Rice Noodle Salad

One of the really great things about being married to my hubby is that he is out-going and gregarious. If I happen to be at a restaurant solo I tend to stick my head in a book or magazine. He talks to people. I mean he really talks to people. Not just the “Hello, how are you?” kind of talking thrown out in passing but full on conversations with the person at the next table. More often than not, he makes a new friend. It is a skill I envy and one that had additional benefits the other day.

One new friend the hubby made is Scotty who happens to work at the Living Desert in Palm Springs. When the hubs mentioned his wife (that would be me!) was coming Scotty invited us to come to The Living Desert as his guest.

We arrived a little after 9 am and Scotty met us with our own golf cart and gave a us an informative private tour of the park which is hundreds of acres of desert conservation and a wildlife refuge.

If you thought the desert was just a dried up waste land then you are in for a surprise should you ever decide to tour this amazing place - and if you are in the area, I highly recommend it.

We saw all sorts of animals which have been rescued in one fashion or another - zebra, giraffe, antelope, birds and more as well as a really extensive array of desert plants. They also have this incredible model train exhibit with over 3,000 feet of track that travels through, among other things, a replica of the Grand Canyon.

We spent several very warm, dry hours at the park and had a really wonderful time.
When I got home I needed something cool and refreshing to eat. And it had to be quick!

Fortunately I had all sorts of yummy ingredients from my trip to Little Saigon so I quickly whipped up a rice noodle salad with a fish sauce dressing and threw in some left over roasted pork, chicken would have worked just as well.

My salad may or may not be very authentic but it was gluten free, refreshing, delicious and oh so satisfying.

I was too hungry to pay attention to exact measurements but it went something like this:

Rice Noodle Salad

2 big handfuls of fresh rice noodles (they come precooked)

3 slices roasted pork - shredded

1/3 cup fish sauce

2 small Thai chilies

2 Handfuls herbs - Thai basil, mint, cilantro

Honey

Fresh lime juice

I chopped the chilies finely and added them to the fish sauce. I them chopped up a handful of fresh herbs and stirred them in. Then I added about a tablespoon of honey and the juice of 1 ½ small limes. I tasted and adjusted the lime and honey to my tastes. The result was salty, sweet, tart and spicy.

I threw in the noodles and pork, mixed well and then added more fresh herbs.
Yum! This made enough for two but since I was alone I ate the whole thing and I don’t feel one tiny bit guilty about that!