Asian Noodle Salad

Its has been a flurry of cooking going on in my kitchen today. That's it for me though. It will be leftovers or sushi tomorrow night & the weekend because I am out recipes. Unless someone might want to come over for a BBQ? There are some turkey burgers I need to try out before vacation.

It will sound ridiculous because I am sure I could say this about everything I have posted--heck, I probably wrote it this afternoon but you need to try this salad. Make it for a party, bring it to someone's house, make it and eat it for a week. I am telling you, this is a EUREKA I cant believe I know how to make this salad its so good.

Asian Noodle Salad

borrowed from The Sister's Cafe who adapted it from Jamie Oliver

SALAD INGREDIENTS:

1 packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled--(I used whole wheat spaghetti)
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage **I couldn't find this in my store so I omitted**
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage**I got a bag of shredded red cabbage is that the same?**
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small bag bean sprouts (I left these out)**me too they didn't have them in my store**
3 sliced scallions
1 peeled, sliced cucumber ( you could use more)
chopped cilantro-to taste (I only used a little) **blech I don't like cilantro**
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet **um, I forgot to do this whole step so no nuts were harmed in the making of this salad**

DRESSING:

Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped--WARNING the use of jalapenos can be dangerous. I know when I seed them not to touch the membrane but I was in a rush and wasn't really thinking and I pulled it out with my finger nails instead of cutting it with a knife and now my fingers under the nail are burning for hours--DON'T DO THIS. I think next time I will just omit these too because I liked the dressing better without it anyway, and I cant be trusted with a hot pepper

Mix together salad ingredients in LARGE bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs and serve in a big bowl or platter. NOT A big bowl A HUGE BOWL. This is a BIG salad--you cant even tell how big it is from the picture, but this bowl is enormous

VERDICT
IIIIII LOOOOOVVVVVEEEE THHHISSSS SAAAAALLAAADDDDD!!!

There is so much leftover that I am totally in heaven that I get to eat more of it. Can you tell I am starting to get a little nuts over some of these recipes. Who said Food isn't love??? Who knew a salad could bring so much joy. I am telling you if I made this for a crowd they would go nuts for it too. I want to have a party just so I can make this salad for people. You can make it for a crowd because its GIANT, have I mentioned that? So again I omitted somethings and forgot one really big thing the cashews, but I didn't miss them and I saved a whole bunch of extra calories. When I have the leftovers maybe I will throw them in just in case it might make me love the salad more but I don't think that could happen.

EDIT:

Something about the leftovers werent quite right. There was a bitterness that wasnt there the night I made it fresh and ate it. The cabbage made the leftovers taste very bitter and I had to throw the rest out. So I am putting this warning out there. If you use cabbage beware. Maybe it was the paricular cabbage I used since I dont think it was either of the ones mentioned in the recipe or if that is what cabbage does after a day or 2. I dont think it added anything spectacular to the dish so in the future I will leave it out of maybe add plain old coleslaw mix or a broccoli cole slaw mix instead--consider yourself warned