Far Eastern Noodle Salad
While you can make a Far Eastern Noodle Salad, it’s really great addition to summer menus. It makes a perfect addition to picnics, or as a family over several days. You can use it as a main dish or a side, served cold and at room temperature, depending on which you enjoy best. Beyond an incredibly simple process, this recipe is packed full of flavor. It makes a fantastic change from lettuce or potato salads. You have plenty of wiggle room for some personalization. You could add meat, like shredded chicken, or tofu if you have vegetarian friends and family, for example. While a recipe for the dressing is provided here, if you need to save time there are many excellent vinaigrette with an Asian flair, like ginger sesame, available at the supermarket.
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD
- 1 package thin spaghetti
- 1.5 cups julienne carrots
- 1 cup bean sprouts or crunchy sprouts
- 2 seedless cucumbers halved and sliced
- 3 bunches of green onion sliced thin
- ¼ head cabbage sliced thin
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts
- 8 ounces snow peas
- 8 ounces baby corn
- Chow Mein Noodles optional
INGREDIENTS FOR DRESSING
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- 2 Tbs sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 Tbs sesame seed
- ¼ tsp chili oil optional
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DRESSING (make this first)
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a food storage container or salad dressing server.
- Refrigerate for one hour.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SALAD
- Bring a large pot of water to boil.
- Cook the noodles until they’re just over being al dente
- Drain, rinse with cool water and bring to room temperature.
- Mix all the vegetables into the spaghetti noodles.
- Toss thoroughly
- You can add the dressing at this point or chill the noodles for an hour.
- Pour the dressing over the mixed salad, just enough so it doesn’t feel dry.
- Serve family-style in a large bowl, or single-serve on salad plates.