Cold Zoodle Salad with Peanut Sauce

A client of ours who is pescatarian (i.e. doesn’t eat meat but eats fish) mentioned she’s thinking about maybe starting to meal prep for the week! Be still my heart! 😉
I tried to refrain from overloading her with information and ideas about meal prep since she really was just tossing the idea out there. I’m excited that it will be part of our nutrition conversations again in the near future, though. Since I could geek out on this topic for hours, I focused my energy on researching meal prep options that don’t include meat. I was excited, selfishly, that by simply changing my search criteria to include the word ‘pescatarian’, a whole new world of exciting recipes popped up! This one in particular caught my eye and I wanted to make it for myself with a few tweaks to my own liking, including the addition of chicken. For my pescatarian client, she might enjoy adding cooked shrimp.
I have to thank Denise over at sweetpeasandsaffron.com for this recipe. She calls it Cold Sesame Noodle Meal Prep Bowls and they looked tasty and so fresh!  I also saw how several lunch containers could be constructed and forgotten about until the morning grab-n-go lunch was needed. She has so many meal prep ideas on her site! I’ll be digging into her catalogue more as I meal prep my own lunches over the next month. Check out Denise’s original recipe here where she makes these vegan and uses a homemade almond butter sauce.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Since I was craving more of a traditional peanut sauce, and because I was really curious how to actually make a good one, I found this recipe. It’s call The Best Thai Peanut Sauce Recipe. Alright, I’m intrigued. And while I haven’t compared it to any other homemade peanut sauce recipes, it turned out great, was made of good ingredients, and I basically have no need to try any others! I made 1 batch of the peanut sauce and it produced 4 small jars to take along with each of my cold noodle bowls for the week. Since I made the sauce (almost) exactly as written, visit the website to whip up a batch of your own Best Thai Peanut Sauce.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here’s what I put in each of my noodle bowls:

  • A handful of zoodles or zucchini noodles
  • A handful of carrot noodles
  • A handful of cooked (then rinsed with cold water and strained) brown rice ramen noodles. From what I gather, you will enjoy whatever noodles you like best here so use what you have.
  • 1/2 cup garbanzo beans/chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup cooked, pulled, cubed or shredded chicken
  • Sprinkle of sesame seeds
  • I like the idea of freshly diced green onion but don’t particularly enjoy it uncooked. Sprinkle some on top if you do.
  • Roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Thai peanut dressing, separated until ready to eat.

Pour the peanut sauce over the salad when you’re ready to eat. If you’re packing this for lunch on the go, replace the lid and give it a little shake. Each fresh bite will be covered in a tasty peanut sauce coating. ENJOY!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Looking for more great meal prep ideas? Schedule your free 90 minute consultation.
Addie Kelzer is a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant. She believes that by making fitness and good food practical, her clients will hold the power to positively change their health and the health of those closest to them.