Heated debate over a cold dish...

Tonight's dinner, Snow Pea and Soba Noodle Salad with Thai Peanut Sauce, was quite quick to make, coming in just under about 20 minutes. Dressing this cold salad is a cool mixture of coconut milk, crunchy peanut butter, brown sugar for a light sweetness, soy sauce and red curry paste for a hint of heat. The snow peas for the salad are briefly cooked by adding them during the last minute or two when you boil the buckwheat noodles - both are then rinsed under cold water to immediately halt the cooking. Once the noodles and peas are dressed, plump mung bean sprouts are tossed into the mix adding a mildly sweet crunch. The mixture is then set upon tender butter lettuce leaves to serve. I didn't have any handy, but sliced red peppers would bring a pop of color and another fresh texture to the salad.

I thought this was pretty good - not one flavor dominated the dish and I loved the nutty dressing... however, can you sense the "but" coming? There was a little debate tonight about this dish - while Jeff thought the flavor was good, he was unfortunately not very thrilled at all with the texture. He commented that it was the slippery sauce combined with the softer soba noodles that just didn't work and made it a little unappealing for him. I think he might have liked this better if it was made earlier and allowed to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours so the noodles could drink up a bit more of the sauce - but, he can be finicky!

Recipes
Snow Pea and Soba Noodle Salad with Thai Peanut Sauce