Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

SALAD:

6 ounces dry noodles (lo mein noodles, spaghetti, brown rice noodles, pad thai style rice noodles, soba noodles, or linguini)

4 cups mix of red cabbage, carrots and radish, shredded or grated

1 red bell pepper, finely sliced

3 scallions, sliced

½ bunch cilantro, chopped (or sub basil and mint)

1 tablespoon (or less, or more) jalapeño, finely chopped

¼-½ cup roasted, crushed peanuts (optional garnish)

PEANUT DRESSING:

5 thin slices ginger- cut across the grain, about the size of a quarter.

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (roughly 1 large orange)

1/3 cup fresh lime juice (roughly 2 limes)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup honey, agave, or maple syrup

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or a squirt of sriracha sauce)

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cook Noodles

Cook pasta according to directions on package. ( See notes for rice noodles) Drain and chill under cold running water.

Blend the Peanut Sauce:

while noodles are cookig, blend the peanut sauce ingredients together using a blender until smooth.

Toss:

Place shredded veggies, bell pepper, scallions, cilantro and jalapeño into a serving bowl. Toss. Add the cold noodles to the serving bowl and toss again. Pour some peanut sauce over top and toss well to combine- no need to use all, just use enough to coat well. ( Save the extra sauce for any leftover salad-as it can soak up the sauce overnight.)

Taste

Adjust the salt (to your liking), add chili flakes if you want, or more lime, and serve, garnishing with roasted peanuts and cilantro and a lime wedge.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 1/8 cups
• Calories: 286
• Total Fat: 13 g
• Saturated Fat: 2.1 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg
• Sodium: 374 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 39.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.6 g
• Total Sugars: 13.3 g
• Protein: 3.8 g