Happy Labor Day Weekend! The official end of the American summer is here. It seems everyone has deserted town for that last three day getaway before fall. We love staying in town on those weekends and enjoying the extra time for gatherings with friends and family.
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| Thank you Jen for this fab plate! |
I’m not a big entertainer, but I have found having a small repetoire of go to dishes takes the stress out of it. If I am hosting here or bringing a dish to a party I usually do an appetizer plate with olives, herbed salami, honeyed goat cheese, rosemary crackers, and grapes or figs, depending on what’s in season. I’m all about it being pretty and I have a beautiful plate from my friend Jen that I love to use for this. I also like tiny ramekins to hold the items and cute cheese knives.
One of my best go to side dishes for get togethers is an Asian noodle salad. I have been meaning to share this for a while per a few requests. This is my Aunt Wendy’s recipe and she and my grandmother love entertaining big groups. Some of her and grandmother’s recipes serve 100! No one goes away hungry from a Fleming gathering! Everyone loves this and even my friends call this Aunt Wendy’s noodles.
The great thing about this salad is it’s easily doubled and tripled. I keep the ingredients on hand most of the time. The only thing fresh it needs is cilantro. In it’s basic form it feeds up to 10. Wonderful to bring to a big gathering if you double it. I thought this would be a good one for Labor Day should you need a dish to bring along…
Asian Noodle Salad
1/2 C cooking oil (I use canola or any basic oil.)
6 T sesame oil (Try to get toasted if you can.)
1/2- 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
Stir these 3 items over medium heat for a minute or so. Off the heat and add:
6 T honey
1/4 C soy sauce
2 tsp. salt
Put mixture aside. Cook 1 pound angel hair pasta, drain, toss with oil mixture. Ideally, let refrigerate overnight or cool for a while then add just before serving:
1/2 C chopped peanuts
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 T toasted sesame seeds
This dish can be changed to your tastes. My aunt also adds green onions and about a teaspoon more of pepper than I do which makes it a lot spicier.
I guarantee you will have a lot of fans for this dish!
Wherever you are, I wish you a beautiful last summer weekend!
Thanks for reading!
Kim
Thanks Aunt Wendy for the recipe! xxoo
