Peanut Chicken Noodle Salad

Hot days always make me crave cold salads out on the deck for dinner. This Peanut Chicken Noodle salad is perfect when you know a heat wave is predicted- you can whip it together in the eve when it is cool, pop it in the fridge and when you get home from work the next day, you will have a cool and tasty salad ready to serve. We added the noodle salad on a bed of extra cabbage for more crunch and had crispy crudites alongside. This is also a great potluck salad because you can make it ahead and everyone will love it~

Peanut Chicken Noodle Salad

1 pound linguine

2 chicken breasts

olive oil

kosher salt & pepper

2 cups shredded Napa cabbage

2 carrots, grated coarsely

6 green onions

optional: julienne red peppers or sliced snow peas for crunch and color

chopped peanuts for garnish (and cilantro leaves if you family likes it!)

Dressing

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 garlic clove, minced

Coat chicken with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper and bake at 400º for 25-30 minutes. Let cool after cooking and either shred or cut into cubes. Cook linguine according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water.

Mix all dressing ingredients in blender until smooth. Put cabbage, carrots, cold noodles, chicken pieces in bowl and mix with dressing. You can add julienne red peppers or sliced snow peas for color and crunch, too! Refrigerate until ready to enjoy and garnsh with green onions and chopped peanuts.