Recipe: Spicy Peanut Noodles with Seasonal Vegetables
This brightly colored, spicy dish tastes like it comes from a fancy Thai restaurant but takes only few minutes more time than it takes to just boil noodles. Change the veggies with the seasons for the best bargains and the best taste. Kids love it for the peanut butter and adults appreciate that it's quick, healthy, and exotic.
Active time: 18 minutes. Total time: 18 minutes. Makes 4 servings, about 1 cup each.
Ingredients
Hardy vegetables to boil with noodles
- Spring: 2 large carrots, cut into thin strips, about 1 inch long and ¼ inch wide
- Summer: 1 cup green beans, ends trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
- Fall/Winter: 2 large carrots cut into 1” x 1/4” strips and 2 stalks broccoli, cut into florets
Noodles
3 cups high-protein pasta, such as Barilla Plus rotini
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 cups water
Peanut Sauce
¼ cup hot water
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon peanut butter (144 grams)
¼ cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons garlic, put through garlic press or finely minced
2 teaspoons ginger, finely grated or minced
1½ teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon chipotle or cayenne pepper, or to taste
Tender vegetables for mix-ins and toppings
- Spring: 24 sugar-snap peas; 1 cup green cabbage, sliced thin; ½ cup spring onions, sliced into rounds
- Summer: 1 cup green cabbage, sliced thin; 1 green pepper, sliced thin and into bite-sized pieces; ½ cup chopped purple onion; basil ribbons (optional)
- Fall/Winter: 1 cup green cabbage sliced thin and 2 spring onions, cut into rounds
Method
- Rinse and cut hardy vegetables. Put noodles and cold water in a medium pot and cover. Bring to a boil in medium pot. Reduce heat so noodles barely boil, usually less than medium heat. Stir and put lid on so it partly covers pot.
- Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until well blended and smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. Rinse and cut tender vegetables.
- Two minutes before the noodles should be done, add hardy vegetables to pot. Continue boiling for another two minutes or until noodles are just tender. Drain and add noodle mixture to bowl of sauce. Stir in tender vegetables, saving half the onions and the basil for garnish.
- Serve immediately. Refrigerate any you will use later.
Tips and notes
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Never cook with or drink hot water straight from the tap. It may contain dissolved metals from the water heater or pipes. Instead, heat cold water in an electric kettle or microwave or on the stove.
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Double the sauce, mix it up, and freeze half of it for later before you mix in the pasta. You can also refrigerate it for up to a week.
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This dish reheats well if it will then be eaten right away. But while it may seem like a great dish for a party or picnic, it does not keep well at room temperature or over low heat. The pasta absorbs the sauce and the whole thing turns into a rubbery brick.
