Simple (and Light!) Sesame Noodle Salad

Were you to root around in the happy food memories in the recesses of my brain, I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of them involve pasta in some form. In fact, you’d quickly find one of my very favorite pasta salads (Patti’s), which was always present at family parties and camping trips, especially int he summer. If you check out the recipe, you’ll see that it’s a sesame and ginger-forward cold salad made with thick noodles (like linguine), and tossed with fresh green onions and sesame seeds. As a child, I used to scarf those noodles by the bowlful. Because, they’re delicious.

I’ll be honest, I’ve done some similar scarfing of said noodles as an adult.

Because they’re delicious.

But as an adult, I’m now fully aware that that recipe is delicious because the noodles are soaked in oil, molasses and brown sugar, and are actually pretty heavy, especially when you eat them in my traditional quantities. Which, yes, I will continue to do… which is why I only make up a batch of Patti’s noodles about once a year.

In the meantime, I still want to consume delicious noodle salads, so – after some inspiration, I came up with this tasty, and (thankfully) lighter alternative.

List of Ingredients:

1 lb thin spaghetti
1 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
salt and pepper
1 bunch (5-6) green onions
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Instructions for preparation:

Prepare the noodles according to package directions. You could certainly use other styles of pasta in this recipe, but I think that the long thin strands let you to twist up forkfuls without losing any of the sauce. Strain the cooked pasta, and rise it immediately with cold water.
Combine the rice wine vinegar, olive oil, mirin, sesame oil, garlic, and a pinch of slat and pepper in a food processor or blender, and pulse it all together. Side note: this dressing would be great on a regular green salad as well.
Rinse, and then chop the green onions.
Toss the dressing, onions and sesame seeds into the pasta.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve and enjoy!