Asian chicken salad with noodles and peanut sauce

Ingredients

Salad Dressing:
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup dark sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger or 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
• 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, such as JiF
Noodle Salad:
• 1 pound thin spaghetti or linguine
• 1 pound sugar snap peas
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
• 4 green onions or scallions, sliced
• 2 cups sliced grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken or shredded cooked chicken

Instructions

To make salad dressing:
1. In a medium bowl, combine and whisk together the vegetable oil, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter. Optional: if your sauce is to thick, add a little bit of water at a time to reach the desired consistency (maximum 1/4 cup of water).
To prepare noodle salad:
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti (or linguine) and cook according to package directions. Drain, rinse under very cold water (to stop cooking), drain again and set aside.
3. Bring another pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, and cook for about 5 minutes, until peas are crisp tender. Drain, rinse under very cold water (to stop cooking), drain again and set aside.
4. Combine the noodles, sugar snap peas, rec bell peppers and green onions (scallions) in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the noodle-veggie mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and toss together. Top with sliced or shredded chicken. Alternatively, you can mix in the chicken together with other salad ingredients and toss with the salad dressing.

Notes