Peanut Sesame Noodles

No pictures, sorry.  And, if I had my druthers, I think I'd rather be posting about dessert right now.  I had a friend write on her blog not too long ago that there are only three things she's serious about--her family, her career and dessert.  To unashamedly steal that, there are three things I am serious about right now: my faith, my family and dessert.  I don't want to admit it, but I fear sugar might have a serious stronghold on me.  Unfortunately, because more important things (like dinner) have been taking up my cooking time (or lack thereof, it feels these days) and I have been making my way through a movie theater sized box of Sugar Babies the last few days, there will be no homemade dessert tonight.  There will most likely be sugary post in the near future, though...

Until then, I wanted to share the unbelievably quick dish we had tonight.  See this as your "Asian noodle dish launching pad" and check out my notes below for additional suggestions to fancy this up a bit!


 Basic Peanut Sesame Noodles
1 package pre-washed, cut broccoli florets (or substitute 3/4-1 pound vegetables of your choice)
1/2-1 package rice vermacelli (or other long pasta--amount depends on how noodle-y you're feeling)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup fat free sesame soy ginger salad dressing (I used a Trader Joe's brand, but you can use whatever Asian-style dressing you find)

Directions:
If using rice noodles, pour boiling water over the noodles and allow to soak for just a couple minutes or until very "al dente."  Be careful as rice noodles get mushy very fast!  It's best to drain the water even a moment early if you're in doubt because they'll continue to soften a  bit.  If you're using another kind of pasta, just prepare according to package directions.  Drain water and set aside.
In a saute pan, over high heat, steam broccoli in a small amount of water (1/4-1/2 cup) until crisp-tender (just a couple minutes, you're really just wanting to take the "raw edge" off).  Drain water and add to noodles.
In a microwave-safe dish, melt the peanut butter for about 30 seconds on high heat or until it's easily stirred.  Pour in salad dressing and stir until smooth (you can add a couple tablespoons of water to make it more pourable if needed).  Pour over noodles, tossing to combine.  Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.

Notes: This would be really lovely with a mixture of vegetables (carrots, red bell pepper).  Also, to bulk it up a bit I would suggest adding some cooked (grill or stir fry) chicken, shrimp, pork etc.  Finally, some cilantro or green onion and some crushed peanuts would make for a nice garnish.  Tonight, however, it was just about preparation to tummies asap!  Also, sometime soon I'll post the recipe to make a peanut sauce from scratch (just in case you don't have Asian style salad dressing lying around...)
Off to watch Avatar with my dear husband...

Pad Thai Time!

When we lived in Southern California a few years ago, Jay and I tried just about every Thai restaurant our meager dining out budget allowed. Even though there were plenty of tempting dishes on the menu, I was always hard pressed to try anything else besides Pad Thai, especially on a first visit to a place. Maybe it's silly, but it seemed like a really good measuring stick (we like to do the same thing with pizza places and compare pepperonis--even though I'd always prefer vegetarian, heaven help me if a pizza comes with canned mushrooms...ick! ick! ick!).

Anyway, I have come to realize that making Pad Thai really is easy and after attempting lots of recipes (some even have included ketchup--not so sure how traditional that is!), I think I've landed on a keeper. I have adapted my recipe from Mark Bittman's NY Times column "The Minimalist" along with one from "Everyday Food."

Oh, and this came together in just under 30 minutes! That's even faster than I can get to my nearest Thai restaurant!

Pad Thai:

serves four
8 oz. dried rice noodles (the fettucini width is my favorite)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

sauce: (*see note*)
4 tablespoons tamarind paste (check the Latin foods section)
1/4 cup fish sauce (nam pla--found in Asian foods section)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce or a pinch of red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, thinly sliced (or 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion)
4 scallions sliced into 1" pieces, white and green parts divided
2 eggs, well beaten
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups bean sprouts, divided
lime wedges
1/4 cup crushed peanuts
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

thinly sliced meat or tofu, seasoned with salt and pepper or as desired (**see note**)

In a small sauce pan, combine tamarind paste, fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and chili garlic sauce. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, pour boiling water over rice noodles. Stir to separate and allow to soak until just softened, about 5-10 minutes (check them frequently, you want them very "al dente," otherwise they'll get mushy during stir frying--a mistake I've made all too often!). Drain off water and toss with one tablespoon of oil to keep them from sticking together.

