Cold Peanut-Sesame Noodle Salad with Quick Pickled Cucumbers (Vegan)
That title is a mouthful, but today I’m combining three of my favourite things and I’m very happy about it: noodles, salad & peanut sauce. What could be better?!
I took a poll on my Instagram last Friday asking which summer recipes people want to see, and pretty much everyone said salads! So naturally, I got very excited and starting brainstorming ideas, which led me to:
— THE SUMMER SALAD SERIES —
I decided to start a fun little series of beautiful summer salad recipes, from traditional lettuce-based salads to noodle salads to pasta salads! Because who doesn’t want cold, crunchy, herbaceous & flavourful meals in the summertime?
The first recipe in this series is this Cold Peanut-Sesame Noodle salad, which gets the addition of quick pickled cucumbers to add some crunch, tang & just really bring it to the next level. It’s made with pantry staples and is SO easy & delicious. Plus I could bathe in peanut sauce so that doesn’t hurt either ;) It also happens to be vegan, gluten-free and PACKED with veggies! Which definitely makes me warranted in calling this a salad, right?
Hope you love it, and follow me on Instagram & TikTok where I’ll be posting videos to go along with all of the Summer Salad Series recipes! xo
Cold Peanut-Sesame Noodle Salad with Quick Pickled Cucumbers
Ingredients
For the noodles:
6-8oz brown rice noodles (a little less than half a standard 1lb package)
1 small head broccoli, chopped into small florets
¼ head of Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
⅓ cup peanut butter
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
Chili garlic sauce, to taste
Squeeze of lime juice
For the quick pickled cucumbers:
1 regular or 2 mini cucumbers, very thinly sliced
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp tamari
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Method
To make the quick pickled cucumbers, add your cucumbers to a small glass jar or container. Add the rest of the ingredients on top, stirring or shaking (if using a jar with lid on) to coat. Place in the fridge to marinate.
Cook your noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions, then add your broccoli florets into the water with the noodles for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking to steam. Drain everything and rinse with very cold water, then set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together all of your peanut-sesame sauce ingredients (peanut butter through lime juice). Taste and add more lime or honey/maple as needed.
To the bowl with the sauce in the bottom of it, add your cooked noodles & broccoli along with the sliced Napa cabbage. Toss well to combine and coat everything in the peanut-sesame sauce.
To serve, add noodles to serving plates or bowls and top with some of the quick pickled cucumbers and more sesame seeds if desired. Enjoy!
Makes 2 large or 4 smaller servings
Notes:
Store leftover noodles in the fridge for up to 3 days, and store leftover quick pickled cucumbers in the fridge for up to 6 days.
