Recipe // Sweet & Sour Thai Carrot and Cucumber Noodle Salad

It officially feels like fall outside (YES!), but I am still hanging onto crisp & refreshing summer salads. 

I bought a "veggetti," mid-summer and have been finding recipes left and right to use it. It takes a little elbow grease to use at times, but it is definitely worth it.  I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond. 

I just so happened to have some extra carrots from another recipe, explored the good ole faithful Pinterest and WA-LA! found this one. This recipe turned out to be a PERFECT work meal because it doesn't need to be heated/reheated.  The leftovers were just as fresh. Also, I loved the texture of the crushed nuts and seeds. Oh! fun fact: it calls for CHIA SEEDS which expand in your stomach to make you feel FULL. 

Sweet & Sour Thai Carrot and Cucumber Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

• TBSP fresh lemon juice
• 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 2 TBSP white vinegar
• ¼ tsp salt [plus extra, to taste]
• ⅛ tsp dill [fresh or dried]
• ⅛ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp fresh minced garlic
• 2 cups chickpeas [canned or cooked from dry]
• ¼-1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro, plus extra to garnish
• 1.5 large english cucumbers
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• ¼ cup finely minced onion
• 2-3 extra large carrots
• 2 TBSP honey
• 2 TBSP rice vinegar
• ½-1 TBSP sesame seeds
• ½-1 TBSP chia seeds

*I forgot to buy cilantro (UGH I love cilantro in ANYTHING) so I just had to exclude it from the recipe. It still tasted so good. 

Instructions:
1. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, dill, salt, and minced garlic and whisk to emulsify.

2. In a medium bowl add chickpeas, minced onion, chopped bell pepper, ½ an English cucumber [chopped] and cilantro. (I couldn't find a second can of chickpeas at the store so I ended up using 1 can chickpeas and 1 can great white beans)

3. Pour in dressing and mix thoroughly. The longer you allow them to marinate the more intense the flavor will be!

4. Next, using a veggetti or tool of choice  curl one english cucumber and 2-3 large carrots [the biggest, thickest carrots you can find] into raw spiral noodles.

5. Whisk together 2 tablespoons of honey with 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar and pour over salad.

6. Top with extra chopped cilantro and a hearty sprinkle of sesame and chia seeds. If you're adding chopped nuts, toss those babies on top too and have at it!

My finished product at work.  Since I work nightshift, I eat "lunch,"  between midnight and 3 am. Yes, we do get hungry this late for a full meal. Being in a high stress environment, it is very easy to just fall back into gorging on comfort/junk foods. This is why I must meal plan with nutritious and filling foods.

 I type this as I regret partaking in Papa Johns pizza tonight at work to celebrate a co-workers last day on orientation :0