Heat two teaspoons oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Stir fry shallots, garlic and white parts of scallions until onions are crisp tender and fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add beaten egg, season with salt and pepper. Scramble until just set. Remove eggs from pan and set aside.

Add remainder of oil to pan over high heat. Throw in softened noodles and pour sauce over top. Stir fry until noodles are heated through. Add cooked meat, egg mixture, two cups of bean sprouts and half of green scallion pieces. Stir to combine one last time. Divide into bowls and garnish with remaining bean sprouts and scallions, lime wedges, cilantro and crushed peanuts.
Serve immediately.

*A recipe I came across uses a sauce with extremely accessible ingredients. If you can't find tamarind paste and fish sauce, you can give this alternative a try:

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
3 tablespoons soy sauce
about 1/8 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (Sriacha) or a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Whisk together ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Add to the noodles at the same step as the original sauce.


**Tonight, I used pork chops tonight and grilled them while I was stir frying the pad thai so that I didn't have another step of cooking in my wok. You can also stir fry the meat or shrimp in the same pan as the rest of your pad Thai. Just add a step in between scrambling the egg and stir frying the noodles. Also, most traditional in pad Thai is shrimp and tofu, but use whatever you please or leave meat out all together.

Spring Rolls

I had it in my head that I had everything to make spring rolls for our small group night on Thursday. Well, I had almost everything. I realized that I was out of the rice noodles that go inside of the spring rolls. Looking through the shelves, I had ramen noodles or a partial box of angel hair pasta. I gave the angel hair a try and was pleasantly surprised--they really turned out pretty good! So, there's an encouragement and reminder to everyone: give yourself the freedom to substitute ingredients...you may find something that works great!

So, this is more of a "concept" than recipe. The beauty of spring rolls is that you can fill them with just about anything on hand. The wrappers are really just a vehicle for your fillings. In fact, if you can't find the rice paper wrappers (look in the Asian foods section) put your fillings in a tortilla and you have an Asian-style wrap!


Spring Rolls:

• Rice Paper wrappers
• Rice vermicelli (also known as "rice sticks") or angel hair pasta, prepared according to package directions and rinsed in cold water
  
• carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
• cucumber slices, cut into think matchsticks
• lettuce leaves, torn into small pieces
• any combination of fresh herbs: basil, cilantro, mint and thinly sliced green onion
• cooked meat, seafood or tofu (traditional is often to have boiled shrimp and roasted pork, I used teriyaki tofu and leftover grilled chicken) (recipe for teriyaki tofu below)

Dipping Sauce: combine:

• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce (like an Asian barbecue sauce, found in...wait for it...the Asian foods section)
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce

directions:
Make sure to have all ingredients set out and within arms reach ready to assemble (the cooking term for this is "mise en place," or everything in its place). Dip individual sheets of rice paper into a shallow dish of warm water until slightly softened (about 5 seconds). Lay flat on a cutting board. Then, layer fillings lengthwise across the center of wrapper. It's most attractive to put the protein first, then layer with the carrots and cucumber, herbs and greens and finally, a small mound of the cooked noodles. Take one side of the rice paper wrapper and fold up over the fillings. Like you're folding a burrito, then fold in the sides and finally, fold the long end over both folds. The wrapper is a little bit sticky, so you can lightly press the sides together and they'll hold together. Please tell me you've folded a burrito before, because that was a pretty terrible description of folding! Serve chilled with dipping sauce.


Teriyaki Tofu:
1 package extra firm tofu
1/4-1/2 cup of your favorite teriyaki sauce*

Open tofu package and drain water. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch slices. Place in a gallon-sized freezer bag in a single layer.
Freeze until solid (or whenever you're in the mood for some tofu steaks).
Remove from freezer and thaw in the fridge.
Once thawed completely, squeeze out excess water. Put back into bag, add teriyaki sauce (or favorite marinade) and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes (up to 24 hours).
Spray a skillet (or grill pan or George Foreman grill) with non stick spray and over medium high heat, sear tofu slices until browned (about 5 minutes). Flip and brown on other side. For spring rolls, chill or allow to come to room temperature.

(*I am a big fan of the Soy Vay products, but Trader Joe's makes a good one and even King Soopers carries a Kroger brand of teriyaki glaze that's pretty good)