Get 7, yes 7 of your 10 a day in one meal with this veggie noodle salad! I know, it’s 10 a day now folks, some wise folk decided, therefore that’s that, mum’s and dad’s all round the country are chuffed, while kids are crying into their coco pops, but don’t worry, with this noodle salad you will be kicking that target right in the ass..sorry, on the nose. The truth of the matter is I needed something summery and vibrant and crunchy to cheer me up. The weather is pants, where is the sun already? Anyway this salad cheered me right up, I almost forgot about the torrential rain battering against the door.
You could call this a rainbow salad, but that would be a bit 2010 wouldn’t it? Plus your kids may just look at you and scoff “er you need to eat a variety of colourful foods Mum, cos you know, phytochemicals!” “Eat the rainbow” may work wonders for 5 year olds but it definitely reaches it’s sell by date by the time these kids reach 10. So you need a phytochemical abundance salad, with noodles and peanut sauce, because kids love noodles and I love peanut sauce. See, parenting and food is a constant compromise, this is my reality.
Anyway, this salad is bursting to the brim with lovely, mostly raw vegetables, it’s served with a very tasty peanut sauce and topped off with some seriously addictive toasted honey nuts. Warning: don’t make a big batch of these nuts, or you will be eating them non-stop! I used whole wheat noodles for this salad but you could go with your favourite noodles, saying that rice noodles or rice vermicelli may get lost though.
This is a flexible salad so you could mix and match the vegetables to your own taste, just keep them as raw and as crunchy as possible. So, this peanut sauce, this is one of my favourite things, there are a few ingredients in it but nothing you can’t find in the supermarket. If you have any leftover, you could maybe use it as a marinade for chicken skewers or a crispy tofu salad. Keep it covered in the fridge and use it within two days.
This veggie noodle salad is great for main meal, however you could also save some and use it to annoy your sandwich eating work colleagues when you whip this out at lunch time. Please don’t give this to the kids for school lunches though as there may well be a peanut allergy in school. Most schools have strict peanut bans, and rightly so, they’re not trying to be killjoys, peanut allergy is serious and deadly.
If you are planning on saving some of this for lunch then keep some salad aside before you add the dressing, then add the sauce just before serving. Otherwise you’ll end up with a soggy salad. If you want to make this a day ahead the same goes, keep the salad and sauce separate until you are ready to serve.
Other noodle dishes you may like : Chicken Skewers with Noodle Salad, Instant Veggie Noodle Pots, Baked Miso Glazed Tofu with Noodles
Veggie Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
- FOR THE SALAD
- 100 g / 1 cup of noodles , (dry weight) I used whole wheat noodles
- 110 g / 5oz baby spinach
- 60 g / 1 cup of red cabbage , finely chopped
- 1 carrot , cut into ribbons
- 50 g / 1/2 cup of radishes , sliced thinly
- 1/2 (60g) a red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 (60g) a yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 110 g sugar snap peas
- 1 handful of coriander , stalks removed
- 2 tbs spring onions , just the green part, sliced + more for garnish
- 1 tbs sesame seeds
- 80 g 1/2 cup of peanuts
- 1 tbs honey
- FOR THE DRESSING
- 4 heaped tbs smooth peanut butter , I use a 100% natural sugar free peanut butter
- 2 tbs tamari or low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbs sweet chilli sauce
- 1/2 tbs roasted sesame oil
- 2 fat cloves of garlic
- 1 x 5cm / 2" piece of ginger , skin peeled off and finely grated
- The juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 tsp red chilli , finely chopped
- 50 ml 1/4 cup of water , more if you need it
- Lime wedges to serve
Instructions
-
Cook the noodles according to the packet, leave to cool.
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Blanch the sugar snap peas in boiling water for 2 minutes, remove to an ice bath, then leave aside until you are ready to add them to the salad.
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Toast the peanuts in a frying pan over a medium heat, when they start to turn brown turn down the heat a little then add the honey, mix the honey and nuts together until they are golden brown. Transfer them to a small bowl to cool. When they have cooled you will need to break them up a bit.
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To make the peanut dressing, add the peanut butter, garlic and ginger to a jug, add the tamari/soy sauce, lime juice and sesame oil then whisk everything together. Whisk in 50ml or a 1/4 cup of water you should have a smooth slightly runny sauce, add more water if it is too thick.
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Place all the vegetables and the coriander in a large salad bowl, add the noodles and the sesame seeds then toss.
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Pour 3/4 of the peanut dressing into the salad and toss gently again. Keep the remaining sauce for your guests to add more if they wish.
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Serve with the honey toasted nuts and lime wedges.
Hope the weather gets better soon. We have been having quite the heatwave in my corner of the world so I can’t complain. This is exactly my kind of a meal. I am a huge salad lover so always looking for new recipes. Your photos are beautiful!
Thank you so much Julia x I’m slightly jealous of your heatwave!
This is just beautiful! I love all the different veg, it looks so vibrant and I just want to reach through the screen right now and grab a bowl! Loving those toasted nuts too!
Thanks so much Annie 🙂
This salad is so vibrant, I just want to dive right in! Having trouble getting my fork through the screen though….
Hehe I hope your screen is ok Lisa 😉
I love how fresh and crunchy this looks!
Thanks Lindsay x
What a stunning looking salad! And that dressing?! YUM.
Thanks Amy x
Yes. I agree with Lindsay. I love the layers of crunch you have to get down to the noodles and the dressing sounds perfect.
Thank you 🙂
Wow! Looks delish! I was trying to find something that would be great for dinner. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Megan, I’m glad you like it 🙂
Literally my boyfriend just looked over my shoulder and said “OMG PRINT THAT, PRINT THAT!” haha I think this looks like a winner!
Ha ha that’s so funny, I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Looks amazing so colourful Michelle. I love anything with a peanut dressing and this looks like a winner to me.
Thank you so much Rebecca x
Looks really delish. So colorful.
Thanks Amber 🙂
Ah, this looks phenomenal. I totally relate about the veggie intake-it’s hard enough to get enough veggies in my own body, let alone my kiddo, ha! But this salad would make me proud. 🙂
Thank you so much Monica x It’s an ongoing struggle 😉