Dishing Up the Dirt

Peach-Lime Pork & Zucchini Noodle Salad

If I could eat this simple meal every night for the rest of the summer I would. The only reason I won’t is because there’s so many great veggies that need to be honored this season so I’ll do my best to restrain myself and prepare this only a few times a week. In all honesty, this meal was damn good, I mean really good. I was inspired by Melissa Clark from the New York Times Cooking section and did I wild spin on her recipe for Tangy Pork Noodle Salad. Her recipe was a bit more complicated and called for ingredients I didn’t have on hand but I was intrigued by the sound of the dish and did my own version with local ingredients (minus a few pantry staples) and I’m so happy with how this turned out. I hope you all enjoy this light and refreshing salad as much as we do. It’s going on permanent rotation until we run out of peaches or all of our pork from last season’s harvest!

Dig in everyone!

Peach-Lime Pork & Zucchini Noodle Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes    Cook Time: 20 minutes    Serves: 4

 
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
  • 2 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed peach juice (use a lemon or lime juicer)
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce, plus more as needed
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 4 tablespoons sesame oil (make sure it's not toasted sesame oil!!!) divided
  • ½ cup thinly sliced scallions
  • 8 ounces zucchini noodles (from about 2 medium sized zucchini)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and grated (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced and seeded if you like for less heat
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers
  • 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cup packed mint leaves, thinly sliced
  • 1 packed cup cilantro or basil sprigs, or a combination
  • Red-pepper flakes, for serving
 

Preparation

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together lime zest and juice, peach  juice, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, honey and a small pinch of salt. Pour half of the mixture into a large bowl and whisk in 3 tablespoons sesame oil and the scallions. Set both mixtures aside.
  2. Add the zucchini noodles to the bowl with the scallions, tossing well. Set aside while preparing remaining ingredients.
  3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger and jalapeno pepper, and cook until lightly golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork and stir, breaking up pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook without stirring too often, until browned, about 8 minutes. Pour in lime juice mixture from the small bowl. Simmer gently until most of the liquid is evaporated, stirring to coat pork in the glaze, another 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
  4. Add pork, cucumbers, scallions, cherry tomatoes, and herbs to the zucchini noodles and toss well to combine. Taste and add more fish sauce, lime juice or both. Sprinkle with red-pepper flakes and divide between bowls.

Notes

This recipe is inspired by Melissa Clark from the NYT


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2 thoughts on “Peach-Lime Pork & Zucchini Noodle Salad

  1. Judith Stewart says:

    This sounds awesome!

  2. Alex says:

    Just made this and it was so good! Ended up adding another tablespoon and a half of lime in the original mix.

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