Cold Thai Peanut Mango Noodle Salad

This recipe has been created in collaboration with Lotus Foods, all opinions are my own.

This is a perfect dish for summer. It is light and refreshing, but also extremely satisfying and filling. This salad is filled with mango, cucumber, cabbage, carrots, green onions, and peanuts. Topped with a delicious peanut dressing this is a favorite for the warmer months. Lotus Foods Organic Forbidden Rice® Ramen for this recipe adds a fun and interesting element to this simple dish.

I have been using Lotus Foods products for a while now, I first used them to make my Thai Red Curry Ramen. So I was extremely excited to get a chance to create a recipe using their Organic Forbidden Rice® Ramen. Everything is vegan friendly as well as gluten free. I find some gluten free foods to have a distinct texture but with all of the Lotus Foods products you would never guess they are gluten free. They have a wide variety of items such as: Rice Ramen Noodles, Rice, Pad Thai Rice Noodles, Rice Ramen Soup Cups, Rice Crackers and more!

The story behind Lotus Foods is a very special one. After tasting black rice on a trip to China, the owners decided to start importing black rice in 1995 and called it Forbidden Rice®. Little did they know what that would turn into and how they would be trying to change the way rice grows around the world. They believe that by pursuing smart product innovation, better growing practices, and delicious whole grain heirloom rice varieties we’ll lessen our environmental impact, improve nutrition for our consumers and create more social and economic justice for small farmers. In 2008 they committed to partnering with small-scale farmers to change how they grow rice. They have a set of practices called More Crop Per Drop™ where farmers can double and potentially triple their yield using on average, up to 50% less water and 80 to 90% less seed. They have won many awards for their products and their sustainability efforts. It makes me feel good to support and collaborate with companies who care not only about high quality products but also their environmental impact.

So now that you know the story behind Lotus Foods and their Forbidden Rice® let’s talk about this delicious recipe using their Organic Forbidden Rice® Ramen. The flavor is delicious and a little bit nutty and has the added nutrients from the ancient grain. The color of the noodles is just stunning as it transforms from a deep black to a very deep purple once done cooking. It adds a fun pop to the dish. I find it best to prep all the vegetables, fruit, and dressing first. The noodles cook quickly in 4 minutes. I added in a sliced up chili to add an extra bit of heat to the dish but this is optional. You can enjoy this straight after making it or you can refrigerate it.

INGREDIENTS

2 Lotus Foods Organic Forbidden Rice® Ramen cakes
5 carrots, peeled and shredded (about ⅓ cup [65g])
1 bunch scallions (around 50g), sliced
1 mango (about 17.5 ounces [500g])
1 cup shredded purple cabbage (about 2 ounces [65g])
½ cucumber, preferably English (about 5.5 ounces [155g]), julienned
¼ cup (28g) peanuts, chopped
1 red chili pepper, sliced, for garnish
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, for garnish

Peanut Dressing
½ cup (128g) all-natural peanut butter
Juice of ½ lime
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
1 ½ tablespoons (22g) grade A maple syrup
¼ teaspoon ginger powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ cup water

METHOD

1. Prepare all the vegetables: shred the carrots, slice the green onions and chili, julienne the cucumber. To slice the mango carefully cut along the pit. Then make thin slices in the mango down to the skin. From there slide your knife in between the skin and mango flesh to remove the skin. Separate the mango pieces and you can slice thinner if you prefer. Place the cut mango and vegetables into bowls until ready to use.
2. Prepare the dressing: add all the ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk together until smooth. If you prefer a thinner dressing add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of water.
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop in the ramen cakes and boil for 4 minutes, until soft. When done drain the ramen and run it under cold water for 30 seconds to cool down the noodles.
4. Place the cooked noodles, prepared vegetables, mango, and three quarters of the peanuts into a large bowl. Drizzle with half of the dressing and use tongs to toss and coat everything in the dressing. After everything starts to mix together add the rest of the dressing and mix until everything is coated. Note: if you aren’t going to eat right away reserve the other half of the dressing and add it before serving.
5. Place in a serving dish and top with the remaining peanuts, sesame seeds and more green onion, if desired. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.

Serves 2 to 4