Raw Vegetable Noodle Salad (Printable)

Colorful spiralized vegetables with tangy sesame-ginger dressing, perfect for quick lunches or light sides.

# Components:

→ Vegetables

01 - 1 large zucchini, spiralized
02 - 1 large carrot, spiralized
03 - 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
04 - 1 cup red cabbage, thinly shredded
05 - 1 cucumber, spiralized
06 - 2 green onions, thinly sliced
07 - 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

→ Sesame-Ginger Dressing

08 - 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
09 - 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
10 - 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
11 - 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
12 - 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
13 - 1 clove garlic, minced
14 - 1 teaspoon lime juice
15 - 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, optional

→ Garnish

16 - 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
17 - 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts or cashews, optional

# Method:

01 - Spiralize zucchini, carrot, and cucumber. Thinly slice red bell pepper and shred red cabbage. Slice green onions and chop cilantro. Transfer all prepared vegetables to a large mixing bowl.
02 - In a separate bowl, whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce or tamari, grated ginger, maple syrup or honey, minced garlic, lime juice, and chili flakes until fully combined.
03 - Pour the prepared dressing over the vegetables and toss gently to coat all components evenly, ensuring thorough distribution.
04 - Allow the salad to rest for 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature to permit flavors to meld and develop.
05 - Transfer the salad to a serving platter. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, roasted peanuts or cashews if desired, and additional fresh cilantro.
06 - Serve immediately to preserve optimal texture and vibrant freshness of the raw vegetables.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The dressing tastes like a restaurant-quality sauce but takes five minutes to whisk together—it's genuinely that good.
  • You can make it entirely with raw vegetables, which means no heat in the kitchen and cleanup is almost instant.
  • It handles substitutions beautifully, so you can build it around whatever vegetables you have on hand without the dish falling apart.
02 -
  • The cabbage is the MVP here—it stays crisp longer than anything else, so if you're making this ahead, use extra cabbage and go easy on the cucumber.
  • Sesame oil is not a cooking oil in this context, so please don't confuse it with regular sesame oil; you want the dark, toasted stuff that comes in small bottles and smells intensely nutty.
  • If you don't have a spiralizer, a vegetable peeler works surprisingly well for creating long, thin ribbons, and thinly sliced vegetables work just fine—the salad doesn't care about the shape, only that you're eating vegetables.
03 -
  • Toast your own sesame seeds in a dry pan for two minutes before garnishing—the difference between raw and toasted is like the difference between a good idea and a fully realized dish.
  • Keep the vegetables separate from the dressing until the last possible moment if you're serving this at a gathering, because the second they meet they start softening and people might prefer their vegetables with more bite.
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