Rice Noodle Rainbow Salad – Food: A Love Story

How do you feel about rice noodles? I love them drenched in a creamy peanut sauce in the autumn, or slurped from a steamy broth in winter, but I might love rice noodles most in summer when looking for a way to make a light, refreshing meal more satisfying.

So my feelings about rice noodles are seasonal. Opposite of a fair-weather friend, it’s an affection that weathers the seasons by adapting. I think any food that versatile deserves our appreciation.

In fact, I am gathering research to write a piece in defense of rice, because it is so undervalued as a food source, and yet over half of the world’s population, approximately 3.5 billion people, depend on rice as a staple food.

In Ayurveda’s six categories of taste, rice is a sweet taste, giving it strengthening, tonifying, revitalizing, calming, cooling, soothing properties. Formed into noodles, usually just rice flour and water, it becomes ribbons of delight for salads, soups, curries and any favorite sauce.

(I know you know this, I am just making a case to remember this next time you are wondering what to compose for a self-loving summer lunch.)

Arugula, broccolini, spinach, purple cabbage, radicchio, carrot, crookneck squash, endive

This particular salad has lots of bitters – endive, radicchio, broccolini, purple cabbage – so it balances well with the sweet of the noodles, the squash, and the very lightly steamed carrots. Of course, you can choose your own favorite vegetables from the rainbow spectrum. Feel free to adapt accoridng to what is in season too.

For instance, if there is too much bitter for your taste, you could leave out the radicchio and endive. On the other hand, if you are looking for foods that purify, clarify, and heal, there’s nothing better than bitters!

Ayurveda finds salads generally to be cold, dry and rough, and therefore not easy on digestion. To make this a more digestible salad, I put the broccolini, spinach, squash and grated carrot into one pan in stages, depending on how much each needs.

It’s so satisfying to get this full spectrum of color and phytonutrients in a meal. It is a beautiful way to eat, and a tasty reminder of the beauty of nature.

Rice Noodle Rainbow Salad
Serves 2-4

Whether one has intolerance to wheat or not, rice simply makes a lighter, more digestible noodle. In the autumn, you may enjoy a more substantial sesame miso dressing, but for summer, this simple olive-oil-lime-miso dressing is light and fresh.

Ingredients
1/2 small purple cabbage, thinly sliced
1 lime
1 handful rice noodles
1 teaspoon ghee
1 small bunch broccolini, chopped into florets
1 yellow crookneck squash, diced
2 carrots, grated
2 large handfuls arugula
1/4 head radicchio, optional
1 bunch fresh spinach, optional
1 endive, optional

1 pinch pink or sea salt

Ingredients
1/2 small purple cabbage, thinly sliced
1 lime
1 handful rice noodles
1 teaspoon ghee
1 small bunch broccolini, chopped into florets
1 yellow crookneck squash, diced
2 carrots, grated
1 bunch fresh spinach, optional
2 large handfuls arugula or fresh seasonal lettuce green
1/4 head radicchio, optional
1 endive, optional
1 pinch pink or sea salt, sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions
Put the cabbage in a medium-sized bowl. Slice the lime in half and squeeze the juice right into the bowl. Add a hearty pinch of salt, and toss. Cover and leave to marinate. 

Prepare the noodles according to instructions on the package. 

Melt ghee in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the broccolini. Cook for 3 minutes, then turn and cook another 2. Add water or veg broth to the pan, cover and simmer for a few minutes. Add the spinach and squash and cook for 2 minutes without covering. Lastly, add the carrots, and chopped radicchio. Cover and cook one more minute. 

Put the rice noodles in the center of a serving plate. Lay the vegetable out around hte noodles, moving from red to orange, to yellow, green, blue, and purple. Dress with the miso lime dressing, and sprinkle with sesame seeds

Lime Miso Dressing
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon miso
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon shoyu
1/4 cup olive oil
Pink or sea salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk the miso with lime until all lumps are gone. Whisk in the honey, until well blended. Stir in the olive oil and shoyu. Add salt and pepper, if needed, to taste. Toss with the salad and noodles. Store in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Enjoy!