Asian Noodle Salad... A GREAT SALAD!

I made the Asian Noodle Salad from the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. It was so good, especially the dressing! It made enough for an army yet after Scott and Alyssa's 10 pm second dinner, now it's almost all finished. It will make enough for probably 15 people as a side dish! The recipe is easy to cut in half or even into a 1/4. I wouldn't cut the dressing though. Use it over regular salad! And the jalapeno peppers didn't make it hot. Just be sure to get rid of the seeds without touching them! I think the key is all of the cilantro. I love cilantro! In all, I used 1 1/2 bunches... one in the salad and 1/2 for the dressing. Next time I will leave out the cashews, mostly because it gets too expensive. Speaking of which, the regular peppers were $5 per pound this week (for red) and I refuse to spend that on food! So I used whatever I had in the fridge. I also used romaine lettuce instead of the Napa Cabbage. Next time I will get rid of most of the EVOO to lighten it up a bit and add something else. Other than that... it's a keeper!
Asian Noodle Salad
SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 package linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin (if available)
1 small bag bean sprouts
3 sliced scallions
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet
DRESSING:
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS
Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients ( I put it in the blender) and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.