Easy Peanut Sauce

As we're getting ready for our big move to Chicago (we're under the 2 week mark!), we've been trying to use up the things we have left in our kitchen.  This weekend, it was a big package of rice noodles from H Mart.  We had tons leftover in the fridge so when my usual Monday morning routine rolled around (aka I have 6 minutes before I need to leave for work, what can I take for lunch?), I threw together a quick peanut sauce to put on top of the noodles.

It's absolutely wonderful! It's nutty, creamy, and just a little bit spicy.  I love how quickly it can be thrown together. It's great over rice noodles, but would make a great marinade for chicken skewers on the grill as well.  We always seem to have these ingredients in the house which makes for an easy meal any time.  The recipe below is for one serving of pasta, but you can increase it to fit your needs! I really just throw the ingredients together, so these measurements are approximate, anyways.



Easy Peanut Sauce


Ingredients
1-2 tbsp all natural creamy peanut butter (make your own!)
1-1.5 tbsp rice wine or apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1-2 tsp soy sauce

Instructions
1. Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl with a small whisk or fork. If you want it to be hot, heat on the stove in a small saucepan over medium low heat until melted completely.
2. Serve over rice noodles or cooked chicken.

Peanut Noodles with Kale and Cannellini Beans

After a fun afternoon enjoying the Cherry Blossoms with the Monkey Scientist and my old camp friend, I wanted to throw together a quick and healthy dinner.  I picked up some kale at the farmer's market downtown and a can of beans from our local grocery store, but I had just about everything else at home.  My coworker had given me a few special peanut butters from Spread, so I used the Golden Raisin Curry peanut butter to give this recipe a little more flavor.



I am absolutely digging the chow mein noodles that I used.  You can just use spaghetti (whole wheat please!) but these add a new dimension of texture.  They're a little bit gummier than regular spaghetti, but in a good way.  I'm excited to find new ways to use them!  I bought mine at World Market, but I'm sure you could find them at an Asian grocery store or perhaps even in the Asian aisle of your regular supermarket.  They cost about the same as a regular box of spaghetti.



I loved that this recipe was vegetarian for my camp friend, but the Monkey Scientist and I did throw a little bit of cooked chicken breast on top for added protein.  We only needed to split one breast between the two of us though because the beans added nice protein as well.  We've been adding white beans to our salads and pastas frequently lately and I'm enjoying the flavor a lot.  They complemented this dish perfectly.



I like this recipe a lot!  In the recipe below, I decreased the acid a bit from the amount I used, as ours was a little bit too acidic.  If you are using regular peanut butter, try adding a little bit of curry powder - I think it complements the flavors nicely.  This recipe was originally in the Self Magazine Drop 10 menu plan, but I did add a bit more oil than they had called for.  If you want to decrease the oil for health reasons, it should still work well.  This is a great meal to throw together on a weeknight and a fun way to have a new and different type of pasta than the typical spaghetti with marinara.



Peanut Noodles with Kale and Canellini Beans
Adapted from Self Magazine, April 2012

Ingredients
1 package chow mein noodles (or whole wheat spaghetti)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (unseasoned)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (can be flavored with chiles or curry)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 bunch kale
1 15.5 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup sliced scallions

Instructions
1. Prepare noodles according to package instructions, but do not rinse in cold water.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine rice wine vinegar, peanut butter, orange juice, and soy sauce and whisk until smooth.
3. In a pan with high sides, heat oilsovr medium high heat. Add kale and sauté until wilted.
4. Combine noodles, cannellini beans, and peanut sauce and stir until warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Served topped with scallions.

Peanut Butter: Attempt #1

Have you tried this?



It is the bomb.  I'm totally obsessed.  The only issue is how difficult it is for me to get to a Trader Joe's.  The ingredients are so simple - Roasted Valencia Peanuts, Roasted Golden Flax Seed, and Sea Salt - so I figured, why not try to make it myself?



I popped around and realized that homemade peanut butter is actually super easy to make.  I've always found peanut butter, unless purchased at a natural market like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, usually either isn't smooth at all or has all sorts of weird ingredients.  I really appreciate the ability to make my own foods from scratch and control all of the ingredients.



I also love adding flax seed.  This is such a healthy ingredient, and I love to sneak it into anything I can.  I kind of jumped the gun on this one and I didn't think about roasting the flax seed before I added it to the peanut butter - that's why I'm calling this one try 1.  Next time I'm going to do some seed-roasting, I'll let you know how it goes.



This homemade peanut butter is delicious!! It isn't as smooth as Jiff or Skippy, but it has comparable texture to my favorite Trader Joe's brand. I even found it a little bit easier to spread, even straight out of the fridge. It was fantastic on a PB&J sandwich for work.  I stored it right back in my old peanut butter jar for my reduce/reuse/recycle moment of the day.  I'd call it a great success, I can't to try some new iterations.




Smooth Peanut Butter with Flax Seed
inspired by Joy the Baker
(makes about 1 cup peanut butter)

Ingredients
1 1/2 c unsalted, dry roasted peanuts
1/4 c flax seeds
1 tsp sea salt

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in food processor.  Blend until peanut butter is smooth and shiny.  You may need to stop halfway and scrape down the sides with a spatula.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.