Ina’s Crunchy Noodle Salad: A quick weeknight meal that’s all about the savory dressing and crunchy veggies. It’s great for hot summer nights, potlucks, or parties too!

I feel like a little blogging maniac tonight! This is my 4th post tonight but its only because I haven’t posted anything in 2 weeks. I’m having withdrawal!!

So the past couple of weeks have been crazy (not a whole lot of cooking – *gasp!*) and I skipped the WC Platinum Chef Challenge Round 2 but I was bound and determined to get back into the challenge for this round. Cara has been hosting this challenge and posted the 5 new ingredients for this round last week: wine, peanut butter, honey, onions, and seafood.

I got right to thinking about a recipe or two that would emcompass all of these ingredients when I remembered a recipe I had filed away both in the back of my mind that I was dying to make which used peanut butter and honey.

Ina Garten’s crunchy noodle salad called for peanut butter, honey, and to my surprise, scallions (green onions). I would only need to add wine and seafood to the dish to complete the challenge!

Ina pairs it salmon but I added shrimp because, well, that’s what I had in my freezer. 🙂 And what a better time to make a salad than on a rare 95 degree evening here in New England!

Its a long list of ingredients but Kyle joined me in the kitchen tonight and took on making the sauce while I prepped the veggies. This really helped to cut down on the prep time!

All told, I loved it, giving it a 4 out of 5 start. To me, this crunchy noodle salad had a little bit of a Thai taste, without the heat or the coconut. Just the way I like it!

Kyle, on the other hand wasn’t all that fond of it and gave it a 2 out of 5. Although, he polished off his serving while I was taking photos of my serving so I can never tell with this boy!

I’m pretty sure this goes back to the fact that he doesn’t love peanut butter in savory dishes. See also: crunchy spicy peanut lime salad, Chinese chicken salad, and chicken satay with peanut chutney sauce.

Regardless, I will make it again, but only when I’m bringing it for a potluck or serving it among other dishes at my house for a gathering (i.e., not for a main course for Kyle and myself). Of course, I made some modifications, which are noted below the recipe.

Quick Addendum:

I wouldn’t normally post something like this but since Kyle felt like being a “chef” on his own after not being fulfilled by the Crunchy Noodle Salad and not wanting to go back for seconds (fine by me – lunch tomorrow!), he decided to whip up a little something of his own. The result was these loaded mashed potato hot dog boats. Gotta let the man be happy, right?

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Ina's Crunchy Noodle Salad

Yield: 4-6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

This crunchy noodle salad is all about the savory dressing and crunchy veggies. If you want to add some snap peas or broccoli, blanch them quickly in the pot with the pasta in the last 2 minutes of the pasta cooking time. This noodle salad is a quick meal that's great for hot summer nights, potlucks, or parties.

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Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 1 lb cooked (and cooled) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• ½ lb thin spaghetti
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp Chardonnay wine
• ⅕ cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp dark sesame oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp white sesame seeds, toasted
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
• 4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally
• 1 tbsp white sesame seeds, toasted

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, peanut butter, salt, to taste, and the pepper, in a medium bowl.
3. Combine the spaghetti, peppers, and scallions in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the scallions and the shrimp and mix again. Serve warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Notes

adapted from Ina Garten

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