Asian Noodle Salad

Okay. I am suggesting...no strongly urging...no really I'm telling you to run, don't walk, to your nearest Farmer's Market (or Whole Foods, local grocer, or wherever you get your fresh vegetables) this weekend so you can make this absolutely AMAZING salad. It is full of fresh vegetables and lots of greens, so it's clearly healthy for you, but it is also just so good.

I first saw this recipe over at this blog (you can see why she is one of my food blog idols) and was inspired to make it from the pictures there. The pictures highlighted all the bright and colorful ingredients (and did I mention how healthy it is...with all the fresh vegetables). I just couldn't resist trying it for myself.

I made it Sunday evening for our lunch the next day and was pleasantly surprised on Monday when I received a text message from Mr. Foodie telling me how much he enjoyed the salad. I mean Mr. Foodie was really feigning for this salad days later, hoping there were more leftovers. Because according to him, he doesn't "really like to eat salads like that". Mind you this is news to me because I often make salads for our lunch.

This is the second time I've made this salad and I made a few simple changes from the original (no changes made to the accompanying salad dressing). I'm not a fan of bean sprouts or nuts in my salad so I left them out. And the original recipe calls for linguine pasta noodles, which I used the first time. But this time I use Asian rice noodles, which I enjoyed much better. The noodles weren't as thick and they gave the salad a more authentic Asian flare. Whatever your personal preference is, it was still just as tasty.

So I am going to stop singing this salad's praises so you can get busy. I am confident you will enjoy it. Just get out your cutting board, sharpen that knife and be armed with a little patience because you will have a teeny, tiny bit of chopping and slicing to do. I promise you it will all be worth it once you insert fork into mouth ;)

Asian Noodle Salad
*this recipe makes a lot of servings (I got 8 large servings)
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 package rice noodles, cooked, rinsed, dried and cooled (prepare according to directions on package)
½ head nappa cabbage, sliced
½ head red cabbage, sliced
½ bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 scallions, sliced
2 peeled cucumbers, diced
2 handfuls cilantro, chopped

Mix together the salad ingredients. Whisk together the dressing (recipe below) ingredients and pour over salad just before serving. Mix salad with tongs. Serve and enjoy.

*I sliced and chopped all my ingredients ahead of time and stored them in separate, individual storage bags and containers. I then would mix the ingredients just before serving so the vegetables wouldn’t get soggy.

Asian Style Dressing
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons sesame oil
8 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons chopped ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 hot peppers (small, thin, red peppers) or jalapenos, chopped
Chopped cilantro

If serving the dressing immediately, whisk all the ingredients together. If reserving some dressing for later, mix all the ingredients excluding the cilantro. The dressing will last up to 3 days without the addition of the cilantro. Add cilantro to the reserved dressing just before serving.
adapted by pioneerwoman.com