My kids love noodles in any form, so I like to mix it up a little- hot, cold, rice, buckwheat, semolina, etc. I love a basic rice noodle salad by itself for a quick, easy lunch, or as an accompaniment to one of my kids other favorites - grilled salmon, chicken, or shrimp.

We also recently found out that someone we feed quite often is gluten intolerant, so I'm trying to dust off all my tasty gluten-free recipes. This one fits the bill. These were rice noodle vermicelli, but you could use almost any kind of rice noodle for this recipe. Larger, thicker noodles might need a little additional cooking. I would just add 1-2 minutes to the cooking time for thicker noodles and taste to see if they are cooked through.

This made 6-8 servings. Feel free to halve the recipe, but I love having leftovers to eat chilled the next day.

• 14 oz rice vermicelli

• 1 large carrot, grated or julienned

• 1 small jicama, grated or julienned

• 3 scallions, greens & whites, chopped

• 1 Tbsp black sesame seeds

Dressing

• 1 serrano or jalepeno pepper, diced fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp Asian chili paste (to taste)
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Ponzu sauce or soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

Place vermicelli in a bowl and cover with cold water. Soak vermicelli for 15 minutes. While it is soaking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Cook the vermicelli in the boiling water for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Taste a piece to test. Drain vermicelli thoroughly and rinse with cold water. Drain again. Add to the big bowl with the dressing in it. Add carrot and jicama and toss. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.