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[title]Whether you spend your days juggling complex spreadsheets or you work in the creative world, there’s a universal truth that we can all agree on: the best part of the working day is lunchtime. But what are you having for lunch? That’s the question that drove three university pals – Rushil Ramjee, Houman Ashrafzadeh and Yannis Divas – to set up Urban Greens, after they started working in the corporate world and struggled to find anything that hit the spot when it came to lunchtime fare. Urban Greens specialises in vibrant salads which are both delicious and filling. There are branches in Canary Wharf, St James’s Park and St Paul’s and you can order an Urban Greens salad to your door with Uber Eats from any of these locations.
One of its most popular options is the Chicken Seoul Salad. As part of our series, Big Dish Energy, in partnership with Uber Eats – we caught up with Alex, kitchen manager at Urban Greens, to find out what makes this dish so delicious.
Uber Eats is giving Time Out readers an exclusive £5 off at Urban Greens! Simply enter the code URBANGTO5 here to claim your discount.
The kimchi
‘Our kimchi is made in-house on a daily basis. It’s made with carrots, Chinese cabbage, red chillies, ginger and garlic, which we leave for a minimum of 12 hours. This is one of our flagship salads so we make a large volume of kimchi. In our Canary Wharf store, we get through six to eight batches a week, which is about 6kg worth of vegetables. Because it’s pickled, the kimchi really cuts through the dressing.’
The dressing
‘The gochujang miso dressing is a mix of gochujang paste and miso, which creates an umami flavour. We also use maple syrup which gives it a subtle sweetness. We add soya milk, which brings a bit of creaminess to the dressing.’
The chicken
‘No one likes dry chicken, so the chicken we use is steamed which helps keep it succulent. We use chicken breasts, which are a healthier option. The chicken is lightly seasoned, so there’s nothing too overpowering on it, because we use it in a few of our salads and they all have different concepts.’
The noodles
‘We use glass noodles – they’re an alternative to something like vermicelli noodles which are made out of rice. Glass noodles are made out of a mixture of starches like pea starch and mung bean starch. Texture-wise, they have a light bite to them. We season them with salt and add sesame oil – just enough so that you can taste the sesame but it doesn’t overpower the salad.’
The vegetables
There’s a base of raw red vegetables – cabbage, savoy cabbage and kale – which is lightly seasoned with salt and olive oil. We massage it to break down the fibres a bit, so it’s not too tough when you’re eating it. We also use red peppers which, as well as the kimchi, add a nice crunch.
The garnishes
We add toasted cashews to provide another crunchy texture. All of our salads have herbs in them and we use coriander in this one. We don’t use too much, so it’s not in-your-face, but it adds another level of flavour.
Locations in St James’s Park, Canary Wharf and St Paul’s. Usually £13.95 on Uber Eats – get £5 off with code URBANGTO5.
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