Cold Peanut Lime Rice Noodle Salad

This dish is sure to cure the summertime blues. It's light, refreshing, and best of all ... it's cold! It is a vegan dish that can easily be modified to also be gluten-free, or you can add chicken if you feel the need!

First, the noodle part:

• 1 pkg rice noodles (I used brown rice noodles for mine)
• Shredded carrots
• Cilantro
• 2 limes
• 5-6 green onions
• 1 large cucumber

Next, the sauce:

• 1 cup peanuts
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 3 limes
• 2-3 tbsp soy sauce
• Splash of water

1. Cook the rice noodles according to the package. Easy ... those babies expand and stick to EVERYTHING. Rinse them in cold water and toss them in a large bowl.
2. Add the shredded carrots, dice up the cilantro and onions and toss those in, and squeeze the limes over the salad.
3. Peel the outside off the cucumber, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds with a spoon, slice the rest julienne, and dice it up small to add to the salad.
4. In a blender, toss in all of the sauce ingredients. (Squeeze the limes for the juice; do not toss them in the blender.)
5. The sauce will vary and you may have to play around with the taste you desire. I used about 3 spoonfuls to toss in the salad to get the right amount of flavor and VOILA! 
6. Enjoy!