Peanut Noodle Salad

I’ve always been a fan of pre-packaged food which sounds weird but it all goes back to the ol’ childhood.  If Mom and Dad had an event to go to it was one of the few times I could get a frozen dinner or a Happy Meal and it was awesome!  I’m pretty sure nothing was more exciting than eating dinner from a plastic tray.  Home cooked meals were the standard and those frozen dinners were a special treat.  (This is how I remember it at least; perhaps the parents know a different story)

Now that I’m on my own I still cook most of my own food because I can’t rationalize the expense of buying pre-made things that often taste better when I just make it myself.  But the other day I was at Trader Joe’s and was sucked in by the plastic boxes full of salads and sandwiches and pizzas and I had to have one.   This happens when you get off work at 8 and the prospect of whipping up a meal when you get home sounds a little like being an overachiever.  So I went home with some Thai noodle salad and happily munched away and basked in the lazy satisfaction of doing nothing to earn it.

I’ve always actually wanted to make my own peanut noodle salad but could never find a recipe that tempted me.  But after my Trader Joe’s take-home meal I decided I could do better and went on a search.  So I found this recipe for Thai peanut dressing and figured it was worth a try.  It was a success!  It is more of a warm/room temp salad of sorts.  And it was great to take for leftovers.  It makes quite a bit of noodles and it tastes good cold.

I made a few adjustments:  Halved the recipe of sauce and I still had plenty for almost a whole package of noodles, upped the lime juice, and left out the cilantro and just added it to the noodles at the end. (I also think you’re supposed to use rice noodles but I had to work with what the neighborhood store was willing to provide.)

Thai Peanut Noodles                                                    

Dressing:

¼ C Peanut Butter

1 Lime juiced and zested                             

1 ¼ tsp. Sesame Oil

½ T Rice Wine Vinegar

1 T Soy Sauce

1 ½ T Honey

¼ C Vegetable Oil

2 tsp. Chili Garlic Sauce (or Sriracha)

Salt

Grated Ginger – I used powdered b/c I forgot to buy the real deal and it turned out ok

Bean Sprouts

Napa Cabbage thinly sliced

Green onions, thinly sliced green and white parts

Carrots julienned

Red Pepper julienned

Cilantro to taste

Lime to taste

Toasted Peanuts

Soba Noodles

Chicken

Garlic

Lime

For the dressing just combine and whisk everything together.  I would increase the amount of chili garlic sauce for my taste. There was a pleasant heat to it but I wanted more, certainly adjust to your own taste.  If it’s too thick you can thin it out with some water.

Chop up the chicken and stir fry in a pan with some minced garlic, lime, salt, and pepper.

Remove chicken and throw in the veggies and white parts of the green onion.  I stir fried for maybe just a couple minutes; everything was still pretty crisp it just took some of the raw edge off the veggies, wilted the cabbage slightly and warmed it up. 

Cook noodles per package instructions

Combine the noodles, dressing, veggies, and chicken.  Toss in the green parts of the onion, cilantro and toasted peanuts.  I also added a squeeze of lime over my serving.

I hope you like it!  ~ Jo