Cold, Spicy Thai “Noodle” Salad

Simply sweet, spicy, and crunchy; ahh perfection. On warm Summer days I enjoy making meals that require little prep time and virtually no cooking time. This is that meal. It’s mostly raw, vegan, gluten-free & obviously very plant-based…making it an easy meal to get an abundance of nutrients, without increasing your waistline. It’s a win-win.

Seriously though, this meal took me 15 minutes to make — but in order for it to be that easy, you’ll definitely need a vegetable spiralizer. I am currently using this Spiral Vegetable Slicer, which makes things effortless. I highly suggest getting your hands on one. You can also use something as simple as this Spiral Vegetable Slicer — it’ll just take a few more min. to prepare.

Gluten-free, Vegan, Mostly “Raw”, No-added salt
Serves 2 (yes, all this food should serve 2 people or 1 very hungry herbivore)
Ingredients

2 lrg zucchinis, made into noodles
1 lrg English cucumber, made into noodles
2 lrg carrots, made into noodles
1 med. bell pepper, any color, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced fine
1 tbsp. fresh minced ginger root
2 scallion stalks, minced
1 lrg handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. red chili or jalapeno pepper
1 lime, juiced and zested
3 tbsp. sesame seeds

Sauce (adjust flavors according to taste)
1/4 c. San J Peanut Sauce;
(or PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter mixed w/ water to form a paste, regular peanut butter, or grind up fresh peanuts in a Vitamix)
1/4 c. water
1 tbsp. liquid aminos
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. red curry powder (not paste); opt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder

Make your sauce ahead of time and set in the refrigerator for 30 min – 1 hr. to chill.

Assemble your salad in any way you like and toss with the sauce*, lime juice, and lime zest + a fresh crack of black pepper if you so desire. Top with sesame seeds and serve immediately.

*Some sauce will remain at the bottom of the bowl — since these noodles are “raw” they not adhere to the sauce, but rather absorb flavor. Pour a little of this sauce on top of your salad if you desire more liquid.

I hope you guys enjoy this super simple, cold Thai noodle salad.

For the love of plants,
cristine.

P.S. If you would rather have this dish warm, use cooked rice noodles instead of zucchini and cucumber noodles, and heat everything over a non-stick skillet.

rough nutrition facts/p serving (the way I prepared it):
less than 400 calories, 6 g. fat, 400 mg. sodium