Rice Noodle Salad

We had a bit of an Asian feast for dinner on Friday night. With me being away for work five nights in the past 10 and racing full out I'd been felling a titch unsettled. In my twisted world getting in to the kitchen to chop, measure, stir, and simmer slowly brings the world back to where it aught to be.

I had planned on making Larb - that wonderful spicy chicken mixture served in lettuce leaves that is a classic dish from Laos and northern Thailand. Then I found a recipe for spicy beef with peanuts that I had been wanting to try. I figured that a nice cool salad would be the perfect accompaniment.

This recipe, from the folks at Fine Cooking, had a delicious lime/ginger dressing which is forgiving . . . meaning you can add or subtract ingredients in order to match your tastes. The result is an excellent Asian salad dish that is refreshing, light yet fulfilling. The flavours pack a good punch too (particularly if you increase the amount of jalapeno pepper as we did)!

I'm certainly going to remember this salad in the depths of July when it becomes too hot to turn on the stove for long. On really hot summer nights, I love having a delicious cold salad for dinner instead of a hot and heavy meal. It's also good to not have to slave away in the kitchen and sweat even more from cooking using the hot stove.

You could make a meal out of this by adding some grilled chicken, shrimp, or tofu. I followed the recipe as printed with two exceptions - we increased the amount of jalapeno pepper and we used Napa cabbage instead of Romaine lettuce thinking it would hold up better with leftovers . . . and it did!

Rice Noodle Salad

For the dressing:
3 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 Tbs. fish sauce
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 to 4 tsp. minced fresh hot green chile, such as jalapeño or serrano
2 small garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. finely grated or very finely minced fresh ginger

For the salad:
6 oz. medium-width rice noodles
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup roughly chopped or small whole fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup roughly chopped or small whole fresh cilantro leaves
3/4 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers
1/3 cup grated carrots
3 Tbs. chopped peanuts

Make the dressing:

In a small bowl, mix the lime juice, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, chile, garlic, and ginger. Taste and add more of any of the ingredients to get an assertive but tasty balance of flavors.

Make the salad:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the rice noodles and stir to disperse them. Cook until strands are opaque white and fully tender, but still resilient, 3 to 6 minutes (check the noodles often, as different brands cook at different rates).

Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them under cold water until the noodles are cool and the water runs clear. Let the noodles drain in the colander for 30 minutes, fluffing every few minutes to make sure they stay loose.

When ready to serve, put the rice noodles in a large bowl with the lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, cilantro, cucumbers and carrots. Add the dressing to taste and toss well. Sprinkle with peanuts before serving.

Comments

[Marta]

This looks great - especially for later in the summer - bookmarking!

[Kayte]

It's so pretty...and all those really healthy wonderful foodstuffs in there...what's not to love about this...great photo of it. I need an Asian feast here soon. Maybe to celebrate the end of the school year in a few weeks...that would be a great time to have a little party!

[JDeQ]

this would be perfect on a hot summer day (if you egt any in the NW Marta! *smile)

If you need an Asian feast you've come to the right spot Kayte!