from the kitchen: thai noodle bowl.

here's a go at my favorite noodle bowl salad that i'm very often having for lunch and posting pictures of on instagram. love, love, love this salad.  truly, i eat this most every day in some form.  

we modeled this after our favorite noodle bowl from a fantastic resturant in town: MeKong. a fav!  I'll chop a lot of veg one day and assemble our lunches each morning or night before. yum! 

layer in your salad bowl from bottom up: 

((omit what you don't like or don't have. 

create amounts of each according to your taste.

my bowl above does not have noodles.))

chopped cabbage
spring mix or spinach ((kale works, too!))
carrots cut into matchsticks
cucumber cut into matchsticks
vermicelli rice noodles*
bean sprouts
pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu or beef ((whatever your flavor or none.  grilled chicken is pictured above))
peanuts ((i keep these on the side until i dress the salad.))

sauce/dressing:
1 tsp. demura sugar ((natural/raw sugar))
2 Tbsps. warm water
mix these together so the sugar dissolves.

2 Tbsp. fish sauce*
4 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice

2 garlic cloves diced
1/4 c. fresh chilantro chopped
1-2 dried thai chilies chopped ((remove seeds, but you can toss one or two seeds in according to heat preferred.))

If you're making a bunch of sauce, here's my general guide:
sugar about the same. 1 - 2 tsp.
1 part water
1 part fish sauce
2 parts lime juice

and double the fresh yummies. we love garlic, so i don't skimp.

hope you enjoy!

*available at your local asian market or for Richmonders: Tan A market on Broad Street