Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad

By beltranm

This one-bowl Asian meal is spicy, salty, sour, and sweet -- all at once. The secret's in the sauce, made from fragrant kitchen standbys. The salad has terrific texture, with crisp carrots and cucumber, tender noodles, and (if you like) crunchy peanuts.

Ingredients

• For Spicy Asian Dressing:
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced crosswise
• Spicy Asian Dressing
• Coarse salt
• 3 1/2 ounces Chinese rice noodles, broken in half if long
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower
• 2 carrots, sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
• 1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
• Bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, fresh mint leaves, red-pepper flakes, and sliced scallion greens, for garnish (optional)
• 4 thinly sliced scallion whites
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (or 1 minced canned anchovy)
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Preparation

Step 1

1. Mix together ingredients for Spicy Asian Dressing.
2. Place chicken and half of dressing in a resealable plastic bag (reserve remaining dressing). Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes (or refrigerate up to overnight).
3. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until tender. Drain, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Transfer to a platter.
4. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Working in batches, cook chicken (do not crowd skillet) until cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes; transfer to platter on top of noodles.
5. Top with carrots, cucumber, and basil. Drizzle with reserved dressing, and sprinkle with garnishes, if desired.