Dang Cold Asian Noodle Salad

Hello Blog! No, I haven't been in a coma for 3 months. I've just been swallowed whole by 18 units, a 20 hour a week internship at the W Hotel, and a few more hours at the museum. Have I been cooking? Very rarely! But I'm back for the time being... don't go getting your hopes up about regular posts though. The dust is just starting to settle and I'm really only writing this to procrastinate even more on a paper that's due by midnight (it's that time of the semester where any form of distraction will come first).

Today I decided to skip out on my HR lecture to go to the grocery store. Yes, that's a luxury for me since my corner market closes at 6:30pm! I tried yesterday but they were bringing in all of the produce right as I walked up. Le sigh. Well, I picked up some beauties for a colorful and healthy noodle salad. I know the name is lame but it's Guy Fieri's, the man who still bleaches the tips of his spiky hair every other week(I'm sure some hairstylist is earning her entire living just doing his tips). If you want to learn more about this tool and his mullet before the bleaching, check it out here.

Back to the important part, the salad. I've had 3 bunches of soba noodles staring at me for the past 6 months and I finally decided to do something about it. After looking up some recipes, I settled on this one since it had a 5 star rating and seemed healthy enough. I've tried the whole peanut sauce with soba before and the results were never up to par, thus this soy/hoisin based dressing was perfect. The only time consuming part to making this is the chopping and this is precisely why I documented. ;) Guy actually adds some napa cabbage and bok choy but I figured there was already enough going on so I didn't need it.

Guy Fieri's Dang Cold Asian Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 package soba noodles
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon hot chili oil
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced or julienned
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced or julienned
• 5 green onions, bottom 4 inches, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced napa cabbage
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced or julienned
• 1/2 cup julienned bok choy
• 1 cup bean sprouts, optional
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish
• 4 tablespoons unsalted peanuts, for garnish

Directions:

In a medium stock pot, boil water, add salt and cook noodles. When finished, place noodles in an ice water bath to cool. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, hot chili oil, hoisin and extra-virgin olive oil. Mix thoroughly and then combine prepared vegetables and noodles.

Garnish with sesame seeds and peanuts.

The results were great! The dressing is mellowed out by the olive oil and the different textures and colors are a feast for the mouth and eyes. I garnished with cilantro, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, and some more sliced green onions. I plan on adding some seared firm tofu to the leftovers for tomorrow.