Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Lemongrass Pork

We have avoided dining at Vietnamese restaurants for the past year. The last time we went, I ordered Pho, and my husband ordered his usual: Vietnamese rice noodle salad. As a precaution, we brought our little man's food with us, since we realized the risk of cross contamination is high with peanuts being used in Vietnamese dishes.

When my husband's rice noodle salad arrived, it was topped with a generous handful of chopped peanuts. We quietly freaked out and removed our little man from the restaurant, leaving my husband to scoop out the peanuts from his bowl and eat his meal in solitude.

To this day, we are still baffled how both of us forgot that Vietnamese rice noodle salads contain peanuts. We vowed not to put our family into that situation again and make Vietnamese food at home.

With a little help from the internet and a little planning, a peanut-free rice noodle salad was on our dinner table. The only exception was that this time around, our whole family had the chance to enjoy a safe meal together.

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

I usually serve this rice noodle salad after grilling a big batch of Vietnamese lemongrass pork. If you grill the pork the night before, this allows dinner to be ready in as short as 20 minutes as the grilled pork, pickles and dipping sauce are ready to go. All you have to do is heat the spring rolls, cook the noodles and assemble the dinner.

Serves: 8

Ingredients
1 package rice noodles
1 package of spring rolls
8 generous pieces of cooked Vietnamese lemongrass pork (try this recipe)
1 cucumber, sliced
1 head of lettuce, shredded (iceberg or romaine)
1 batch of Vietnamese carrot and daikon pickles (try this recipe)
1 batch of Vietnamese dipping sauce (try this recipe)
Sriracha hot sauce, to serve (optional)
Hoisin sauce, to serve (optional)
Mint, to serve (optional)

Directions
1. Prepare rice noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Different brands of rice noodles contain different ingredients. Always read the label!

2. Bake or pan fry the spring rolls according to package directions. Cut the spring rolls into bite-sized pieces.

Nut-free spring rolls from Costco Canada.

3. Heat the Vietnamese lemongrass pork in the microwave until warm. Slice thinly into bite-sized pieces.

4. Place rice noodles in the bottom of each bowl. Top each bowl with spring rolls, lemongrass pork, cucumber, shredded lettuce and Vietnamese carrot daikon pickles.

5. Serve with Vietnamese dipping sauce, sriracha hot sauce, hoisin sauce and mint.

Source: Frugal Allergy Mom