Gluten Free Cold Noodle Salad
In my early days of being gluten free, if I wanted pasta there was basically one option – disgusting, gummy, rice pasta that turned into a big pile of mush if cooked one second too long. Needless to say, I didn’t eat pasta for many years! Nowadays we have so many really delicious options for gluten free pasta; there’s rice, corn, quinoa, rice and corn, rice and quinoa … And there is a new favorite of mine, bean pastas! I recently made a gluten free cold noodle salad using Explore Cuisine’s Organic Adzuki Bean Spaghetti.
Before I get into the taste, let me tell you about the nutritional benefits of bean pasta versus rice pasta. Traditional rice pasta has about 0.8 grams of protein in a regular ½ cup serving as compared to a whopping 20 grams in the adzuki bean pasta. At first glance the carbohydrates seem comparable but due to the high fiber content of the bean pasta vs. the rice pasta, the net carbs are only 7.6 for the bean pasta as compared to around 20 for the rice. This is great news if you are trying to cut back on carbs as well as avoid gluten.
OK, great – but the big question is – how does it taste? Well, I love not only the taste but the texture – not at all mushy, this pasta stays nicely al dente, and has a slight nutty taste that I find very pleasing, especially when combined with Asian flavor influences.
This cold noodle salad was a huge hit – even the gluten eaters in the group loved it.
Gluten Free Cold Noodle Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce or to taste
- 1 (7.05 ounce) bag Explore Cuisine Organic Adzuki Bean Spaghetti
- 1 cucumber
- ½ medium red onion cut into very thin slices
- 1 red bell pepper seeds removed and cut into thin slices
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves roughly chopped
- ½ cup Thai basil leaves or regular basil, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, fish sauce, honey, sesame oil, and chili garlic sauce.
- Cook the Organic Adzuki Bean Spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain and add to the bowl with the dressing. Toss to coat.
- Peel the cucumber and cut in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scrape out the seeds. Slice thinly and add to the spaghetti. Add the onion, bell pepper, cilantro, and basil. Toss to combine. Refrigerate until cold – about an hour. (The salad can also be eaten at room temperature if desired.) Toss the salad again before serving. Garnish with the sesame seeds and serve.
Nutrition
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