Throw 'er in there Asian Noodle Salads
In the last three days, I've made three Asian noodles salads. One for the catering gig, and the other two from leftovers floating around the fridge. They included, in various combinations:
- Soba (buckwheat) or spaghetti noodles
- Cilantro
- Red cabbage
- Mint
- Stir-fried green garlic shoots
- Julienned carrots
- Julienned cucumber
- Black or white sesame seeds
- Pickled ginger
- Yellow peppers
- Red jalapeno peppers
- Candied slivered almonds
- Coconut sesame brittle from the Vietnamese deli
- Green onions
- Arugula
- Thin raw zucchini rounds
- Baked tofu
- Miso dressing or honey sesame vinaigrette
Delicious, good for summer, chock-full of vegetables. If you want to join me in the mix-and-match fest:
- After cooking your noodles, rinse them in cold water
- Slice vegetables in mostly uniform sizes
- Add dressing to everything while the noodles are still a bit warm
- Use more dressing than you think you need because noodles soak up a LOT and drizzle more dressing over the top once everything's tossed
- Reserve a few ingredients for the top to add color and interest
- Toss with your hands--more thorough and gentle than utensils
Whoo! Tons of cooking the last few days. Plus granola for the teachers, salad for my nephew's dedication. Tonight for my birthday, we went out for pizza and I blissfully didn't lift a finger. I had such a perfect birthday. Thank you, everyone, for the comments, phone calls, and love sent my way. I feel like I've been filled up to keep giving in all my relationships (and obligations). 
Thank you, Emily, for this sweet little bouquet and Yancey, for the date at Lola and the movies. I'm leaving town until Saturday on a retreat with 35 amazing women, so will take the longest blogging break I've ever taken! I'll miss you and will be back with a vengeance, I'm sure.
June 16, 2009
Reader Comments (18)
some version of these asian noodle salads will be a regular part of my weeks meals. so, so good. thanks for the meal!
Few things.
1. I never thought I'd love this salad as much as I did. I bought sesame oil for the first time, just for this occasion. I also bought some hoisin. Jason is T.H.R.I.L.L.E.D. I wonder if I can keep him from inhaling the stuff.
2. I think that's my plate of salad and burger from Karl's party! (I'm such a glutton)
3. I came to the site and had a moment of "Whose site is that with such a chic banner?".
DOH!
can you include the recipe for that coconut cream pie! lol. i'm glad your birthday filled you up, that's how birthdays should be. now i'm scheming about what leftovers from my fridge i can turn into a noodle salad. oh, and i like to see the way you sauteed the garlic scapes...i have cooked them many times, but never thought of splitting them down the middle and making them all crispy and delicious like that. YUM! maybe i will get some in my csa box today. :)
happy birthday! noodles look great. i'm sure everything at lola was delicious, although i've never had the coconut cream pie.
Greetings!
Just wanting you to know that I have been invited to a number of different blogs, face book, my space, etc. and avoid them all...until now. I very much enjoy In Praise Of Leftovers. Thanks for sharing a bit of your life.
I'm glad your birthday was good and you are having a break.
Blessings,
Deb
Looks delicious. I have that honey sesame vinaigrette left over from yesterday's salad. I made spaghetti the other night. Can I rinse off the little bit of tomato sauce on the noodles and convert it to this asian noodle salad?
Have fun on your retreat and hope you get some R&R!
Absolutely, Midori! Go for it.
Hi Deb! It's so nice to see your name here. I had a good laugh about the chocolate chip cookie comment. Apparently a lot of people have been trying to get that recipe from my Mom for a long time. By the way, you are exactly the kind of person I was hoping would read my blog--the kind who never would otherwise. THANK YOU!
Tom Douglas' coconut cream pie is my absolute favorite! Maybe we can get our hands on THAT recipe! That pie always reminds of Patricia + Belyea. So many client lunches there...always sharing that pie. Glad you got some of that sweetness.
I love asian salads too. They are so fresh and flavorful, especially on hot days. Yum!
What a gorgeous salad, I love all the layers of flavor! I hope you have fun at the retreat!
It worked! I just wish I had enough left over pasta. It was so delicious we were all craving more!
Made this Friday night and tonight. So easy and tasty!
Mark and I have had the pleasure of joining two sets of Bellingham friends for dinner in the last week. Guess, what? Both of them prepared this salad! Seems that you have a very dedicated following up here. And, by the way, both salads were VERY different, but both very delicious. Thanks for feeding us via our friend up here! With a new baby, we sure need it.
This salad idea has recently been a huge gift to me. I made a meal for a friend with gluten and dairy allergies by substituting rice noodles (and paired it with your thai carrot soup...so, double thanks!). I made enough for us, too, and we happily scarfed it all down. Then, after my husband & I both worked yesterday, we came home to a fridge full of randomness, including some whole wheat pasta shells. Threw on some of your honey sesame dressing, added lots of veggies, and viola!, a delicious dinner for us. I was thrilled to eat the leftovers for lunch. One question---do yours end up with a lot of liquid at the base? I'm guessing it's from the veggies I used, but am not completely sure. (It's not an awful problem, but it'd be nicer without it.)
Hi Kathleen! Hmm...I haven't had the water problem. I do leave my noodles a little bit warm when I dress them, so they soak up more liquid. And I toss the salads really well. The only other thing I can think of is that you may actually be using too much dressing.
jv + i ended up having a low key 4th of july; at 8:20pm, i started thinking...."dinner?" i got to mac pherson's just before they closed and pulled together a version of this salad (AND added my preserved lemons which added a nice little zing!). so, here we sit, listening to the fire crackers go crazy outside our windows and we're wonderfully content and thankful.
That sounds like my kind of 4th.