Sesame Peanut Noodle Salad

I had a craving today... for noodles!

I wanted that cool, crisp, fresh taste of an Asian type noodle salad.

I went online to find a recipe and ended up combining about 4 different recipes. I just added in the things I liked so you can too!

It ended up being super tasty, exactly what i was craving.

Here is what was in my version:

1 package of spaghetti (or you could use soba noodles if you had them)

½ of an English cucumber thinly sliced

½ of a small red pepper thinly sliced

2 cups of finely sliced napa cabbage

3 green onions, chopped

(I could find snap peas but they would be good in here, also thinly slices carrot, or purple cabbage!)

For the dressing:

1 tbsp sesame oil (I think I have the toasted sesame oil... the jar I have is all in Chinese so I am not sure but it tastes toasted so I ended up only using ¾ of a tbsp.Iit has a way stronger flavor. I am going to buy the regular sesame oil for next time. Use what you like.)

3 tbsp of smooth peanut butter

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp hot water

Pepper/salt to taste

How to:

Cook the noodles as directed, drain and put in a large bowl to cool.

Chop all the veggies.

Make the dressing in a blender or food processor. Taste it, add more of what you like.

Add the sauce to the pasta, toss to coat. Toss in the veggies and lightly toss. Some chopped peanuts would be good on top.

It was great at room temperature but I can’t wait to eat it cold for lunch tomorrow.

Have a great week everyone, I have some  more easy weeknight meals coming up this week and a sweet treat!

Jen