A cross between a rice noodle salad and an Asian slaw, this Asian pasta salad slaw can go either way by reducing the quantity of noodles or cabbage .

½ head cabbage

1/4c lime or lemon juice, or rice wine vinegar or a combo

3t light brown sugar

2T fish sauce

2T soy sauce

4 cloves garlic, grated

1lb shell-on shrimp

20 green beans, kept whole

1/3^rd package of rice noodles

6 small shallots, thinly sliced

peanut oil

2t sesame oil

1 serrano pepper, sliced

2 plum tomatoes, chopped

2 scallions, sliced

1 c cilantro, chopped

1/2c peanuts

Thinly slice cabbage & put in a serving bowl with 1t salt. Toss and set aside. In a liquid measuring cup, combine citrus juices and/or vinegar.  Add sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and garlic. Mix until sugar dissolves. Add half of the sauce to the cabbage.  Toss and let sit.  Meanwhile bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add shrimp and 1t salt. Boil for 3 minutes. Scoop the shrimp out of the water with a spider into a bowl and put bowl in the freezer to cool. Add green beans to the water and boil for 3 minutes. Scoop out into a colander. Add rice noodles to the water and turn off heat. Let sit about 8 minutes or as directed. Move the green beans to the cutting board and drain noodles in the colander. Rinse noodles with cold water and toss with 1t sesame oil until well combined. Place the pot back on medium heat and let the water clinging to it evaporate. Once dry, coat the bottom of the pan with peanut oil. When hot, add sliced shallots.  Fry until brown and drain on paper towels. While the hot components are cooling, add sliced chili, tomatoes, scallions and cilantro to the cabbage and toss all with 1t sesame oil.  Shell shrimp and slice in half lengthwise, removing the vein if needed.  Chop green beans into 1 inch segments on the diagonal.  Add shrimp, noodles and beans to the cabbage mixture.  Add the remaining dressing to the bowl. Toss again and then let the salad sit at least 15 minutes in fridge.  Sprinkle with peanuts and fried shallots to serve.

Cooking time: approximately 1 hour

Serves 2-3 as a main course salad