Spicy Peanut Noodles and Soy Almonds

Who is ready for a quickie? My nuts are worth it trust me!

Seriously though, I am feeling lazy today. You are getting a half hearted post. Deal with it.

The pasta is a go to quick meal. The nuts are just an excuse to get rid of the extra almonds I bought for yesterday's post.



This is one of my favorite.



Mmm. Salty nuts.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Resources:

1 pound spaghetti or any pasta

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar, DIVIDED

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

6 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped (I used 1 tablespoon fresh ginger)

1 large garlic clove

3 celery ribs, thinly sliced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

Method:

In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain well.

In a blender, puree the peanut butter with 6 tablespoons of the vinegar, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, crushed red pepper, ginger and garlic. Transfer 1/2 cup of the peanut dressing to a bowl and toss with the noodles.

In another bowl, toss the celery with the cilantro and the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Transfer the noodles to bowls and drizzle with the remaining peanut dressing. Top with the celery.

Make Ahead:

The peanut dressing can be refrigerated for 2 days.

Soy Almonds

Resources:

6 ounce can of unflavored almonds

1 1/2 tablespoons of peanut oil

1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce

cayenne pepper

salt

Method:

In a small slow cooker mix all the ingredients except salt.

Cook on high for 15 minutes, remove cover, cook for another 2 1/2 hours on low. Stir occasionally.

Salt the nuts to taste. Spread the nuts out and allow to cool.

Commentary:

Make sure to divide the vinegar. I always forget. As mentioned yesterday, do not be me.

This will make the sauce thin (as shown). I always dump all the vinegar in like an idiot. Hence the bold underlined "divided" above.

If you peanut sauce is a little thin: more peanut butter.

  

Not a power shake.

I usually skip the celery. This is a recipe I make frequently as a quick lunch. It is fairly scalable to a quarter for a single serving. That and I skip the celery / cilantro to cut down on effort

Pictured: effort.

A little diced chicken is a nice addition to the pasta. Also it is against the rules for me to have a completely vegetarian post.

Both recipes are easily adjusted heat wise. Depending on my mood there is more or less (or no) red pepper for the pasta. I have only made the nuts once but I just used the tiniest sprinkle twice and there was no heat to speak of.

As far as the nuts go, the original recipe calls for Tamari soy sauce. Did not have it. Used La Choy reduced sodium.

Also I like my nuts salty, so the reduced sodium soy did not cut it. I added salt to taste. If you are not using reduced sodium or do not like salt, be careful!

Conclusions:

I make the pasta all the time.

Also the wifey love my nuts. Enough said about that.