EAT THAT: Sauce up your noodles with peanuts and pepper
So I’m mixing and matching asian foods, and I’m featuring a group of my favorite ingredients: vegetables.
Now don’t stop reading. I was raised a vegetarian, and although I occasionally eat chicken when I’m at someone else’s house, I’m generally cooking vegetarian foods. Don’t worry though… you can add grilled chicken to the main dish of this. In fact, some teriyaki chicken would be good too I’ll bet…
Thai Peanut Noodle salad is actually an entree, and is one of my all time favorite recipes, and the first of my mother’s recipes that I learned how to cook. It is amazing. It’s healthy, and it tastes good, and most of the ingredients are already in your kitchen. I also really like the texture of this dish. You’ve got the cream of the sauce, with crunch of peanuts, the crunch of the red peppers, the flavor of the green onions, and pasta. Delicious.
INGREDIENTS:
2 T soy sauce
1 C. peanut butter (I use crunchy because I like having the peanuts in there, but you can use creamy too.)
1/2 C. broth (veggie broth, chicken broth, whatever.)
1 large red bell pepper
2 stalks of scallions/green onions (optional)
1 T chili powder
2 T. garlic powder/chopped garlic
Spaghetti/pasta
First, you’re going to want to cook pasta. Fill a pot to about an inch below the top with water, sprinkle in some salt (not necessary, but it’s habit for me), and put the burner on high. When the water is boiling, toss in the pasta, and turn the heat down to medium. This is my secret- the water rarely, if ever, boils over.
While the pasta is cooking, grab the Soy sauce, peanut butter, and broth. You’ll need a medium sauce pan, and turn it on medium low heat. Mix the peanut butter and broth until there’s a creamy consistency. Add the soy sauce, chili powder and garlic. Once everything is smooth and creamy, just keep it on low. HINT: If you don’t get the sauce to look all creamy, you can slowly add broth, by 1/2 cup at a time with a dash of soy sauce. Go slowly. You also want to taste the sauce to be sure it’s not too salty, or too sticky.
Next, wash your vegetables. This is so important. Because the vegetables won’t be cooked, you need to be doubly sure you wash the outsides well, to remove any bacteria that might be on them. Chop up the red pepper and the scallions. The easiest way to chop a pepper is to take a small knife and cut around the green stem, all the way around. Then, you can just pull out the top. Dump the seeds in the trash, and slice or chop the pepper however you’d like. Slice the scallions up.
Make sure to keep an eye on your pasta, and strain out the water when the pasta is done. I usually just grab a piece with a spoon or fork, and eat it. If it’s still a little brittle inside, cook it some more. If not, you’re good to go.
Now you’ll need a large bowl. Put the chopped red pepper and scallions in the bowl, with the pasta and then the sauce poured on top. Mix it up, and serve. Voila!
This recipe is cheap. Peanut butter: $2.00 (you’ll have lots left over), red pepper on sale: $0.98, pasta: $1.00, You could take the soy sauce from Chinese restaurants, and broth… well. If you’re super tight on money, you can just use water, or the flavor packet from a chicken ramen. So total, you pay $4 to $6 for this recipe, and it feeds at least two people, or one person with leftovers.
Chinese Cabbage Salad is a salad, and has some random ingredients in it. But if you’re a cook and happen to have some of these around, it’s cheap and yummy, and uses Ramen as a big ingredient.
INGREDIENTS:
1 hea
d of cabbage (you can buy this for a dollar or two)
1 package slivered almonds
1 package of Asian Ramen
2 T sugar,
1/2 c. oil
3 T vinegar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
Asian Ramen flavoring packet.
First, wash that cabbage. Then, slice the cabbage into strips. Put it into a bowl.
Next, mix the sugar, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and flavor packet in a small bowl. This is the sauce. It’s delicious. And probably not super good for you.
Then, break the ramen noodles (uncooked) into chunks. You’ll put the chunks in the bowl with the cabbage, and slivered almonds. Finally, pour the sauce into the bowl, and mix it up.
This is a sure hit. I know it’s vegetables, but this doesn’t taste like vegetables. It’s really delicious, and cheap.
Well, if you love or hate these recipes, let me know.
– april.ashland@aggiemail.usu.edu