Asian-Style Noodle Salad

Creativity with words occupies a whole lot of my time, both in my regular job (as a musical theatre librettist and lyricist) and of course, here on these pages, as I think of fun ways to talk about the food I love and want to convince you to make. Generally, the stories come easily but every so often they just…don’t. Like with this Asian-Style Noodle Salad. I first made it in late May and again in June and it’s super delicious and quick to put together too, which makes it perfect for lunches or vegetarian dinners or even picnic sides, but every time I sat down to write about it, I just…couldn’t.

And this salad isn’t boring—far from it—there are crunchy veggies, a light tahini based sauce, plenty of sesame seeds and of course, chewy, slurpy rice noodles, but still…nada!

So today, please just accept this very non-creative plea, make the salad and keep your fingers crossed that the creativity goddesses choose to bless me again very soon!!

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Asian-Style Noodle Salad

Makes at least 6 servings

Prep Time: Under 30 minutes

Ingredients

• About 8 ounces thin rice noodles (the brand I used was 8.8 ounces)

• 1 teaspoon, plus 1 tablespoon sesame oil, divided

• 2 tablespoons tahini

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 teaspoons honey

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• Kosher salt and black pepper

• 1 small red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

• 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded on the large holes of a box shredder

• ½ small green or red cabbage, shredded

• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

The Recipe

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water and return to the pot. Add the 1 teaspoon sesame oil to the noodles and toss well to coat. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil, the tahini, olive oil, honey, rice vinegar and garlic. Taste and season with a pinch or two of the salt and pepper. Pour over the cooled noodles in the pot and add the red pepper, carrots and cabbage and toss well to mix everything together. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve. This is great at room temperature, cold from the fridge or even gently reheated in the microwave.

3. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for several days.

Enjoy!