Friday: Cold Sesame Noodles with Chicken & Cucumbers

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, Sept. 2009

Personal Note: I have to give credit where credit is due. My friend Kate Hansen (we call her California Kate around our house so that SmithCale will know which Kate I’m talking about) had this recipe on her blog a while back, and then it reappeared; so I thought that if it was good enough to mention twice, I should try it! We ate, we loved and now we share! This is a great, easy way to sail into the weekend especially if you had leftover chicken like I did.

Plan of Attack:

1. Cook noodles

2. Combine dressing ingredients

3. Add other ingredients

4. Toss and Eat

Ingredients for 2:

4 oz uncooked thai rice noodles (this is a Smith family favorite, feel free to use any asian noodle of your choice. i.e. udon noodles, egg noodles, etc. But, no pastas, this isn’t Italian.)

1/8 C rice vinegar

1 Tbsp dark sesame oil

1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

½ Tbsp honey

1 tsp chile paste with garlic (found in the ethnic section, or you can use sambal oelek (if you happen to know what that is…))

1 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 C shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken

½ medium cucumber (or more to taste), halved lengthwise and sliced

3 Tbsp chopped green onions

1 ½ Tbsp chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Instructions:

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain some more. (Nobody likes a wet noodle)
2. Combine rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, chile paste with garlic, and ginger in a large bowl; stir together with whisk.
3. Add noodles, chicken and cucumbers; toss gently to coat
4. Top with green onions and peanuts.
5. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info, per 1 Cup Noodle mixture, 1 Tbsp onions and 1 1/2 peanuts:

302 calories

9.2 g total fat (1.4 g saturated)

40 mg cholesterol

32.6 g carbohydrates

3.1 g fiber

21.5 g protein

Question: Can someone tell me what sambal oelek is?