Asian Noodle Salad with Gingery Garlicy Cashew Dressing

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.

I was excited to find out about the July 2010 Daring Bakers Challenge. One of the recipe options was a fabulous sounding Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Butter. I briefly considered some of the other recipe options, but this sounded so fresh and delicious … perfect for the abundant glorious summer produce.

While the salad would be fantastic with shrimp or slivered roast pork loin or grilled chicken, I choose to top the salad with marinated fried tofu since I planned to bring the dish to a potluck poker party where several of the guests were vegetarian.

It was fun to discover how easy it was to make nut butters. You pretty much put the nuts in a food processor and process until it turns to butter. Super easy and versatile. I’m glad to have homemade nut butters in my arsenal.

Thanks Margie and Natshya for a great summery July challenge!

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cashews
• 2 inch slice fresh ginger, chopped
• 12 cloves garlic (more or less to taste), chopped
• 1 Tablespoon plus 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 6 Tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon plus 4 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 pound soba noodles
• 1/2 pound fried tofu, cut into thick strips
• 2 large red bell peppers (or a mix of red, purple and/or yellow peppers), cut into thin strips
• 2 cucumbers, cut into thin strips
• 2 carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
• 6 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• Sriracha (or other hot) sauce on the side (optional)
• Lime wedges (optional)
• Cashews, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Marinate the tofu in 1 Tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Make the cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth.

Prepare the 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 adjust seasoning. This should make about 3 cups of dressing. Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator.

Prepare noodles in salted water according to package directions. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.

Slice basil into thin strips. Add about 1 cup of the cashew dressing to the noodles in a large bowl and toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing to your preference. Scatter the tofu, bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, green onion, basil and cilantro on top of the noodles.

Serve with lime wedges, chopped cashews and Sriracha or other hot sauce on the side.