Grilled Chicken Skewers and Asian Noodle Salad

One of my favorite websites to find recipes is The Pioneer Woman - I'm not sure how I stumbled across it, but I am very happy I did! I had saved a recipe for a cold Asian "pasta salad", and was waiting until I had all of the insane amounts of veggies it called for to give it a whirl. Here's a link to the recipe on the Pioneer Woman site - she explains the steps and has way prettier photos that give my pics an inferiority complex.

I halved (halfed? halved.) the salad ingredients, and kept the dressing amount the same. I used half of the dressing to marinate chicken, then had Mike skewer the chicken and grill it (that's what she said....?).

Here's the finished salad - even with half the recipe it still filled a huge serving bowl (I would guess 5-6 servings). Everything came out well, but fair warning: I had to make trips to two different grocery stores to get all of the ingredients, and was chopping like a maniac for hot minute. I'm of the opinion that the noodles and dressing are what "makes" this recipe - you could probably sub in any veggies you have on hand. But hey - I got in my five servings of fruits and veggies right? I'm super healthy right now! Take no notice of the oil in the dressing! Ahem...

Please note: I seriously considering making a themed dinner in honor of tonight's "Jersey Shore" premiere. Lasagna....pickles....and tequila shots?

Ed. note: This noodle salad does NOT make for good leftovers. It got super watery and turned almost into soup - I think it's due to all the veggies, especially the cucumbers. Mushy cashews are not cool. If you're going to follow the recipe as is, eat it immediately. I'm guessing if a lot of the veggies were omitted (or replaced with less "watery" veggies  - I'm thinking whole snap peas and broccoli) it would hold up better in the fridge.