Brown Rice Noodle Salad with "Best Ever" Cilantro Peanut Dressing

Well...truth be told we plan vacations around the nearest Chipotle and Cheesecake Factory. We go to the Cheesecake Factory to SHARE this amazing huge salad that has an amazing dressing on it...it's our favourite thing. We even order an extra dish of it to dip our bread into!! Obsessed? Maybe a tad:) We just know when something tastes good:)

I finally decided that it was time to replicate this dressing! This was my first shot at it...for company Friday night (always a risky thing to try something new for company!!)...but it was a success if I do say so myself! The salad complimented it well too, although I forgot to take a picture of the massive platter that I created the salad on!!...so I recreated a smaller version the next day and took a photo. This salad was our complete meal, with chicken skewers on the side. An amazing and affordable meal to entertain with...just be sure your guests like cilantro!!

As a side note...the salad we order this dressing with at Cheesecake Factory is nothing like this one, it's more of a Mexican tostada type salad...but it went REALLY well with this style of salad too!

The brown rice noodles I used are a healthier alternative to the white rice noodles often found in Thai food. They can be tricky to find, so white would totally work as well. In Kelowna, they are available at Choices, Superstore and Bulk Food Store (listed most $ to least $). I usually stock up when I find them:) They are great to keep on hand for a quick stir-fry dinner or whatever (soak dried noodles in hot water for 5 minutes...done!).

Brown Rice Noodle Salad

Layer any amount of the following things...options are endless...this is what I used:
Brown Rice Noodles (soaked and left to dry so wetness is gone)
Spinach/Lettuce
Chopped Carrots
Garden Fresh Peas
Sprouts of any kind...I used Alfalfa and Sunflower
Shredded Red Cabbage
Sliced Cucumbers
Chopped Cilantro..we are fans:)
Chopped Mango
Chopped Cashew Pieces

"Best Ever" Cilantro Peanut Dressing
(substitutions in bold italics make this dressing Whole30 friendly!)

3 whole big cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 bunches cilantro, (rinsed well, most of stalk ends trimmed off)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp wine/rice/apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp honey (brown rice syrup to make it a vegan dish) 1 softened date
1/2 cup olive/avocado oil
3-4 Tbsp peanut butter almond butter
1-2 Tbsp tamari (soy sauce) coconut aminos
Dashes of hot sauce...whatever your liking:)

Throw all ingredients into food processor, except olive oil. Once everything is pureed and blended, slowly stream olive oil in so that the dressing becomes emulsified:)

I now wish I would have tripled the amount of cilantro I grew this year...I will be making this dressing weekly!! If you're not fans of cilantro, you could try making it with parsley. Results would be similar, but likely not as good:)

Enjoy...invite company over for this one:) A great summer meal to enjoy on the patio with some Sangria...that's what we did!!

ps...notice a 'slight' improvement in the photo quality??!! I'm trying...and enjoying...

Rustic Pasta

Hands down the favourite supper in our house for the past six months..it's amazing! As Jay would say, it's the "most manly vegan meal he's every had"! I've entertained with it...and they've loved it....I've cooked it for my entire family while visiting in Ontario...and they all loved it! It's flavours are so unique, that you just have to try it yourself! Weekends begin in our house on Thursday night....so we find ourselves having this almost every Thursday evening, once the kids are in bed (although Noah gobbles it right up too!), with a nice glass of red wine.

I got this recipe from Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet....GREAT book if you haven't taken a peak at it yet...have made almost every recipe in the book...love it:)

I should also add that we usually eat this dish with fresh parmesan on top...cheating a little I know...so it's not entirely vegan when consumed that way:) (But is just tastes SO good!!)

Also...side note...I know the quality of the photo is brutal...sorry:)

Rustic Pasta

1 pkg of long pasta....we use Brown Rice Pasta..always:)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced on diagonal
1/4 cup shoyu or tamari (good quality soya sauce)
1 head of cabbage, thinly sliced (red or green...both taste amazing)
5-6 Tbsp marinara sauce (good quality organic pasta sauce)

Cook package of pasta until just al dente, drain and set aside. Meanwhile, heat the oil, add the onions and cook on medium heat until softened, try not to let them 'fry brown'...about 7 minutes. Then add the garlic and celery, suate for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the shoyu, then add the cabbage, saute covered for about 10 minutes or until all the onions and cabbage appear well cooked.

Add the pasta to the skillet with the marinara sauce and toss together. Cook for another minute or two and serve!