Vietnamese Noodle Salad

I am not quite willing to give up on Moosewood's Simple Suppers yet. So last night, in my new big kitchen, I made Vietnamese Noodle Salad. It was quite tasty--not completely awesome, but I think adding some rice wine vinegar would help. My changes: I could not find Chinese chili paste, so I used a whole bunch of Sriracha sauce instead. Yummy and spicy. I left out the peanuts and the tofu because Mike hates both and I am not the biggest fan either. Overall, I really liked the recipe and I will probably make it again but add some rice wine vinegar and some bean sprouts for crunch--which is what the peanuts would have added, but with fat.

Vietnamese Noodle Salad
4oz rice noodles
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon Chinese chili paste, or to taste
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt [I used more than that]
1 cucumber
1 carrot
4 scallions
1/4 package firm tofu
peanuts to taste

1) In a large saucepean, bring salted water to a boil. Add the rice noodles and cook until tender, about five minutes. Strain, rinse with cool water, and strain again.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, sesame oil, chili paste, cilantro, and salt.
3) Chop the cucumber and carrots into matchsticks [I just chopped them]. Chop the scallions. [The recipe says to cut the tofu into matchsticks too].Toss the cucumber, carrots, scallions, peanuts, and rice noodles with the dressing in the large bowl. Serve at room temperature or cold. Serves 3-4.