Peanut Noodle Salad
Recipe by Courtney Flood
This dish is a good go-to for me. I love the myriad of flavours in peanut satay sauce and I could eat almost anything that has it slathered on.
It’s also a good way to use some fresh veggies you might have on hand. I used cucumber and carrot, but you could also use cabbage, zucchini, green onion, bell pepper, bean sprouts, peas, etc.
You could also top with grilled chicken, pork, or beef if you are a meat eater.
Ingredients:
1 large English cucmber
2 large carrots
½ small onion, thinly slice and soaked in water
½ package of spaghetti noodles
1 package firm or extra firm tofu
1 tbsp canola oil
Peanut Satay Sauce
Ingredients:
½ cup peanut butter
1 – 2 tbsp sriracha sauce
2 tbsp soya sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp honey (or other sweetener)
¼ cup warm water
Optional garnish: chopped roasted peanuts, torn Thai basil or cilantro leaves
Instructions:
Cook noodles in a pot of boiling water, according to package direction, until al dente (cooked but just slightly firm).
Julienne carrot and cucumber. I used a small hand-held spiralizer, which is nice because it easily slices vegetables into a long, thin noodle shape that matches the shape of the spaghetti. It also leaves the middle of the vegetable to be disposed (which in the case of the cucumber is a good thing). You can also use a sharp knife to thinly julienne.
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Slice tofu lengthwise into 1/2” wide slices. Sear tofu until a crisp brown crust forms, flip and repeat on the other side. Cut until cubes.
Whisk peanut satay sauce ingredients together. Toss with spaghetti noddles to coat, and then toss with julienned vegetables. Top with tofu cubes.
Wine Pairing: Freixenet Corodon Rosado Cava
Wine Pairing Theory:
This dish has a lot going on; peanut satay sauce has spicy, sweet, salty, tangy, and umami. With all those flavour profiles going on, there’s a good chance that one of them will clash with the wine.
The best choice for this wine is the accommodating sparkling wine. The reason why sparkling wine is a good go-to pairing for hard to pair foods is that both the typically high acidity and the bubbles are good palate cleansers.
In this instance, I had a dry sparkling and it went fabulously. The extra body in the wine made it stand up that much better to the dish. An off-dry Riesling with good acidity could also work with this.
Courtney Flood is a wine and beer connoisseur, home cook, fitness lover, and number cruncher.
She spends her days as an accountant, but also does wine and beer marketing in her spare time. Courtney likes to unwind each night by making a healthy, home-cooked meal.
