salads that are not good for you: asian noodle

Okay, this one isn't really all that bad for you, but again it's a salad with pasta in it, so it's kind of pushing the definition of salad. This salad also has a magical way of multiplying itself. I swear I start out with the intention of making just enough for dinner one night and lunch the next day. The next thing I know, I'm trying to get anyone in a 5-mile radius to take some salad off my hands, just a bit, I have no idea what I'll do with all of it.



It starts off innocently enough. A bit of Napa cabbage, some peppers, baby spinach, radicchio, mung bean sprouts. There's veggies in my fridge, they all look tasty, a little of this and that would only make this salad better. And bigger. And bigger. When the vegetables start to fill up the biggest mixing bowl you have and you haven't even added the noodles yet, well, then you might be in trouble. I would say that there's never too much of a good thing, but that's a lot of salad. Recipe after the jump:

ASIAN NOODLE SALAD
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

For the salad:
1 lb whole wheat linguine, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 head sliced radicchio
1 cup chopped baby spinach
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 cup mung bean sprouts
3 sliced scallions
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 ccup whole cashews, lightly toasted in a dry skillet

For the dressing:
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS

Toss together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve.
*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.