cellophane noodle salad with grilled shrimp

We had a great weekend, it was hot, hot, hot and we spent much of the time in a pool!

Our friends came for dinner tonight and I had quite a few things in the fridge so I decided to pull everything out and see what came together.

Here is a list of what I had:
spicy chicken sausage
romaine hearts
cucumber
steak
shrimp (in the freezer)
Cellophane noodles (in the pantry)
scallions

I decided to grill the steaks for the kids (5) and make them a little pasta and I made us a delicious Thai cellophane noodle salad with grilled shrimp.

For the salad, I enlisted the help of my husband who impressed me with his knife skills tonight! He thinly chopped 2 heads of romaine, diced 1/4 of a cucumber, chopped a bunch of scallions, and thinly sliced some carrots.

For the noodles, boil water, add the noodles to a bowl and pour the hot water over the noodles. let the noodles soften for about 5-7 minutes, drain and rinse under cool water and put aside until ready to use.

To make the dressing: mix together
3/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 cubes frozen ginger
1 tbs. thai chili sauce
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs hoisin sauce

Mix the noodles in with the salad and pour the dressing over the salad.

Defrost shrimp and grill on HIGH for 2 minutes total time, shrimp will cook very quickly on the grill.

OPTIONAL: Our vegetable garden is growing beautifully and the herbs are ready to be used, I added in a few leaves of fresh cilantro, mint and basil, which Kirk chopped up and threw into the dish.

Add the shrimp to the top of the dish and crush a handful of peanuts roughly (I use the bottom of a glass), top as a garnish.

I grilled the chicken sausage and we enjoyed it on the side.