Quick noodle salad with summer vegetables

A deliciously fresh and tasty noodle salad made with vermicelli noodles, fresh summer vegetables, herbs, and a yummy Asian-inspired dressing. Ready in 15 minutes, it’s a great lunch, supper or side dish.

I love using different kinds of noodles in my cooking. There are so many to choose from! Whether it’s chewy egg noodles with a vegetable stir-fry, twirly tagliatelle with a classic Italian sauce, or even tasty strands of lokshen in soup or a lokshen pudding, I love them all.

Asian noodles

Recently I started using Asian vermicelli noodles as the base for a fresh a delicious salad. These fine noodles are usually made with mung beans, and are sold under a variety of names. Look out for bean thread noodles, cellophane noodles or glass noodles. They are all variations on a similar noodle that cooks quickly and is delicious served cold with a tasty dressing.

You can also use fine rice noodles as a substitute. Although these don’t have the same transparent ‘glassy’ appearance when cooked, they have a similar taste and texture and work just fine in a salad!

Quick and healthy noodle salad

The following salad is a gorgeous way to turn these noodles into a quick and healthy lunch for one. But it can also be served as a side dish for two people, or scaled up to feed a crowd.

Although I’ve used Asian noodles and ingredients in the dressing for this noodle salad, it’s really just a vehicle for the delicious fresh summer produce that is available at the moment. The vegetables I’ve used are not particularly Asian, and in all honesty this salad is not an authentic Asian salad. But it is delicious! I think it’s a great example of different ingredients from around the world coming together to create something wonderful.

Simple steps to make a yummy noodle salad

This lovely noodle salad is very quick and easy to make. The bean thread noodles or rice noodles only need to be soaked in hot water for a few minutes, and don’t require boiling or lengthy cooking.

While they soak, you can start to prepare your vegetables. Then drain and rinse the noodles and add the dressing so the noodles can soak it up while you finish cutting the veggies.

Finally, mix everything together, arrange the noodle salad on a plate or bowl, and serve!

What kinds of vegetables to use?

I used a selection of fresh and delicious summer vegetables, but you can use whatever veggies you have to hand. Here’s a list of those I used plus some additional suggestions:

• Cucumber – quarter lengthwise and scrape out any wet seeds before slicing
• Spring onions/scallions – finely sliced
• Radishes – halved and thinly sliced, so pretty!
• Fresh peas – I added them raw as they were so fresh and sweet, but cooked peas (or leftover peas from another meal!) are also lovely
• Red or yellow pepper – diced into small cubes, nice and crunchy
• Carrot – grated/shredded or finely chopped
• Cherry tomatoes – halved or quartered, they add a sweet-sharp flavour
• Red or white cabbage – finely shredded
• Fresh herbs – I LOVE coriander (cilantro) in this salad, but parsley or mint are also delicious.

Ingredients in quick noodle salad with summer vegetables

You can use whatever veggies you prefer, but to make a salad just like the one in the photos, you’ll need the following:

• Bean thread noodles or rice vermicelli – these are sometimes called glass noodles or cellophane noodles
• Soy sauce – I like tamari which is wheat/gluten free, but any kind is fine
• Rice vinegar – you can also use white wine vinegar
• Toasted sesame oil – such a delicious flavour!
• Cucumber
• Radishes
• Fresh peas – if you can get them in the pods and pop them out yourself, so much the better!
• Red or yellow pepper
• Spring onions – also called scallions
• Ripe summer tomatoes
• Fresh coriander (cilantro) – or other herbs of your choice
• Roasted peanuts, chopped or crushed
• Lime – for garnish and squeezing over the top!

Simple dressing for noodle salad

I make a very simple dressing just using soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and rice vinegar. If you prefer a sweeter dressing you could also add a little maple syrup, honey or agave syrup. I don’t like to add a lot of seasoning as I don’t want to overpower the delicious fresh veggies. In my opinion this simple dressing gives the noodle salad just enough – it’s really tasty!

I also like to squeeze some fresh lime over the dish right before eating for extra zing!

Whichever noodles you choose, this is a delicious Summer salad that’s packed with fresh flavours.

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📖 Recipe

Quick noodle salad with summer vegetables

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A fresh and tasty noodle salad with fresh summer vegetables, herbs, and a yummy Asian-inspired dressing.

5 from 5 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Lunch, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings 2

Calories 233 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 50 g bean thread noodles or rice vermicelli (sometimes called glass noodles or cellophane noodles)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or use white wine vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• ¼ cucumber
• 3-4 radishes
• 1 handful fresh peas (in pods)
• ⅓ red or yellow pepper
• 2 spring onions (scallions)
• 1-2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 handful fresh coriander (cilantro) – or to taste
• 1-2 tablespoon roasted peanuts, chopped or crushed
• 1 lime

Instructions

 

• 50 g (1 ¾ oz) bean thread noodles or rice vermicelli, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  Soak the noodles in hot water according to the package instructions. Then drain, refresh under cold water, drain again, and combine with the soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Set aside.
• ¼ cucumber
  Cut the cucumber into quarters lengthwise, scrape out the seeds if they are very 'wet', and slice into 3-4mm (<¼inch) slices.
• 3-4 radishes, 1 handful fresh peas (in pods), ⅓ red or yellow pepper, 2 spring onions (scallions)
  Top and tail the radishes, and slice thinly. Pop the peas from their pods. Dice the pepper. Trim and thinly slice the spring onions (scallions).
• Combine the prepared cucumber, radishes, peas, pepper and spring onion in a bowl. Add the noodles and their dressing and mix well to combine. Transfer to a serving dish.
• 1-2 ripe tomatoes, 1 handful fresh coriander (cilantro) – or to taste, 1-2 tablespoon roasted peanuts, chopped or crushed, 1 lime
  Quarter the tomatoes and arrange around the dish. Roughly chop the coriander (cilantro) and sprinkle over the salad together with the chopped/crushed peanuts. Serve with wedges of lime to squeeze over. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Quick noodle salad with summer vegetables

Amount per Serving

Calories

233

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

10

g

15

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

4

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

4

g

Sodium

 

537

mg

23

%

Potassium

 

417

mg

12

%

Carbohydrates

 

34

g

11

%

Fiber

 

4

g

17

%

Sugar

 

5

g

6

%

Protein

 

5

g

10

%

Vitamin A

 

1412

IU

28

%

Vitamin C

 

54

mg

65

%

Calcium

 

51

mg

5

%

Iron

 

2

mg

11

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword cucumber, noodles, peanuts, radish, sesame oil, spring onion, tomato

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