Peanut Noodle Slaw
We have bean leftovers aplenty in the fridge. (And outside the back door, and in the barbecue.) But I couldn’t bring myself to reheat and eat any of them. Instead I hacked up a half cabbage that needed to be used, and added some sliced pepper and green onions and cilantro. The dressing, I decided, would be peanut – and so when W pulled out a baggie of leftover spaghetti (unsauced) from the fridge, it seemed like a natural addition. The texture of spaghetti takes well to long, thinly sliced cabbage, actually – it was like the noodles themselves were cut with noodles made of crunchy cabbage. You could add anything to this, of course – pea pods, carrots, cucumber, jicama, broccoli.
W was distraught when he came back to the kitchen and witnessed what I had done to his precious spaghetti. One of these days I’m going to let him bring a baggie of spaghetti to school in his snack, just to break the mold. Who says a to-go snack must be carrot sticks or an apple or granola bar? Spaghetti is perfectly portable. Life would be more interesting, I think, if more grown ups sat down on park benches and dug into their bags of spaghetti. And then made Valentines for everyone in their class. (Couldn’t that be a metaphor for so many things?)
Peanut Noodle Slaw

Shake all the dressing ingredients together in a jar. (You could do this anytime, and keep it in the fridge.) Toss the spaghetti, cabbage and veggies of your choice together, toss with the dressing, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve.
Ingredients
Directions
Shake all the dressing ingredients together in a jar. (You could do this anytime, and keep it in the fridge.) Toss the spaghetti, cabbage and veggies of your choice together, toss with the dressing, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve.
That reminds me of that bit in ‘Elf’ where Buddy the Elf prepares Emily’s lunch of spaghetti and maple syrup and proudly puts it in a ziploc bag!
Julie, I am still making your pork sesame noodles with the leftovers every time I make a pork tenderloin!
My husband asks me to make pork, just so I can make that fantastic recipe the next day!
I love turning leftovers into a totally different meal (since I hate leftovers!).
Stacey
Oh my – the image of a bag of noodles. I would use my fingers….
I have been pondering the idea of sending out valentines card to friends but been held back – i have yet to figure out why. We all love little sappy hand scribbled notes… right….
I remember those cut-out paper valentines that used to come in a big book… Those were so fun to cut out meticulously. I wish they still made those!
I’m definitely bookmarking this one to try. I have a heavy hand when it comes to making pasta, so I always have some left over. I usually try to cram it down my husband’s throat but this seems like a much more humane option (:
Julie, I swear we have some kind of esp thing going on! Yesterday I had a beef noodle stirfry with a spicy peanut sauce at Oodle Noodle (edmonton), and wondered if I could recreate it at home. I check your blog this morning, and here it is! (almost…)
Thanks for always answering my mental musings!!
I made this twice this weekend,once with some leftover noodles, and the second time just with the cabbage etc. Very good, thank you!
mmmm…. I’m going to try this with rice noodles, instead of spaghetti, soon!
I couldn’t get enough of this slaw and peanut butter dressing with buckwheat noodles. Simply delicious and so easy. Love your blog and no nonsense approach to healthy cooking.
This is the best peanut butter dressing I’ve had yet! I made a big salad, added some thin rice noodles, and totally went to town! I didn’t think I’d be able to eat it all, but I really couldn’t stop! Thanks for the recipe!
Another great recipe! I’m making this now, thanks 🙂