Asian Cucumber Noodle Salad is a light and healthy salad or side dish. Cucumber and red onion noodles, carrots and jalapeños are tossed with a light Asian dressing.  

ASIAN CUCUMBER NOODLE SALAD

I haven’t been using my spiralizer nearly as much as I should so I decided to change that.  First up on my list was this Asian Cucumber Noodle Salad and the second was a Spicy Asian Chicken Zoodle Soup that I will be sharing shortly.

I am a big fan of turning my vegetables into noodles for many reasons. First of all they look beautiful, don’t they? Second, it helps add vegetables into my families diet in a fun way. Third, it helps me lighten up a dish, for example a soup or pasta dish, with zoodles. There are endless ways you can use your spiralizer but today’s recipe is a great way to start if you are looking for a way to jump in.

You need an english cucumber {you can peel it if you want but I leave the peel on}, a red onion, a couple of large carrots and a jalapeño. That’s a simple salad, right? It doesn’t get much easier than that. Then you need rice vinegar, sugar, fresh ginger, thai chili garlic sauce and crushed red pepper for the dressing. Start by spiralizing your cucumber and half of the red onion {make sure you take the outer peel off of the red onion first}. I chopped my carrots into rounds but if you can find large carrots feel free to spiralize those as  well. I add jalapeño to my Asian Cucumber Noodle Salad because I love spice, but feel free to leave it out.

Next whisk together the dressing to create that sweet and spicy flavor that makes this salad a total winner. It works well as a side dish to your dinners or even a nice lunch. This dish is also beautiful and bright and reminds me that warmer months are on the horizon.

As far as prepping this salad ahead of time I would wait to spiralize the cucumber until you are ready to eat the salad and leave the dressing on the side in a mason jar. The cucumber tends to get soggy if left in the fridge overnight after being spiralized.

Some dinners that this salad would pair nicely with include these Slow Cooker Asian Honey Sesame Chicken Sliders, this Thai Coconut Zoodle Soup or these Lemongrass Chicken Noodle Bowls.

This is the spiralizer I use:

Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer, Strongest-and-Heaviest Duty, Best Veggie Pasta & Spaghetti Maker for Low Carb/Paleo/Gluten-Free Meals, With 3 Exclusive Recipe eBooks

Yield: 4

Asian Cucumber Noodle Salad

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Asian Cucumber Noodle Salad is a light and healthy salad or side dish. Cucumber and red onion noodles, carrots and jalapeños are tossed with a light Asian dressing.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the salad:

• 1 large english cucumber, spiralized {I don't peel mine but you can if you would like}
• 2 large carrots, chopped into rounds {you can sub 2 cups of matchstick carrots if you could like}
• 1/2 of a large red onion, spiralized
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed, thinly sliced {optional for spice}

For the dressing:

• 2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon thai chili garlic sauce {more or less for spice}
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes {optional for spice}

Garnishes:

• Fresh cilantro
• Freshly chopped green onions
• Sesame seeds
• Extra jalapeños

Instructions

1. Remove the ends of the cucumber and spiralize it into a large mixing bowl. Cut the ends of the carrots off and peel them. Chop the carrots into rounds and add to the large mixing bowl. Remove the peel from the red onion, slice in half and spiralize half. Add to the large mixing bowl along with the chopped jalapeños.
2. In a small mixing bowl whisk together the rice vinegar, sugar, thai chili garlic sauce, ginger, a dash of salt and pepper and the crushed red pepper flakes. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss.
3. Garnish with fresh cilantro, green onion and sesame seeds.

Notes

I think this salad is best fresh. The cucumber noodles tend to become mushy the day after it is made.

You can use matchstick carrots in place of chopped carrots or even try spiralizing the carrots.

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