This asian inspired rice noodle salad is hands down one of my favorite salads.

I love the different combination of flavors and textures – from the rice noodles to the peanuts, edamame, bean sprouts, Napa cabbage –  all coated in a soy-honey dressing infused with lemongrass, ginger and garlic…YUM!

I used to order a similar salad from the Vietnamese restaurant across the street from our office in Miami every Friday which is where I got the inspiration, plus I love salads that are a full meal.  And it was a Friday…and I was hungry!!!  I was so addicted to it I had to try to recreate it once I moved to St Pete and I have to admit that this was even better than the original.  Fresh ingredients make all the difference sometimes, don’t they?!?

If you want to make it vegetarian, just omit the chicken. For a vegan version you need to replace the honey in the dressing, for which you could use maple syrup or even agave which some people prefer.  I’m always a fan of the vegetarian versions of meals, but lately I have needed the extra protein so I went with the Chicken version this time.

I wasn’t a big fan of ginger to tell you the truth. I always thought it made the food too aromatic and not in a good way –  like I was literally having perfume with my food!  It was not until recently that I started to cook with it and then I acquired the taste and I have fallen in love with it since then.  Isn’t that always how it is with new things?  Sometimes you just have to do them enough until you get used to doing them, or eating them, and then you end up loving it!!

I like to prepare the dressing in advance so that the flavors have time to develop. I tried to use fresh lemongrass for the dressing and I really didn’t like the texture. I used lemongrass paste,  it worked perfectly and tasted delicious!  The recipe is below, take a look and make something easy and different than just ‘the usual’ salad and feel like you had a night out at a new restaurant!!

Rice Noodle Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the salad:

12 oz of rice noodles

(I used  Annie Chun’s Maifun Rice Noodles)

1 big rotisserie chicken breast, shredded

– about 1 1/2 cup

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced or 1/3 of a cup

1/2 cup of carrots, shredded

1/2 of a cup of bean sprouts

1/2 of a cup of shelled edamame

2 springs of green onions, diced

1/2 of cup of non salted or low sodium peanuts

2 cups of napa cabbage, thinly sliced

fresh cilantro for garnish, chopped

For the dressing:

2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp of sesame oil

2 tsp of lemongrass paste

1 clove of garlic, shredded

1/2 to 1 tsp of ginger, freshly grated

1 tbsp of honey or truvia nectar

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Instructions

For the dressing:

Place soy sauce and vegetable oil in a small mixing bowl. Add shredded garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Whisk in vegetable oil and the honey until you get a smooth mixture.

For the salad:

Cook rice noodles  according to package instructions. I placed mine in a deep mixing bowl.  Brought water in a tea kettle to a boil and poured a good amount over the noodles – enough to cover them. Let them soak for about 4 minutes or until tender, stir them gently to loose them up and then drain them.  Rinse the noodles under  cold running water and set them aside.

Place chicken, red pepper, carrots, green onions, edamame, bean sprouts and cabbage in a big mixing bowl. Add a couple of tablespoons of the dressing and stir to mix and coat the ingredients.

Toss noodles and stir in enough dressing to coat all the salad.  Add chopped, fresh cilantro and peanuts before serving.

 

Notes

Handle rice noodles gently as they break easily.