Spicy Peanut Noodles

We love ourselves some Asian flavors in this household so we thought we’d share one of our favorite noodle dishes.  It also happens to be pretty easy since that’s how we roll.  And it makes for great leftovers which is always a bonus.  The recipe originally came from a magazine, and I’ve been toting it around for years tweaking it here and there.  It is actually vegan, but it tastes great with shrimp too if you’re looking for a little more protein.

Here’s what you need (to make 6-8 servings):

• 16 oz. rice noodles
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 4 Tbs low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 Tbs rice wine vinegar
• 2-4 tsp chile paste with garlic (depending on how much spice you like)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
• 6-8 green onions, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 can of baby corn, drained and cut into thirds
• 4 Tbs chopped cilantro
• 2 limes (cut into wedges for squeezing on top)

While you are heating the water for the noodles (which you cook according to the package), combine peanut butter, 1/4 cup of water, soy sauce, vinegar, chile paste and sugar in a bowl.  Stir or whisk until it is well blended.  It should have the consistency of cream, but if yours seems too thick you can thin it out with a little bit more water.

Next you can chop the red pepper, cucumber, green onions, and cilantro while the noodles are cooking.

After everything is chopped, add it to a large bowl.

Once the noodles are done (and strained and rinsed according to the package), add them on top of the veggies and mix it all with the sauce.

After it is combined, add the cilantro on top.  Another great addition is minced peanuts on top, which are easy to do in a food processor.

You end up with a healthy and delicious noodle bowl and lots of leftovers if you’re only cooking for two.

You can heat it up before eating if you prefer to have it piping hot.  You could also leave out the spice if you’re not into spicy foods or you can always add more (which we do) if you want to add a kick.  But anyway you make it, it is delicious.  It is honestly better than take out, and we’d recommend it for anyone looking for a healthy, flavorful meal.

(We usually share our food posts on Friday, but we had a lot going on last week so a blog post wasn’t in the cards for us towards the end of the week.  Thanks for hanging with us.)