Noodle Salad with Fresh Vegetables and Ginger Peanut Dressing

I don't usually like peanut dressings, bottled or otherwise.  The noodle salads I've had with sesame peanut dressings are often so oily and over seasoned I've never like that type of dressing enough to make my own.  When I started eating more plant based dishes I decided to try my own version of Asian Peanut Dressing and use a really good peanut butter.  I had been Nut ' N Butter Organic Peanut  butter and it is really tasty.  I thought that could make a good base for the dressing.  I was right and the dressing was so good I could put it over anything.   Try it with the noodle salad here or use these ingredients over brown rice drizzled with the peanut dressing.  If you want to have beef, chicken, or tofu with this dish, prepare a simple marinade of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mirin, jalapeno and a teaspoon of canola oil.
Marinate the protein in a bowl or bag and grill over medium heat until desired doneness.  Cut into small pieces and set aside.  I like the salad with the vegetables alone, however I made grilled sirloin steak for my husband.

Ingredients

Ginger Peanut Dressing

Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup crunch peanut butter
1 T canola oil
3 T low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup agave syrup
1 T grated ginger
2 small garlic cloves, chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper, chopped

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.

Salad

Noodles
1 pound thin spaghetti noodles, multigrain or any type preferred, cooked according to package instructions, rinse and set aside
1/2 head purple cabbage, cut into thin shreds on a mandoline
1/2 head romaine lettuce, cut into shreds
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin into julienne slices
1 green bell pepper, sliced thin into julienne slices
1 English or Japanese cucumber, slice very thin on a mandoline and cut into julienne slices
5 scallions, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
2 cups cilantro, soaked, rinsed, and chopped
2-3 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced and chopped
2 cups bean sprouts (optional)

For each serving,  take 1 cup cooked spaghetti and mix 1-2 T ginger peanut dressing into noodles.  Don't mix more than 4 cups of spaghetti with sauce at a time.

On a plate or in a large shallow bowl place a pile of shredded cabbage and lettuce.  Place the noodles on top.  Add slices of pepper, carrots, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro and jalapeno peppers.  Drizzle a little more dressing on top.  Very filling and satisfying.