Cold Sesame Noodles

This recipe showed up in a new food blog I've been following. I've always enjoyed a cold pasta dish and although Brit isn't the biggest fan of cold dishes, she was willing to give it a try. We ended up eating it at room temperature and it was delicious and filling. I would highly recommend this dish and I can't wait to make it again. Next time I would add some extra veggies to this dish, such as some julienned carrots, and also add some roast turkey on top to give the dish some protein and fill out the entree.

Cold Sesame Noodles
(Originally posted on The Perfect Pantry blog)

Serves 4 (as a main dish)

4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar (we used white wine vinegar)
1 tsp chili paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp sesame oil, divided
2 tsp grated fresh ginger root
1 lb linguine or lo mein noodles (we used regular spaghetti)
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
3-4 green onions, diced

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, drain pasta, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Toss pasta with 2 tbsp sesame oil and refrigerate 30 minutes, until cold, or at your desired temperature.

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, combine the first 8 ingredients and simmer over low heat. Whisk for a few minutes until smooth and set aside to cool.

When the pasta is cooled, mix in the remaining veggies. Use some of the reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce and help it mix and stick well to the pasta. I didn't use very much of it at all.