Sesame Peanut Noodle Salad

My sister served this salad at my baby shower and everyone instantly fell in love with it. She found it on Foodnetwork.com and I hardly had to adapt it to be gluten free. This recipe is great as a side or you can make it into a main dish by adding chicken.

Ingredients

1 pound GF spaghetti (I used a mix of rice and corn pasta)
4 tablespoons peanut oil
4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons freshly minced ginger
2+ pinches crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup julienned cucumbers
1/4 cup green onion tops, sliced diagonally
1/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Rotisserie chicken, broken into pieces [optional]

Directions

Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and boil according to the package directions allowing the pasta to be al dente. Drain the spaghetti in a colander, then transfer noodles to a large mixing bowl. Using tongs, toss with 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil to keep the pasta from sticking. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining peanut oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. Whisk until smooth.

Pour 1/2 of the peanut mixture onto the spaghetti and, using tongs, toss to coat the pasta. Cover the spaghetti with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

When ready to serve, pour the remaining peanut mixture onto the spaghetti and toss to coat. Sprinkle with julienned cucumbers, sliced green onions, chicken, chopped peanuts and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

This recipe also lasts a few days in the fridge as it great served as leftovers. It's best to sprinkle the cucumbers and onions right before serving or they will get soggy.

Note: When I added the chicken I one and a halved the sauce recipe. I tossed the chicken in a little bit of sauce before adding it so it also had a lot of the peanut flavor and stayed moist.