#1,297: Cucumber Noodles with Spicy Sesame Soy Dressing

Here's what I love about this recipe: it's a different spin in a "salad", you can make most of it in advance, and it once you have all the dressing ingredients on hand, you pretty much might always have everything on hand (I almost always have carrots in the house...cucumber might be the only thing I would need to get).

Although this recipe was good, it had way too much dressing (my error on pouring too much) so between the excess dressing and the natural liquid draining from the veggies, this was swimming in liquid.  Even after letting it sit in a collander for a while, it was still really wet.  It also needed a texture, like crushed nuts on top.

Would I eat this again, yes...with way less dressing.  Would I make this again for myself....not with this dressing.  Soy is not my friend.  So I need to find a balsamic dressing or something to add to it instead.  I do like the idea of the carrot, zucchini and cucumber noodles though. 

This makes a large salad.  If making for one person (a large salad) I use 1 carrot, 1 small zucchini and half a cucumber w/the seeds removed. 

3 medium to large cucumbers
2 large carrot, peeled
I also added a zucchini

For the dressing:
1 clove of garlic
Juice from half a lime
½ tbsp mirin
½ C soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 - 2 tsp sriracha
1 tsp honey
Cilantro for garnish
Red pepper flakes for garnish

(I didn't do any part of this step...I threw it all in my food processor!)  Using a julienne peeler, slice the cucumbers and carrots. Do this by laying the cucumber and carrots down lengthwise and running the peeler across the top of the cucumbers and then carrots. For the cucumbers, once you get near the seeds, rotate it and repeat the process. Place the cucumber noodles in a bowl.

Make the dressing by whisking the remaining ingredients, minus the cilantro and red pepper flakes, together in a jar. You probably won't need to use all of the dressing but you can store it in the refrigerator in an air tight container for 7 days.

Toss the noodles in your desired amount of dressing and serve in bowls. Garnish with the cilantro and red pepper flakes if desired.