Cooking for two

Salad bar makes noodle dish simpler

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad
Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

For this dish, we saved time by shopping the salad bar for the vegetables and pieces of store-roasted turkey breast. Rotisserie chicken would work well, too.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

8 ounces dried rice noodles (pad Thai/linguine width)

Handful mixed fresh herbs, such as basil, cilantro and mint

6 to 8 ounces cooked meat such as roasted turkey or rotisserie chicken

2 ounces shredded/matchstick-cut carrot

2 cups shredded cabbage, preferably Napa

4 ounces sliced cucumber

1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts, for garnish

For the dressing:

1 or 2 limes

1 medium clove garlic

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 to 3 tablespoons light brown sugar

6 to 8 tablespoons water

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

For the salad: Lay a clean dish towel on the counter. Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the noodles and wait for 1 minute before stirring to separate them. Cook for about 3 minutes; the noodles need to be tender but not mushy. Drain, then immediately dump the noodles onto the towel, separating them from each other.

Meanwhile, make the dressing: Squeeze the juice of the limes -- enough to yield 3 tablespoons -- into a small bowl. Mince the garlic and add it to the bowl, along with the fish sauce, brown sugar (to taste), water (as needed) and crushed red pepper flakes.

Coarsely chop or tear the herb leaves. Tear the turkey into bite-size pieces and arrange on a platter, along with the herbs, carrot, cabbage and cucumber. Arrange the noodles on the platter; drizzle with a few spoonfuls of the dressing.

Coarsely chop the peanuts, then scatter them over the salad components.

Seat the bowl of dressing in or alongside the platter. Let everyone at the table help themselves.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

Recipe adapted Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage by Molly Wizenberg

Food on 05/06/2015

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