Chilled peanut noodle salad

Got a road trip planned this holiday weekend? This recipe was designed as road trip food, the premise being that vegetarians often find limited options on the road that meet their dietary criteria.

Let's face it, even those of us who are omnivores can find limited options on the road if your dietary criteria involves tasty, well-prepared food. So we pack a picnic and avail ourselves of one of Minnesota's well-sited and maintained rest areas.

Chilled peanut noodles
Adapted from “Vegetarian Heartland” by Shelly Westerhausen, a vegetarian book that thankfully is just about cooking tasty food that doesn’t happen to have meat in it instead of torturing food into things they were never meant to be. Plus it doesn’t put tofu in everything like some books resort to. Aspirational lifestyle photos.

I used rice noodles in this because that’s what I had available, but the original recipe is aiming for the nuttier texture of the buckwheat or whole wheat noodles.

Ingredients
9 ounces soba, rice noodles or whole wheat spaghetti
1 cup snap or snow peas
1 carrot, cut into matchstick pieces
1 bell pepper, julienned
½ cup creamy peanut butter
⅓ cup water
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Juice of ½ lime
2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon ground ginger or 1 teaspoons grated fresh
Chopped peanuts for garnish
Chopped cilantro for garnish

Method
Cook noodles until about a minute from al dente. Add peas and cook for one minute more. Drain into a large bowl. Toss with carrot pieces and pepper slices.

In a blender or food processor, combine peanut butter, water, rice vinegar, garlic, lime juice, Srarcha, sesame oil, honey and ginger. Pour pureed mixture over noodles and toss together. Divide into individual serving bowls, cover and chill. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro when ready to serve. If it sets up too much in the refrigerator, just add a tablespoon of water to revive the sauciness.

Rating: Tasty, with nicely balanced flavors and just a mild hint of heat.We did indeed need to add a bit of water to achieve a good sauce consistency, but otherwise it's a self-sufficient picnic lunch. Or lunch at home for that matter. Fast to pull out when you're bouncing between meetings.I would definitely make this one again. Dave wanted the salad contents outlined for him, but said it was Dave-approved.

These containers come with plastic lids, so they make great lunch totes. Just remember a metal fork.