Sesame Peanut Noodles

Good Friday morning to you all!

I woke up this morning feeling very newsy. Here are the latest news items from Bridezilla Bakes, from least to most relevant:

1.) I just officially killed our orchid, and am now working on the new plant my mother-in-law gave us when she came over.

2.) The weather here is GORGEOUS… perfect to start training for the Soldier Field 10-miler, which I am running at the end of May! (Photo taken at Northwestern, with my iPhone, no less)

3.) I hope everyone is totally impressed by the email subscription form at the top right of this page. Enter your email address, and you’ll get an email with photos, recipes, and totally irrelevant news items every time I publish a new post.

4.) People are making Bridezilla Bakes recipes! I know… you couldn’t be more surprised than I am! I am receiving more and more emails with recipe notes, recommendations, etc. — keep em coming! Also, if you have made a recipe, would you mind commenting on it? Let us know how it went for you (I’ll only cry a little if you say it didn’t go well…), and this will help other people when they attempt the recipe.

5.) I’m not giving any secrets away yet, but come April, there may or may not be a new Bridezilla Bakes contributor from beautiful Puerto Rico…

6.) Um… did you know that peanut sauce can be made from… peanut butter?

I admit it, I’m that white person that frequents Thai restaurants with only one purpose: to get my hands on as much peanut sauce, chicken satay, and cucumber salad as possible.

Or, I used to be, until I figured out that our favorite Americanized Thai appetizer and condiments can be made very easily at home. Last year around this time, I made a stellar Thai-ish dinner for Sean and I that included noodle soup, chicken satay, cucumber salad, and a peanut sauce. It was great, and I loved all those dishes — I’ll make them again and post them sometime — but far and away the most important discovery I made during that dinner was that peanut sauce can come from peanut butter.

Seems like common sense, but in case you are like me and tend to miss the obvious, I thought I’d let you in on the secret! The beauty of these noodles in sesame peanut sauce is that they taste a little bit like take out — you feel like you are treating yourself to something different — but really, all the ingredients are pantry basics! Use whatever fresh veggies you have on hand; the ones I used here are our favorites, but almost anything would go!

One thing to note – this recipe makes a LOT of noodles. I made it for dinner when we were having a friend over, and I think we were all a little intimidated when this huge pile-o-noodles hit the table. So half the recipe, or save it for leftovers – we happily ate these for a several lunches afterward!

Peanut Sesame Noodles

Adapted from Cooking Light and smitten kitchen

Serves 4-6

Pasta:

• 1 lb uncooked linguine or other long pasta

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 ½  tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• ¾ cup natural style peanut butter
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons honey
• 1-2 teaspoons chili paste/powder/red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Stir-fried chicken and veggies:

• 2 cups red bell pepper strips (about 2 small peppers)
• 1 pound snow peas
• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain.

For the sauce: While pasta cooks, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and minced garlic, sauté 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and the rest of the sauce ingredients. Reduce heat, and simmer 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and keep warm.

For the chicken & veggies: Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper. Cook until just done; remove from the pan. Add bell pepper and snow peas, sauté three minutes or until softened but still crisp. Turn off heat and add scallions, stir to combine.

Toss together noodles, peanut sauce, and veggies. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and serve hot or room temperature (but if you reheat, be sure to heat it all the way through to reduce the chance of food-borne illness!).

Tagged as: Asian, chicken, dinner, Pasta, peanut butter, stir fry