Directions
“Yum.”
My husband is home from work this week, and after he ran some errands this morning, he came back home to find me staring at my computer, head in my hands, complaining about how I’d hit “Peanut Noodle Writer’s Block”. Always helpful, he came over to the computer and started typing. The above entry, “Yum.”, is his contribution to today’s post. (He’s pretty wordy, like that.)
I guess he’s right. Some recipes don’t need an intro. There’s no amazing story behind it or witty quip I can throw in. This was dinner on Monday night, and it was really quite tasty. End of story!
And here’s how I made it…
I started by whisking together a quick and easy peanut sauce. Into the bowl went some creamy peanut butter, soy sauce, water, chili-garlic sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt.
I should add that this is just about the time where Emily walked into the kitchen, saw the ingredients in front of me, and made a gagging noise. I’m happy to say that when all was said and done, she really enjoyed the noodles and the sauce that initially grossed her out.
I should also add that the recipe calls for 1 to 2 teaspoons of the chili-garlic sauce. I used two teaspoons and it wasn’t terribly spicy at all. Like I said, Emily loved it, and she wouldn’t have, if it had been off the charts.
Once my sauce was together, I sliced and diced up all of the vegetables I needed, as well as a lime to serve up with the dish when it was all done.
Once things were chopped up and the sauce was hanging out, I was ready to get cooking.
The recipe calls for either Udon noodles or linguine. Udon noodles are a thick, wheat flour based noodle used in Japanese cuisine. The grocery store I shopped in that day seemed to have every type of Asian noodle imaginable, except for Udon, so I went with linguine.
My super-authentic Asian linguine went into the boiling water and, as it boiled, I quickly cooked up my shrimp. There was nothing to the shrimp. I just tossed them with a little salt, sprayed a hot skillet with nonstick spray, threw the shrimp in and sizzled them up until they were pink and cooked through.
Once the shrimp was cooked and the pasta was al dente, I tossed them both together with the sauce, the red peppers, green onions, and chopped cucumber.
I piled it up on our plates and topped it with some chopped, roasted peanuts, cilantro and then squeezed some lime juice on top.
It was delicious, light, and a perfect Labor Day dinner. Not exactly the “Last Summer BBQ” type meal you’d expect on Labor Day, but it certainly fit the bill that night. Aaron was right. There was definite “yum” going on in the kitchen that day, and the recipe was simple enough that I’m pretty sure it will make another appearance again really soon.
SPICY PEANUT NOODLES WITH SHRIMP
Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light: Superfast Weeknight Dinners
| Spicy Peanut Noodles with Shrimp |
- For the peanut sauce:
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1 to 2 tsp. Asian chili sauce with garlic
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- For the shrimp:
- 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and cleaned
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- nonstick spray
- For the pasta:
- 4 cups cooked thick udon noodles or linguine (8 oz. uncooked)
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 3/4 cup chopped cucumber, seeded
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions, cut on a diagonal
- 3 Tbsp. chopped roasted peanuts
- Cilantro leaves and lime wedges, for serving
- Prepare the sauce. Combine the first seven ingredients with a whisk in a small bowl. Set aside.
- To prepare the shrimp, heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Toss the shrimp with the 1/4 tsp. salt. Spray the heated pan with nonstick spray and add the shrimp. Cook until cooked through and pink, about 3 minutes on each side.
- Cook the pasta according to directions on the package.
- Before serving, toss together the cooked pasta, shrimp, peanut sauce, red pepper, green onions, and cucumber in a large bowl. Toss well. Serve, sprinkled with the chopped peanuts and topped with cilantro leaves and a lime wedge.
