whatever flavors they are combined with, and have very few calories or carbs. Best of all, they come packaged in water and all you have to do is drain and rinse them well – no cooking required.

Second, rather than serving the salad on lettuce leaves, we toss the noodles with romaine salad mix for extra volume, color and crunch.

Finally, we dress the salad with sugar-free Thai sweet chili sauce. The G Hughes brand is available at most local grocery stores. It also has very few calories and carbs and tastes good. To make the dressing more pungent and saltier, add some Thai fish sauce or soy sauce to your taste, and add as much fresh chili as you like to this salad to achieve your preferred heat level.

There are many versions of this salad. Experiment with adding other vegetables such as tomatoes, red or yellow bell pepper, or thinly sliced celery.

Thai Shrimp and Noodle Salad: Easy, Low-Carb, Low-Calorie

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces cooked shrimp

1 8-ounce package tofu shirataki noodles, drained and rinsed

4 cups romaine salad mix with carrots and red cabbage

¼ cup sliced onion (red onion or scallion)

½ cucumber, sliced

1 hot red chili, thinly sliced, or as much as you like

½ cup mixed fresh herbs – cilantro, Thai basil, mint

¼ cup sugar-free sweet Thai chili sauce

Fish sauce or soy sauce to taste (optional)

Lime wedge to garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Thaw shrimp under cold water if frozen and pat dry. Drain and rinse noodles and place in a serving bowl. Top with lettuce, onion, cucumber, chili, herbs and half the shrimp and toss. Top with the remaining shrimp and garnish with a few herb sprigs.

2. Mix sweet Thai chili sauce with fish sauce or soy sauce to taste, if using. Drizzle over salad and serve garnished with a lime wedge.

Nutrition information for entire recipe: Calories: 294; Fat: 5g; Total Carbs: 21g; Net Carbs: 17g; Protein: 16g; Fiber: 4g.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Recipe for low-carb, low-calorie Thai shrimp and noodle salad