Asian Noodle Salad

Photo by Katie Guymon

While looking for online recipes that stray from your run-of-the-mill summer pasta salads, I found this Asian noodle salad on the PBS website, of all places. Yet another reason we should all pick up the phone during telethon season and make that donation. Elmo loves you.

The dressing for this salad is thick and very peanutty, so I found a drizzle Sriracha at the end helped cut through that sweetness. While I paired this with grilled tuna (and later, for leftovers with honey-mustard salmon), you could make it a complete meal by adding shrimp. Other veggies like bean sprouts, carrots, edamame, or sugar snap peas would also be great.

Asian Noodle Salad [recipe adapted from PBS Food]
-1 pound whole grain spaghetti
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-4 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
-1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-1/4 cup dark sesame oil
-2 tablespoons honey
-2 large garlic cloves
-1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
-3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-1 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut in half vertically, and thinly sliced
-1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
-6 green onions, sliced vertically
-Sriracha
  
1. In a large pot, cook (al dente) the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside. 

2. While the spaghetti is cooking, prepare the dressing. In a blender or food processor, blend the vegetable oil, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, and ginger until smooth. Mix in the sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. 

3. When the spaghetti is ready, toss the noodles with the dressing. Add the bell peppers, cucumbers, and green onions and toss again.

4. Add a drizzle of Sriracha to each individual serving.