p.s. i made this salad for you. hope you like it. i added some extra ginger, because you know i had to…
The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.
p.s.s. i made a few changes to the recipe, see below.
Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing
Asian Noodle Salad: adapted from Thai Noodles with Peanut Sauce from Cooking Light, October 2002
Asian Cashew Dressing: adapted from “Chinese Peanut Dressing” recipe (p. 22) in Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
Cashew Butter:
1 cup (240 ml) cashews*
Cashew Dressing:
½ inch (1 cm) slice of fresh ginger, chopped (I used 1-inch chunk)
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste, chopped (6 cloves)
½ cup (120 ml) cashew butter
¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) sugar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) vinegar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) toasted sesame oil
¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (75 ml) water
Hot sauce to taste (optional)
Noodle Salad:
1/2 pound (225 g) linguine or thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
1/2 pound (225 g) small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I substituted 1-pound marinated tofu)
1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips (a handful of shredded carrots)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced (two handfuls of shelled fresh peas, lightly steamed)
1/4 cup (60 ml) sliced green onions (1 small red onion & a handful of chives, chopped, and cooked until caramelized)
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped fresh basil (a handful chopped fresh basil and 1/2 handful chopped fresh cilantro)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped cashews (optional garnish)
Lime wedges (optional)
Directions:
Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth. (*Or start with ½ cup (120 ml) prepared cashew butter.)
Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger, garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency – thinner or thicker — to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favorite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted, you may want to add salt to taste.) Makes about 1 ½ cups (360 ml) dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
Prepare noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternately, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about ½ cup (120 ml) cashew dressing; toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you’d like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired
this post is quite possibly my favorite. having a dear wednesday kind of month, i guess. i would be thrilled to accept any of the suggested apologies. hope you're well.
Isn't the Clark great? I absolutely love it there. All of your preferred way to spend the day sound fabulous. And I'm definitely eating a cashew butter and honey sandwich for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the idea.
Nice job on the daring cooks challenge! Looks like a lot of us went with the cashew butter.
Great job on your DC challenge. It looks awesome and love the pictures.
LOL.. like your post.. if only…
)
Nice creation for the challenge!
What an intriguing post and so interesting to see a perfect day for you. Lovely presentation and perfect plating. A complete pleasure to visit your site. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
It looks delicious! I love cashews and ginger.
Cheers,
Rosa
love your list, I think I'd rather be doing many of those things as well! great looking salad – may your next wednesday be better
Sorry to hear about your Wednesday, but it inspired an amazing list of possibilities. Your noodle salad looks fabulous. Great post!
I love your list. lol And the extra ginger was a good call. Looks great. Kelly
Love your list!!!
Great job on the asian noodle salad, it looks great!!
I love this post…and your cashew noodle salad is perfect! Excellent pictures
suzanne-hope your dear wednesday month ends on a better note, preferably somewhere on the 1 to 10 list! on a good note, we may see you in october!
Lauren-Thanks! I'm a big fan of The Clark as well and don't get there often enough, which is silly given how close it is. Cashew butter is by far, the best. Especially with honey!
Jo-Thank you! The salad was gone in 2 days, even the toddler loved it.
Asha-If only…Still I'm working on making at least one thing on the list happen next week!
Audax-Thanks! Always love when you stop by…
Rosa-Cashews and ginger are two foods I can't live without!
Jenn-Lists are the only antidote for a dear wednesday kind of day. Salads help too. Thanks for stopping by!
Margie-Oh, thank you…
Kelly (Cook of the House)-I cannot get enough ginger. Ever. In this salad, it gives just enough kick to make it a little exciting.
Jenni-Surprisingly, it took longer than I thought to pen the list. Learning the possibility of combining big and small dreams. I think we all need to make more of these lists…thanks for your comment!
chefD-Thanks for your lovely comment. We're definitely making the salad again
I love your creative approach to the post that nods towards the daring cooks challenge I've also just tackled.
For myself I would like to say a few pleasant words about Wednesday, that midpoint in the week when my man comes over and takes me out to dinner, a moment of pleasure amidst the tedium of a working week.
Your salad looks to have turned out wonderfully. Well done! And double well done on the story telling!
Stay JOLLY!
D&S
This post is so help to me! Thanks for share.