simply eat. salad // satay noodle salad

I love anything satay...well, anything with peanut butter in it is pretty darn good, right? This was a recipe born out of a new gadget purchase...a julienne peeler! Yes I know I should be worried that a kitchen utensil brings so much excitement to my life but hey, it's the little things that can make us the happiest! 

So anyway, a julienne peeler makes fine long strips of veg, which you can get from chopping, but this is so much quicker...and it makes things like carrots look a lot like noodles...can you see where this is going? And so a noodle salad combo was born! 

This is a veggie dish but feel free to add in any leftover meat you may have OR if you really want to pad this dish out to make a larger portion (say for dinner) then just shred a load of fresh salad leaves, top with the noodles and serve alongside some grilled chicken or fish.

what you need...serves 2

• 1tbsp Peanut Butter (smooth or crunchy, whatever you have to hand...)
• 1tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 1tsp Soy Sauce
• 2tbsp Warm Water
• 1/2 a lemon/lime
• 2 medium Carrots
• 1 Courgette
• 1-2 Spring onions (depending on their strength, remember if you have this at lunch you may not want to stink of onion all afternoon...)
• 1tsp Grated Ginger (optional)
• 1/2 a 375g Bag of Readycooked Rice Noodles (or whatever noodles you have, cooked according to instructions, I just had these leftover from a stir fry...)
• 2 Handfuls of Cashews roughly chopped
• 1tsp each Sesame and Poppy Seeds

simply...

• Combine the Peanut Butter, Hoisin, Soy and Water in a small jug and stir well to combine, you may need more or less water depending on how thick your PB is...the sauce should have the consistency of thick salad dressing.
• Julienne the carrot and courgette, finely chop the spring onion and finely grate the ginger. Tip into a large bowl and toss with a squeeze of lemon/lime juice. 
• If you don't have a fancy julienne peeler the next quickest option would be to use the large side of a box grater, make long strokes with the veg to get a similar effect. Or if you have super knife skills then chop finely.
• In another bowl tip in the noodles and just cover with boiling water, the noodles are already cooked this is just to refresh them.
• Drain the noodles and add to the veg, top with the sauce and toss really well to coat every strand in satay goodness...
• In a dry pan add the Cashews and seeds, whatever you have really but I think cashews are a must!
• Toast the nuts/seeds, keep them moving so they don't burn you want them just warm and golden.
• Toss through the salad and portion into pots.  

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