A cold noodle salad with peanut butter dressing. It’s terrific as a side or even a meal in itself, especially on hot summer days.

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1-1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp chinese 5-spice
1/2 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 green onions, sliced
1 grated carrot
3 cups cooked whole-wheat spaghetti

In a small dish or measuring cup, combine peanut butter, water, garlic, ginger, lime juice, honey, soy sauce, spice and oil to make the dressing. In a large bowl, combine pepper, onions, carrot and noodles. Pour dressing into the bowl and toss until fully coated. Chill in the refrigerator and serve cold.

I used whole wheat spaghetti to make it more healthy, but you could use any kind of long and thin noodle depending on what your preference might be. I sometimes buy Thai noodle salad because I really like it, but for some reason I never thought of making it myself until now. I don’t think I’ll be buying it anymore, because I liked this homemade version so much. Tony loved it too, he was very impressed with it. Bennett ate it but Cole didn’t; that’s the story of my life! Anyway, it’s a nice salad with dinner and also makes an excellent lunch to take with you because there’s no heating required. It looks like a lot of ingredients but it really doesn’t take long to make so give it a try!