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Asian Noodle Salad With Peanut Dressing

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The fun thing about being in charge of the food around here is that I get to cook whatever I feel like eating! Pasta with veggies tossed in a peanut dressing. That’s what I wanted.

As I mentioned before, we had company over a couple weeks ago (our good friends from Texas) and when hosting any guests, I do my meal planning before they arrive so that I am not grocery shopping or trying to figure out what we should eat last minute.

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This is especially important when there are lots of little ones in the house- 8 kids to be exact, ages 7 and under (4 for each of us) so it’s always a little challenging to find food everyone will like. I find throwing in a fruit salad or some crusty bread makes the little ones happy.

Heather&Kids

One of the nights we made Copper River Salmon on the grill that I did with a simple Asian marinade. It paired perfectly with this Asian Noodle Salad.

I just happened to have the snap peas from my CSA box and had everything else on hand. I used this gluten free pasta that I love, but you could use any pasta in the spaghetti size.

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This dish feeds a crowd, but you could always cut it in half if you are cooking for 1 or 2. I have to admit I made the full portion last week and my husband and I got about 8 servings out of it (yes we basically ate it for days). Thankfully this pasta is great leftovers, but if using the gluten free noodles you might need to warm it up a bit the next day to soften the noodles as their texture is different than regular pasta after they’re refrigerated.

Enjoy this as a side dish or main entree; I think it pairs well with fish, chicken or shrimp. Top this baby with Sriracha if you like a little heat and extra cilantro if you like. Delicious!

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Asian Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 pound thin spaghetti (regular or gluten-free)
  • 1 pound sugar snap peas
  • 2 red or orange bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
  • ½ cup sliced green onions
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • For the dressing:
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • ⅓ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • ½ cup smooth peanut butter (can sub almond butter)
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
  2. Bring another pot of water to a boil, add snap peas and cook ~2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Alternatively, if snap peas come in an individual bag, you can microwave them per the package instructions- about 2 minutes.
  3. For the dressing (this step can also be made a day or two in advance), combine oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger and peanut butter and whisk together until combined. This can also be done in a mini blender.
  4. In a large bowl combine cooked pasta, sliced bell peppers and snap peas. Pour dressing all over mixture and toss and until well combined. Top with green onions and cilantro and enjoy!
Notes
You could also make this with ½ lb spaghetti and use leftover dressing for another use: drizzled over roasted veggies or fish.

Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa

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Comments

    • I know, it looks like a ton of kids, doesn’t it? Agave would work great. I totally forgot there is a little honey in this when I called it vegan. Oops.

      Reply

    • Oh lucky your kids like it! Mine surprisingly do not, even though they are all peanut butter fans. 🙁

      Reply

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