Vietnamese BBQ Pork & Noodle Salad

This is a new one for us-trying Vietnamese flavors at home. Pork, delicate rice noodles and some great spice make for a light yet filling meal. The rice noodles are called "rice sticks" or "rice vermicelli" and can be found in most large grocery stories in the Asian food aisle. Don't be fooled by the actual rice noodles, which are flatter and a bit larger.

The recipe calls for pork loin, but we wanted to use chops for thrifty reasons (natch).

It's a great meal for the week as it stores separately and heats up great.

This is from the September 2014 issue of Cooking Light and has been adapted to take advantage of our pantry and tastes, which tend to run a bit spicier than most.

Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 60 mins + 1 hour marinate time

What you need:

• 5 teaspoons of sesame oil (not usually found with the other oils, but is in a smaller bottle in the Asian food aisle)
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sriracha paste (it's not the type with the squeeze top, but a screw top)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large shallot, chopped (or 2 medium shallots)
• 6 pork chops. thinly sliced 
• 1 package rice vermicelli 
• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of carrots, julienne cut
• 2 tablespoons chopped, dry roasted peanuts

What to do:

• Combine 1 tablespoon sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha paste, brown sugar, garlic and shallot in food processor until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade.Place pork in ziptop bag and marinate with remaining sauce for at least an hour. 
• Cook noodles according to directions, toss with 2 teaspoons of sesame oil. 
• Pre-heat broiler and place pork on broiler pan covered in foil. Broil about 3 minutes on each side, until pork is no longer pink in center.
• To serve, plate amount of noodles desired with 1/2 cup lettuce, 1/4 cup cucumber, 2 tablespoons carrot and drizzle with 1 tablespoons of marinade. Top with pork chop and 1.5 teaspoons chopped peanuts and enjoy.