The star of this easy noodle bowl is the miso-ginger peanut sauce. Its savoy, tangy flavor is perfect against sweet mango, bright lime & fresh mint.
A few weeks ago, while I was making a list of potential upcoming summer recipes, I asked Jack, “Hey, what’s a recipe you really want me to make?” In the past, answers to questions like that have been “Pretzels!” or “Pizza!” but this time it was “An Asian noodle salad.” I asked if he could be more specific, but he said, “I just really really love noodles – you know, when they’re tossed in an Asian-y kind of dressing.” Not a huge help, but at least it was something.
So on a Monday when I felt I could use a little reset after weekend-eating, his idea (with a ginger-y sauce) sounded pretty good. This recipe is not an authentic version of anything, but when I got around to making said “Asian noodle salad,” this was what I happened to have: a bunch of cucumbers, a ripe mango, a few limes, a jalapeño, and a bunch of mint. At first, I wanted to add peppers, cabbage, and everything colorful, but then I realized that I could make something delicious without tossing in the kitchen sink.
The tangy miso-peanut sauce is the real star – it’s also become a go-to recipe lately because its ingredients are so easy to keep on hand. Miso paste lasts about 1 year in the fridge, and I store my fresh ginger in the freezer. Peanut butter, garlic, and limes are all regulars around here.
The second time I made this recipe, I served it to my family and added tofu on top to make it a bigger meal – the tofu is not pictured here, but I’ve included a recipe below. This recipe serves 3 on its own or 4 if you add the tofu (or whatever protein you like – chicken, shrimp, salmon, etc).
If you don’t have vermicelli rice noodles, brown rice stir fry noodles (the flat, thicker noodles) work well here. Pasta would also be fine in a pinch.
Do you love noodles too? Try this soba noodle bowl, these yummy shiitake soba noodles, or these easy peanut noodles.
Cucumber Mango Miso Noodle Bowl
- 6 ounces rice vermicelli noodles (or any noodle you like)
- 4 Persian cucumbers or 1 large English cucumber, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
- 1 ripe mango, diced
- ½ jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced or minced
- 5 lime slices (1 for squeezing, 4 for serving)
- Extra-virgin olive oil or sesame oil, for drizzling
- ⅓ cup chopped cashews, toasted
- ¼ cup torn mint
- Sea salt
- Protein of choice, or (see baked tofu recipe below)
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 to 4 tablespoons warm water
- Make the peanut-miso sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, miso paste, ginger, garlic, and lime juice. Whisk in the warm water, as needed, until the sauce is a drizzable consistency. Set aside.
- Combine the cucumbers, scallions, mango, and jalapeño in a bowl with a few pinches of salt and a squeeze of lime. Toss and set aside.
- Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Toss with a bit of olive oil or sesame oil to keep the noodles from sticking together.
- Assemble bowls with the rice noodles, cucumber mixture, cashews, mint, generous drizzles of the peanut-miso sauce, and tofu, if using. Serve with lime slices and extra sauce on the side.
14 ounces extra-firm tofu
extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
tamari, for drizzling
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
sriracha, for drizzling
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Pat the tofu dry and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place on the baking sheet and toss with drizzles of olive oil, tamari and pinches of salt and pepper. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven, toss the tofu lightly with sriracha, and return it to the oven for 2 more minutes.
This recipe is a staple I make at least once a month. It truly never fails!
I’m so glad you’ve loved it!
oh this was delightful! I did need to make a couple changes due to my need for low FODMAP (I used pineapple instead of mango, toasted pine nuts and pumpkin seeds because I forgot to buy cashews lol and a drizzle of garlic oil in the sauce instead of cloves).
Generally I hate reviews exactly like mine – “loved it. made it completely differently than the recipe,” but when you can’t eat all the things, you do what you must. It was bright and fresh and flavorful, I had hoped for leftovers and was sad that it filled three bowls, but it was so surprisingly filling that I only ate half of mine anyway, so now I get to look forward to lunch tomorrow too! My husband (the recipe finder) enjoyed it, my picky 11 year old loved it as well. Thank you for such a light and healthy meal!
I’m so glad you and your family loved it!
Definitely need to try the miso-peanut ginger sauce!! Sounds so yum!
This recipe looks AMAZING!! Definitely going to have to try it tonight!!
Steve
http://www.thehealthyperspective.com
what else do you use this sauce with?? : )
looks wonderfull
looks delightful
This salad looks so refreshing and perfect for summer! Can’t wait to try it with the addition of tofu – YUM!
very nice delicious
very nice for young one and delicious too. I recommend for it is fast to prepare.
Thanks for sharing Jeanine, i will try for myself 🙂
Nice meal
Mango and cucumber..so refreshing. Ive never stores ginger in the freezer, does it help with anything else apart from not drying out?
it just makes it last really long 🙂
Yummy
Very nice recipe and it is so easy to make at home. Very awesome recipes. Looking very delicious. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I will definitely try it. Please share some more yummy recipes like this.
vegan breakfast recipes
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I’m also pretty sure my miso is slightly past it’s prime and it was still so good!
This is my first time commenting but I’ve been following your blog for I think around four years–I basically learned to cook following your recipes with the occasional YouTube video of how to chop a vegetable. I started following at a time that I was becoming vegetarian (still going strong!) and flirting with veganism (not going as strong). The first time I ever cooked for my boyfriend of two years I used one of your recipes and it was obviously a success! (Not that I’m the only one that cooks, the first meal he made for me was a success too). Whenever I’m not sure I what’s for dinner I usually end up making the latest recipe you posted, which is obviously what happened tonight.
I just wanted to thank you for all the delicious, beautiful, and inspiring recipes. I think your writing/design/culinary prowess and creativity have really changed the way I think about food. Also you have made me super popular at pot lucks. Keep up the amazing work!
Hi Erin – thank you so much for commenting! This makes me so so so happy to hear :). I laughed out loud about your flirting with veganism (I call it “sometimes vegan,” depending on the day and how much I’m craving feta cheese or greek yogurt).
So glad you liked the noodles 🙂
xoxo
Thank you for the recipe, great idea! I am sure my family will love it.
xoxo Marie
Looks delicious! thanks for the frozen ginger tip.
Thank you so much Jeanine! I made this tonight and it was a delightfully fun blend of flavors and textures. Only thing, my noodles broke up a lot and does not look so pretty as yours. Any great tips on that?
Thank you for the suggestion to store the ginger in the freezer. Do you peel it before you freeze it?
I also keep my ginger in the freezer. I dont peel it. I find when I grate the frozen ginger, the pulp grates and the “skin” seems to fall away.
I learnt this from a farmer at the market.
I try to buy the fresh ginger at the farmers market, but this technique has also worked fine for supermarket variety. No more wasted dedicated ginger! ?
I meant desiccated!
I don’t usually peel it either (although you could) – I just grate it frozen on a microplane grater. If it’s a fat piece of ginger, the skin doesn’t really get in the way, if it’s a tiny piece with a lot of skin, then I peel it back a little as I go.