A Salad That's Open to Interpretation

Recipe

Spicy Asian Tofu and Noodle Salad

Asian peanut noodles are one of my favorite things to make in hot weather. Best eaten cold or at room temperature, you don't have to heat up the oven to make them, and - best of all - it's easy to use a basic recipe as a jumping off point to incorporate whatever fresh summer vegetables you have on hand. This particular recipe is my favorite because it's fairly simple, and it has just enough of a spicy kick to keep it from being boring. It's a great recipe to be creative with: I love it with tofu, but chicken, shrimp, or pork are also good. The variation pictured above has bell peppers and grated carrots because that's what I had at home when I made this, but many, many other vegetables are fantastic in this, too: snow peas, edamame, bean sprouts, corn, broccoli...the possibilities and combinations are almost endless. Give it a shot and see what you come up with!

On a less uplifting note, the Cooking in Cathedral Hill basement flooded this past weekend...such a bummer! My blogging may be a bit sporadic as we work on putting everything back to order at our house. I appreciate everyone's patience and loyalty to the blog...it's been a chaotic summer!