Vietnamese Rice-Noodle Salad

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Vietnamese Rice-Noodle Salad.
               
                                Ingredients:
      5 cloves garlic
                1 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
                1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
                3 tablespoons white sugar
                1/4 cup fresh lime juice
                3 tablespoons vegetarian fish sauce
                1 (12 ounce) package dried rice noodles
                2 carrots, julienned
                1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and chopped
                1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
                4 leaves napa cabbage
                1/4 cup unsalted peanuts
                4 sprigs fresh mint
               
               
                                Directions:
1 Mince the garlic with the cilantro and the hot pepper. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the lime juice, fish sauce or salt and sugar; stir well. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes.
2 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rice noodles; boil them for 2 minutes. Drain well. Rinse the noodles with cold water until they have cooled. Let them drain again.
3 Combine the sauce, noodles, carrots, cucumber, mint and Napa cabbage in a large serving bowl. Toss well and serve the salad garnished with the peanuts and mint sprigs.