Asian Noodle Salad

Since my oldest recently exclaimed that she wants to try Vegan, I've been searching online for recipes we can all enjoy. I have seen PW's recipe many times before but it came up on pinterest under the vegan tag so I finally thought I'd try it. WHY did I wait so long?? This salad is good!! It reminds me of a soba noodle salad I loved that we sold in the deli back in the day. I made ths recipe to be gluten free friendly too, which was not difficult at all. I have found the new Barilla gluten free pastas to be very good and they held up lovely in this salad. Also be sure to get a very large container so you can easily toss this together.

Asian Noodle Salad

Salad Ingredients:
1 pound package Fettuccine Noodles, Cooked, Rinsed, And Cooled (gluten free spaghetti pasta)
1 small head Sliced Napa Cabbage
1 small head Sliced Purple Cabbage
1/2 bag Baby Spinach
1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin
1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin
1 whole Orange Bell Pepper, Thinly Sliced
1 bag Bean Sprouts
Cilantro, Chopped, To Taste
3 whole Scallions, Sliced 3 whole Cucumbers Peeled And Sliced
1 Cup Roasted Peanuts

Dressing:
1 whole Lime, Juiced
8 Tablespoons Olive Oil
8 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (gluten free Tamari)
2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger Grated
2 cloves Garlic, Chopped
1/2 tsp Sambal Oelek

Combine all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine the dressing ingredients together and toss with the salad. Enjoy this salad cold from the fridge.

 enjoy,

Crispy Tofu with Veggies and Noodles in a Sweet and Spicy Soy Sauce

Ok, I am finally going to post this, I have shared about it on Facebook so much lately. It's become one of my favorite lunches (because no one else here would eat it). The recipe is taken from Steamy Kitchen's cookbook (pg. 111) and of course I changed it up a little (making it gluten free now), added some veggies and noodles making a meal of it.

Crispy Tofu with Veggies and Noodles in a Sweet and Spicy Soy Sauce
slightly adapted from Steamy Kitchen

4 TBL low sodium Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)

4 TBL honey
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sambal oelek
1 TBL crushed garlic
14 oz block firm tofu
Veggies of choice (mushrooms, bean sprouts, bok choy...)
Cooked Asian rice noodles (or soba/ramen if you're not GF)

Combine Tamari, honey, sambal oelek, and garlic. Set aside.
Drain tofu, slice into 8 thin slices, lay on paper towels and press to drain out excess moisture.
In a hot skillet, heat about 1 TBL canola oil. Add tofu slices and let cook for 4 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. Set aside on paper towels to drain oil. Cut into bite size pieces.
In the same skillet, heat a little oil and add selected veggies and let cook until softened (can add a tiny bit of water, cover pan w/lid), about 3 minutes.
Using the same hot skillet, add the sauce and let it boil for a few seconds, turn off heat and add tofu and noodles, gently toss to combine.
This will give me 3 lunches worth.

(this is with ramen noodles, bell pepper & green onion curls, not GF)

sautee up veggies

let sauce simmer with tofu, add veggies

ready to add noodles

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enjoy,