Rice Noodle Salad with Sesame-Soy Dressing

In preparation for camping, I thought I'd whip up this quick, shelf-stable recipe. It's fresh tasting and healthy, and can easily be made WHILE camping. Just bring the veggies and dressing along and cook the noodles in the great outdoors. I did it at home for a couple of reasons: I wanted to make a pretty blog post, and we want to spend more time mountain biking and rock-climbing on the trip, and less time cooking.

This dish uses Sambal Oelek chili paste, or Sriracha. These do not meet my Simple Food criteria, and I was planning on making my own (see recipes here and here), but I ran out of time before the trip. However stay posted for an in depth look at homemade Sriracha style hot sauce in the future.

I learned this dish while working at the fancy hotel restaurant. We did a Sunday brunch and every Saturday the French cook I worked under—let's call him B—and I made this as well as four other beautifully garnished, delicious salads. No one ever ate them. They were all lovely dishes, but with so many other options (prime rib, caviar, and a chocolate fondue fountain to name a few), guests treated the salads as mere decorations. Nonetheless, B spent hours making them perfect. I asked why once and he replied in his thick, charming accent, “Because I want to know that if Chef tastes them, he cannot say SHIT about MY salads.”

B taught me many things while I worked with him. I learned the importance of having a spray bottle of canola oil in my kitchen (for applying oil to pans, coating pasta, or veggies, or greasing cake pans), how to handle knives, and tons of recipes and techniques. I also learned to never get involved with a co-worker. So here's to B: a good friend, a great mentor, and an amazing cook.

Thanks B!

Quick note about prepping the veggies for this one: I julienne the veggies for this recipe. I think it looks pretty and goes nicely with the long noodles. If you have a mandolin with teeth attachment, use that for the carrots. But watch your fingers! If not...

Julienne-ing carrots is hard to do by hand. Use a sharp knife and cut the carrots in half across the middle to start. This way you have to shorter pieces to work with and the fatter top is separate from the tapered bottom. From there, cut the bottom in half lengthwise so there is a flat surface for the carrot to rest on, and slice thin strips. Do the same for the top, except cut it in to thirds or quarters lengthwise, depending on how fat your carrot is. This gives you thin slices, not match-stick julienne carrots. But unless your friends/family are real jerks, no one should complain.

Bell peppers are easier. Just cut in half lengthwise, remove as much of the seeds and ribs as you can by hand, and rinse. Then, and this is totally optional, I like to trim away any remaining white parts (along the ribs or at the ends) with the tip of my knife. After that, just flatten the halves out a little for easier slicing and cut long, thin slices.

Before

After!

Now for the fun part!

Rice Noodle Salad with Sesame-Soy Dressing

Yield 8 servings

You will need:

They come in nice compact packages for
backpacking

1 package Thin Rice Noodles (approx. 8.8 oz)

Canola Oil spray

½ cup Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon Sambol Oelek or Sriracha (more if you like it spicy)

2 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

1/3 cup Canola Oil

1/3 cup Sesame Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Carrots, Julienned

2 Red Bell Peppers, Julienned

3-6 Green Onions (depending on size), sliced on a steep angle

Garnish: Cilantro and Sesame Seeds

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While you wait, prepare a bowl of ice water and have it ready. When water boils, turn heat off and submerge your Rice Noodles in it. Stir them around to separate them so they cook evenly. They only take 1 or 2 minutes to cook, so try one after one minute. They should be springy but not crunchy.

Drain noodles and submerge your colander in the ice water. I do it this way to keep from having to pick ice cubes out of my noodles. Stir the noodles around so that the ones in the middle don't continue cooking.

Allow excess water to drain.

I have a sub-par colander, so I have to get creative

Transfer noodles to a large bowl. I like to cut my noodles with kitchen scissor while I do this. Shorter noodles are easier to manage if you and your friends or family will be serving yourselves. I also spray the noodles with that handy Canola Oil in a spray bottle so they don't clump up.

Now make the dressing. Whisk together the Soy Sauce, Sambol Oelek (or Sriracha), and rice vinegar.

Whisk in the two Oils. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Add about half the dressing to the noodles and toss to coat.

Add in the veggies and toss to combine.  Then add as much of the remaining dressing as you see fit. I use it all, some might find this over-dressed. Toss thoroughly.

Garnish and there you go!

Note: For camping purposes, I just mixed the garnish right on in for less fuss.