Oh my goodness. This was a really long and wonderful day. Our children got the day from school to go to the Seahwaks Superbowl Parade. Um, so did 700,000 of our closest friends! It was so insanely crowded and people were so excited it was just wild! Early in the morning we went down to Pete’s office since he has a pretty great view of the parade from his office. Some of our friends and their children joined us and the kids had a blast. There were 5 girls and one little boy, and the girls were basically having a craft circle on the floor in Pete’s office in the hours it took before the parade started. There was all kinds of sewing and paper flower making projects- it was adorable.

Then we finally watched the parade. We had intended to get down onto the street to see the real thing, but in the venture out we realized that the kids could only see knees and backpacks, and we were thirty people back from the street! Oh, and did I mention that it was literally freezing out. A high of 30, which for some of you is balmy, but for us wimps here in Seattle it is fairly brutal. So in the end we watched the parade safely and warmly from 20 floors above. But boy could you hear it!! The office was seriously shaking and vibrating from the loud music below, and you could watch the throngs of excited fans jamming all of the streets below.

When the parade had passed the office, we all made a break for it! We really wound up having to walk most of the way home before we got a ride because the traffic was just so gridlocked. By the time we got home, we were exhausted- but it was still a normal day in some ways, so I had to take Pia to ballet and go grocery shopping for lunches tomorrow and blah, blah, blah, you know. By dinner time, I was seriously pooped. I just wanted something EASY, fresh and healthy after all of the weird snacking we did. Plus I needed to get it on the table fast.

I thought of this Vietnamese Noodle Salad Bowl which I have made several times over the last few months. It is part of my Asian Noodle Obsession I am going through right now. It met all of the criteria that I wanted and it was so tasty. I just can’t get enough of these flavors! Or of 15 minute meals for that matter…. Give this a try!!

To make Vietnamese Noodle Salad, this is what you do:

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to manufacturers directions. When the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse the noodles well with cold water.

While the noodles are cooking, prepare the vegetables.

Mix the noodles with the dressing. Season to taste with kosher salt.

Lay the cabbage down in the serving bowl and then add the noodles, followed by the fresh vegetables and herbs.

Serve with fresh cilantro, roasted peanuts and fresh lime wedges.