Friday Afternoon Ladies Lunch

The girls had last week off, their usual one week break between the beginning of summer session and before the beginning of the fall session. As always, the break brought on the usual juggling of schedules to cover childcare. My husband stayed home with the girls on Monday, my mother-in-law came Tuesday – Thursday, and I stayed home on Friday. My friend, Louise, came over for a doggie playdate and a visit with the girls on Friday. I made a chilled noodle salad with mango, based on a recipe from the June 2008 Vegetarian Times magazine for all of us girls (which paired nicely with a chilled Prosecco for the adults). It’s a great recipe for a summer afternoon, both for the kids and the adults.

Chilled Noodle Salad with Mango
(Adapted from the Vegetarian Times recipe at http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10643?section=)

Dressing
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp red pepper chili flakes

Salad
12 oz. wide Lo Mein noodles (the VT recipe calls for 8 oz. dried rice-stick noodles but I wanted something more substantial)
¾ cups thin carrot strips
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leaf lettuce
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
1/2 English cucumber, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
1 large ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
3/4 cup roasted peanuts, crushed


Directions
To make Dressing: Warm all ingredients in saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Cool.
To make Salad: Cook noodles according to package directions.
Drain noodles and toss with a dash of olive oil to prevent from sticking. Let cool. Toss noodles with 1/2 cup dressing and carrots, lettuce, basil, mint and cucumber. Arrange mango slices on top, and drizzle with remaining Dressing. Sprinkle with peanuts.