Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce

by Steph Sunshine at StephSunshine.com

Yield 6 servings as a meal or 12 servings as a side (about 9 1/2 cups or 2.2 liters)

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. pad thai noodles (or other noodles of choice)*
  • 2 cups red cabbage, sliced and roughly chopped
  • 1 cup red bell pepper, finely diced (about 1 pepper)
  • 1 cup carrots, julienned
  • 1 cup edamame, without shells (fresh or defrosted from frozen)*

Peanut Sauce

  • 1/2 cup creamy salted peanut butter
  • 6 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos*
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. sriracha*
  • 2 tbsp. fresh ginger root, grated
  • 2 tbsp. garlic, minced

Garnish

  • 1 to 2 green onions (scallions), chopped (or 1/4 cup chopped cilantro)
  • 1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped or crushed

Instructions

  1. Cook or soak your noodles according to package instructions, then drain and rinse under cold water to stop them from cooking more. Set aside.
  2. If your edamame is fresh (uncooked), add it to a small saucepan of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, then drain, run under cool water, and set aside.
  3. To prepare your peanut sauce, start by adding all the ingredients for the sauce (peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, rice vinegar, sriracha, ginger, and garlic) in either a medium jar with a lid or a tall wide-mouth jar for an immersion blender. You can either seal the jar and shake to combine or use an immersion blender with the whisk attachment to mix everything until it's well-combined.
  4. Transfer your sauce to an airtight container and separately store your noodles and veggies (red cabbage, red peppers, carrots, and edamame) in one or more airtight containers. You can toss the noodles and veggies together now or keep them separated if you prefer. Alternately, you can portion out the noodles and veggies into individual servings in separate jars. Then, refrigerate everything for 2 to 4 hours, until chilled.
  5. When you're ready to serve the salad, toss the noodles, veggies, and peanut sauce together. (You might not need to use all of the sauce.)
  6. Top the salad with chopped green onions (or cilantro) and chopped peanuts, then enjoy!

Notes & Hints

To keep this recipe gluten-free, use rice noodles and coconut aminos.

If your frozen edamame has been blanched, you can just defrost it; otherwise cook it as directed in the recipe.

Use less sriracha for a less spicy sauce and more sriracha for extra heat.

If you have unroasted peanuts, you can roast them in a single layer on a baking tray in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly golden.

The sauce and noodles keep better when stored separately, so only combine the amount of sauce and noodles you want to eat right away.

StephSunshine