Asian Noodle Salad

July 20, 2011Katie

 

Mmmmmmmmmm….this salad is…yum, yum, yummmmmy!


We are currently going on 20+ days of over one hundred degree weather here in Oklahoma City and I don’t know about you, but I don’t even want to eat anything remotely warm or..(shudder)…hot.  We came home from vacationing in Michigan last week to find that even though we had strategically set the sprinkler system to go off, we’d lost half of our flowers, and I’ve been really babying our tomato garden to perk back up ever since.  Add to that a mandatory water ban for our city right now, and well….I understand why people in Arizona just spread rocks around for landscaping.

Cold salads are a true blessing for these scorching summer days and this one is so flavorful and wonderful, I could eat it a couple of times a week.

This salad (I think originally inspired by Jamie Oliver) has a wonderful Asian dressing on it that uses basic Asian ingredients you can get in most grocery stores nowadays.  I’ve tweaked it and improvised to some stuff that I prefer but in all, I love this salad!  Add some grilled chicken or asian marinated flank steak, and you have a meal.  Grilled shrimp would also be fabulous in this!  (Side note -this makes a HUGE recipe, so if you don’t want leftovers or aren’t taking it to a party, you  my want to halve the recipe!).

While this might seem like a LOT of ingredients, I promise you the end result will have you smiling.  So let’s make a summer salad shall we?

Bring one regular size package of linguine or wheat spaghetti to a boil and finish cooking according to package directions.  Drain and rinse to cool.  This is a cold salad, hot noodles are not allowed.

Finely slice your cabbages.  First the Napa.  I did about 4 cups of each.  This made a pretty big salad, so adjust accordingly.  You don’t have to be precise.

napa

Then the purple.

purple

Rinse your spinach. I used again, about 4 cups.

spinach

Slice up thinly, a red and orange bell pepper.

peppers

Also slice up some green onions and a bunch of cilantro.  I don’t have pictures of those.  Sometimes I check out like that..please forgive me.  I love cilantro so I used an entire bunch in this salad.  I threw some in the salad and more into the dressing.

Dump all your ingredients into a large bowl, including your noodles.

Now, let’s make some dressing.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together the juice of 1 lime, 1/3 c. olive oil, 1-3 T. sesame oil (this stuff is strong – I use one), 1/3 c. soy sauce, 1/3 c. brown sugar, 3 T. fresh grated ginger, 2 cloves of garlic and a jalepeno finely chopped.  Adjust the pepper according to how hot you can handle things.  Add about 1/3 c. chopped cilantro and whisk.

dressing

Pour the dressing over salad.  If you want to make ahead of time, don’t add the cilantro or the spinach until the last minute.  Mix it all up so everything is coated in the dressing.  Sprinkle your choice of nuts overtop.

salad2

Change your mind about the chinese spoon and get the chopsticks.

salad7

I have a confession, I can NOT use chopsticks for the life of me, but they looked cool in the picture.  Jason and Lindsay bought me cheater chopsticks that look like a giant clothespin and I can use those.  I’ve been practicing and …I’m getting better.

I’m telling you, this salad is so doggone good, it will be gone in no time.  I can’t wait to make it again.

salad51

Cooking with Love,

~Katie

Asian Noodle Salad
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 16
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD:
  • 1 lb package Spaghetti noodles
  • 4 c. Nappa cabbage (about ½ the cabbage)
  • 4 c. purple cabbage (about ½ the cabbage)
  • 4 c. fresh spinach
  • 1 Red Pepper, chopped
  • 1 Yellow Pepper, chopped
  • 2 c. Bean Sprouts
  • 1½ c. cilantro (before chopping)
  • 4 green onions, sliced thin
  • 1 c. shaved almonds
FOR THE DRESSING:
  • 1 Lime, Juiced
  • 8 T. Olive Oil
  • 8 T.Soy Sauce
  • 1 T. Sesame Oil
  • ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
  • 3 T. Fresh Ginger Chopped
  • 2 cloves Garlic Chopped
  • 2 Jalapenos or fresno Chilies, Chopped
  • ⅓ c. chopped Cilantro
Instructions
  1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and cool in refrigerator. Slice both cabbages thinly into large mixing bowl. Chop peppers thinly into bite-size pieces (small strips). Chop green onions. Add all salad ingredients into the bowl with the noodles except for the cilantro and almonds. Make the dressing by mixing all ingredients together but only add the cilantro when you're ready to serve. Toss the salad with the dressing and serve chilled. If you're planning on keeping some for leftovers, don't add the spinach and the cilantro until you're ready to serve. Add just the amount for current serving and add more for leftovers later to prevent wilting.

Printable Recipe – Asian Noodle Salad

2 Comments

  • Sandie

    April 22, 2009 at 9:10 am

    Yum! I'm always interested in new recipes that fit & healthy. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention.
  • Kristin

    July 20, 2011 at 8:54 am

    Katie- i love your site- your photos are so professional and beautiful WE ARE VERY PROUD OF U! also watched your tv spots- so awesome!!!

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