Rita's Asian Salad

I haven't been sharing recipes lately for two reasons.

The first is because I went on a weekend road trip to meet a dear friend's new baby. He stole my heart, and tired me out. Two nights of waking up at 2:00 am to help with feedings,16 hours in the car, working full time, keeping the house up, etc., etc., etc., have left me feeling utterly exhausted. I'm sure many of you can relate.

Another reason I haven't been posting new recipes is because I ran into a huge writing block. A wall that seemed insurmountable. I am very picky about the recipes that I share, doing my best to provide dishes that my "audience" (Hi Mom!) would find both tasty and practical; only the best of the best.

This has proven to be a more difficult task than I originally had planned since I have family and friends who are vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarians, flexitarians, eat chicken, eat chicken and fish, eat all meats except shellfish and pork, eat almost everything that is not poisonous, and everyone in between. I have finally resigned myself to the cold hard truth--I won't be able to please all palates, and that's okay.

So, I guess today is the first day in a long time I don't feel totally drained AND I have accepted the fact that the recipes I share can only be guaranteed to awe and shock my mini-household. That will have to be enough and finally, I am okay with that.

So, enough about me and my emotional hiccups and on to more reliable terrain--food, and mores specifically in this case, salad. Ah, the sweet moment when one takes their first bite of a refreshingly crisp salad on a warm spring day.

This is the best Asian Salad in the world. That's right, no asterisk. The best. Period. Okay, fine. My slight bias may have something to do with the fact that I wolfed down this salad almost weekly at our church potlucks since I was three until I left for college, but that is beside the point.

The objective truth is that this salad is simple, fresh, and oh so addicting. If you like this salad half as much as we do (yes, my husband says the salad is "really good"), then I would suggest doubling the dressing so you can have it on hand for your next Asian Salad craving, which may occur sooner than you might expect.

Rita's*Asian Salad

Salad

1 head of lettuce, sliced thinly

1 bundle of green onions, sliced thinly

1 cup of cilantro, chopped

1/3 of a package of bean thread noodles, broken into 2-3 inch sticks

3 T. oil

Heat 3 T of oil in a non-stick skillet. When hot, add bean thread noodles and stir well until they puff uniformly. Mix the lettuce, green onions, cilantro and fried bean threads in a big bowl with a lid. Add about 1/2 of the dressing, put the lid on the bowl, and shake vigorously. Try a leaf. If you think the salad needs more dressing, add more, if not, store the rest of the dressing in the refrigerator for another day and serve the salad immediately.

Dressing

1/8 cup sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup sesame oil

1/8 cup olive oil

1 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Mix well (I use a large mason jar, and it works well). The dressing will keep for about 1 month in the refrigerator.

*A beautiful Filipina woman by the name of Rita used to make huge, overflowing aluminum trays of this salad for my church's potlucks. She was famous for her incredible Asian Salad (this recipe is slightly adapted because she used to include fried wonton wrappers and fried gluten, a home-made vegetarian meat substitute), Gluten Curry, Red Gluten in Banana Sauce, Pancit, Eggrolls her warm smile, and her trademark phrase "Come eat now!" This hero of a woman passed away two years ago after a long battle with breast cancer. I miss her.