MONDAY RECIPE POST - COLD PEANUT NOODLE SALAD WITH CUCUMBERS

Today's recipe came from Alexandra's Kitchen and you can see the original here.  

I recommend going to Alexandra’s blog to see what else she has to offer.  Photos are always fun and I might not repeat all the tips I have read, a few.

Not only were we looking for a main course salad on a very hot day, but we also wanted one that was meatless.  This meal is vegan but if you love Asian food, you are not going to miss the meat.  

Cold Peanut Noodle Salad with Cucumbers

From prep to table, this takes about 30 minutes 

Serves 4

For the dressing: 

1/2 cup peanut butter or other nut butter

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari (some manufacturers add flavor enhancers, which are from meat or fish, so check the ingredient label on your soy sauce.  I used low-sodium.  Tamari is vegan and usually gluten free if you are following such things)  

2 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoon maple syrup

1/4 cup water plus more as needed

2 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated

2 teaspoons grated or finely minced fresh ginger (for my minced fresh ginger and minced garlic, I used these great little individual packets by Dorots from Trader Joe's - see more below recipe if you are interesting in this product.)

2 to 3 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sambal Oelek, optional

Flaky sea salt such as Maldon (we just used Kosha salt)  

For the salad:

1 lb. frozen (or refrigerated fresh) Udon noodles, or 8 oz. dried noodle of choice

1 to 2 large cucumbers (I used 2/3 of a hot-house cucumber)

2 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced 

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, optional

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

1/4 cup peanut-ginger dressing plus more to taste

Make the dressing:

In a medium bowl, whisk together peanut butter, lime juice, soy or tamari sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, water, ginger, garlic, and chili-garlic sauce if using. Season with a pinch of sea salt/Kosha and taste. Adjust with more lime or salt if needed. As the dressing sits, it may thicken. If it does, thin with a tablespoon of water until it reaches the right consistency. 

Boil the noodles: 

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Cook the noodles of choice according to package directions (frozen Udon noodles take roughly 5 minutes to cook through.  Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.  (Denise's note: our refrigerated fresh noodles took 3 minutes.  It will take about 8 minutes for dried.)

Prepare the cucumbers: 

You can use a spiralizer, or a mandolin, or even slice extra thinly, almost paper thin.  To spiralize cut off the ends of each cucumber, then fit the cucumber into the spiralizer and turn until the cucumber has been transformed into thin 'ringlets'.

Make the salad: 

Place the noodles into a large bowl. Pat dry with a towel if still wet. Toss with 1/4 cup of the dressing. Noodles should be thoroughly coated in the dressing.

Add the cucumbers, scallions, cilantro, if using, and peanuts. 

Toss again and taste. Add more dressing if needed. Season with a pinch of sea salt, or in our case, Kosher salt. 

Serve immediately or transfer to quart containers and stash in the fridge. 

You can store extra dressing in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

Alexandra's Notes:

This salad is very versatile.  You can use any preferred raw vegetable, any herb or noodles in your pantry.  

Peanut Butter: I’ve used more natural brands such as Maranatha and Trader Joe’s to Jif and Skippy, and the dressing tastes great regardless. If using a natural brand, be sure to stir it prior to measuring to ensure the oil is emulsified. 

Peanuts: Alexandra uses Trader Joe’s roasted peanuts, 50% less salty. It’s nice not having to toast peanuts, so look for roasted peanuts if you are shopping. 

From Denise: 

A beginner's guide to using a spiralizer can be found here. Be careful when using them.  I was a little too vigorous when trying to do the carrots and one slipped.  I had a tiny puncture on my thumb/ knuckle but it stung.  The blades are sharp also FYI but slip in conveniently into its slot. I had no problem with the cucumber.  Gregg took over with the carrot and ended up using a peeler to peel strips off for the salad - that worked well.  If you have a food processor with the appropriate blade, you can use that too I would imagine.  (Our carrots were just too thin to use on the spiralizer.)  All that said, I wouldn't have a problem using it again as there are days I can be a bit klutzy and this was one of them.

This spiralizer is similar to the one I have, but I bought mine at a store a couple of years' ago.

This mini version was shown on Alexandra's blog, recommended by another blogger and very reasonably priced.

A center core is left which you can either chop up and add to your salad or eat it as a snack right there and then.  In hothouse cucumbers the seeds are edible and aren't bitter tasting. They are always on my shopping list.  I buy no other type though I do like Persian Cucumbers, thanks to being introduced to them in our Blue Apron days. 

What did we think of our salad?

It was a great salad and a lot different to the ones we usually put together.  Gregg came across it on Instagram.  Now, tastes do differ but we both gave it a 10 out of 10.  Delicious and very refreshing on a hot day.  If you look at the ingredients and they appeal to you, we can highly recommend it.  

Just to let you know, I don't get any benefits from companies I talk about on here.  If I like a product I will share.  

Instead of using regular garlic and ginger, I had already found these packets from Trader Joe's freezer section.  I have used them for other meals lately as I have had them in my freezer for a week or so. It is always nice to use fresh ingredients but there are days when I don't like too much fussing in the kitchen and like to use short cuts.  Other choices they do are chopped dill, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro, chopped basil, chopped chili and crushed turmeric.  They are easy to pop out and you put the rest back into the freezer to use for other meals.   Besides Trader Joe's, they also sell them at Walmart, Whole Foods and Kroger, according to Dorot's website.  In other countries you probably have your own equivalent product.

There were leftovers which we had for lunch the next day, and it tasted even better.  

I used the spiralizer again since making this salad after suggesting a simple sandwich for dinner.  It consisted of two slices of bread spread with butter (mayonnaise would have been good also), slices of a locally grown tomato bought today (so delicious), grated cheddar cheese, the cucumber (we chopped them up even more by hand) and topped it off with alfalfa sprouts.  Very yummy and again, simple and no fussing.

What is your favorite sandwich?  Always looking for some ideas.

That's it for this week's recipe.  Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great week.