Exotic is easy with favorites like spicy Pad Thai and Soba Noodle Salad

Fresh, light, and full of flavor, these Asian dishes are easy to prepare and quick to please. You can find Asian noodles in the international or ethic-foods section of the supermarket or at any Asian food store. While you’re there, stock up on a few staple ingredients, such as fish sauce, rice vinegar, and Asian-style peanut sauce, and you’ll be ready to prepare these dishes over and over again.

Soba Noodle Salad
Wasabi powder adds a little heat to this salad’s dressing. Look for it in the spice or ethnic-food section of the supermarket or in Asian markets.

Summer Rolls
This delicious Vietnamese favorite looks and tastes like a lot of work, but it’s ready in about 45 minutes. Serve with a purchased peanut sauce for dipping.

Thai Chicken Pasta
This flavorful dish gets rave reviews on sunset.com’s Kitchen Assistant. One reviewer suggests using rotisserie chicken as a time-saving shortcut.

Sesame Noodle Salad
You can make this savory salad up to 1 day ahead; just cover and chill. For best flavor, bring to room temperature before serving.

Crisp Lettuces with Asian Noodles
For best results, we like to use crunchy lettuces like Sierra, a bronze-tinged iceberg cousin, and a red romaine like Ruben’s Red ― or a mix of iceberg and romaine.

Pad Thai
When Sunset reader Revadee Crabbe, a Thai immigrant, cooks this popular Thai noodle dish for her husband and friends, she adapts it to American tastes by using salt instead of fish sauce, and much less chili.

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