Nutty Noodle Salad

To go along with the Chicken Teriyaki that I served at the Pink Flavoured Baby Shower I hosted for my sister and brother-in-law, I made a Nutty Noodle Salad, which went down even better than I expected! I look forward to making this dish again!

This Asian inspired salad is really simple to make, and you can add or take away any of the veggie elements to suit your tastes.

Don’t be scared by the long list of ingredients which include veggies, soy sauce, peanut butter, oil, honey, noodles, ginger and garlic – if my guests could tell you how wonderful this salad is, I’m sure they would! Trust me, it’s gooood!

Start by cooking your noodles in boiling water according to the package instructions – you want them to be al dente. When cooked, drain away the water, run under a cold tap to cool down and then drizzle a little sesame oil and mix through well (with your hands!). This keeps the noodles nice and moist, as well as flavourful! I didn’t add salt to my cooking water because salt will come from the soy sauce in the dressing.

With the noodles all prepared, you need to chop up and prepare all your veggies. I cut most of my vegetables into thin strips where possible. Some got left whole, like the sugar snap peas. Some of the vegetables are kept raw, whilst the rest are cooked to take the raw edge off them – this includes the peas, carrots and baby sweetcorn. The bell peppers, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and spring onions are served raw in the salad.

I always like to stir each vegetable into a salad in stages to get a nice even mix, but that’s just me – you could just dump all the veggies in and mix away!

I bought the water chestnuts and bamboo shoots already sliced up in a can (saves time!) and with all the vegetables now mixed through the noodles, it was time to make up the dressing using soy sauce, rice vinegar, vegetable oil, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, honey, sesame seeds and crunchy peanut butter.

Pour the dressing over the mixed vegetables and noodles and toss together. The picture doesn’t look very attractive does it?! But just wait – this nutty noodle salad is a taste sensation!! Finally, before serving, sprinkle over some more sesame seeds.

This dish is a great vegetarian meal in itself, or you can have it as a side dish to meats. It goes extremely well with my Chicken Teriyaki!

Nutty Noodle Salad – Enjoy!

Nutty Noodle Salad

Serves 18
Ingredients

• 1kg egg noodles
• 360g sugar snap peas, topped and tailed
• 2 – 3 bell peppers in your choice of colour, sliced into thin strips
• 250g baby sweetcorn, halved and quartered lengthways
• 2 medium carrots, cut into thin strips
• 225g can sliced bamboo shoots
• 225g can water chestnuts, sliced
• 6 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1-2 tbsp sesame oil for drizzling

For the dressing

• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup white rice wine vinegar
• ¼ cup light soy sauce
• ¼ cup crunchy peanut butter
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp grated ginger (about 1″ piece)
• 50g sesame seeds plus extra for scattering over the salad

Method

1. Cook the egg noodles in a big pan of boiling water, according to the instructions on the package.
2. Drain and cool under cold running water, then drizzle with the sesame oil and mix through to prevent sticking.
3. In another pan of boiling water, place the sugar snap peas, carrots and baby sweetcorn and cook for 2-3 minutes, drain, and plunge into iced water to retain the colour and stop the cooking process.
4. When the noodles and cooked vegetables are completely cool, place into a big mixing bowl along with the bell peppers, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and spring onions. Mix everything together well so that everything is combined.
5. To make the dressing, in a bowl, mix together all the ingredients until well blended. Check for taste, and adjust with more or less vinegar/soy sauce if you feel you need to.
6. Pour most of the dressing over the noodle salad and mix well. Leave to marinade for a few hours – even better overnight.
7. When ready to serve, pour over the rest of the dressing and scatter over some more sesame seeds.

Please Share This Post!