I’ve got warn you before you click through or scroll down to today’s recipe. The ingredient list is 23 items long. 23! I know, it’s ridiculous, but I swear the recipe isn’t as complicated as it looks. The most complicated thing about it is making sure you have enough clean bowls to work with. In fact, of those 23 ingredients listed below, 5 are repeated. Let’s do some quick math here. That makes a grand total of…18 ingredients. Ok, that’s still a lot. But it’s not as bad as it seems. Everything took 30 - 40 minutes of active time. Not that bad!

It’s no surprise that I’m making a noodle salad. We all know that I love a cold noodle salad. This is yet another variation. I think this is my new favorite, though. The cabbage, scallions and sugar snap peas add enough vegetable matter to not feel guilty about the noodles, and the spicy peas and toasted sesame dressing gives everything a rich, decadent feel.

The Nori-crusted tofu was also amazingly, surprisingly good. I’m not sure I’ll prepare tofu another way again. Even if you think the rest of the recipe is crazy - try the tofu. I’m serious. My husband raved about it. He raved about tofu. He who hails from the meat-eating Midwest. He who is obsessed with chorizo and lamb and pork and burgers. If you like Asian food, try the tofu. You will thank me.

It’s also a really well-balanced meal: vegetables, protein, good fat (peanuts), whole grains (brown rice noodles) and rich nutrients (Nori). So, without furhter ado, I present Toasted Sesame Noodle Salad with Nori-Crusted Tofu.

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