What you may not know about me is that I am a total fan girl of many fantastic women (and one man, Jamie Oliver) who are powerhouses in the online food world and I love buying their cookbooks and supporting them in every way. So I’m starting this new operation Cookbook of the Month to 1. Bring you more ridiculously delicious recipes, 2. Save you from having to spend money on cookbooks and 3. Eat more delicious recipes myself obviously. Our first cookbook is the Hot For Food Cookbook by Lauren Toyota starting with these Spicy Peanut Noodles.
If you know me personally, you know I love Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food a crazy amount, it’s borderline creepy. I pre-ordered her cookbook Vegan Comfort Food Classics about 6 months in advance and it did not disappoint. These Spicy Peanut Noodles are one of the first things I made out of it and they blew me away.
These noodles are quick and easy to make and would be an exceptionally easy weeknight dinner to throw together. The peanut sauce is creamy, flavorful and the perfect amount of spicy and it’s full of colorful vegetables. I cooked my vegetables just enough for them to maintain a slight crunch and it was perfect with the creamy sauce and the noodles.
I slightly modified this recipe in that I used rice noodles for two reasons, first because they’re gluten free, but second because I just feel like they’re a better fit for an Asian inspired dish than using linguine or spaghetti. I also used sesame oil which gives it a smoky flavor. You can get the flat Pad Thai noodles in the ethnic isle of your grocery store, they’re usually on the top shelf at mine. Trust me they’re worth looking for. They break up perfectly and you can even eat them with chopsticks if you’re feeling fancy.
Finally, these noodles were amazing leftovers for lunch. They even taste good cold! When you reheat the noodles, I recommend drizzling it with more oil to loosen the noodles.
Finally, for cookbook of the month, I will be doing 4 recipes each month from one of my favorite cookbooks. Each one will be from a different category, if you like all the recipes, buy the book! Or just continue to follow along with me. Either way, let’s all get cooking together.
Until Next Time,
Jackie
Lauren Toyota’s Spicy Peanut Noodles
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner, Noodles, Pasta
- Cuisine: Asian, Vegan, Vegetarian
Description
An amazing recipe straight from one of my favorite cookbooks the Hot for Food Cookbook! Bright, colorful vegetables tossed with rice noodles and a spicy creamy peanut sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pounds flat rice noodles (like pad thai noodles)
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 cup white onion, thinly sliced
- 4 green onions, finely sliced (reserve some for garnish)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced thin
- 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced
- 1 large red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup snow peas
- 1 tsp sea salt
- cilantro (for garnish)
- peanuts (for garnish)
- Spicy Peanut Sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 1/2 tbsp chili paste
- 2 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles. Be aware that rice noodles cook extremely fast. Drain them and toss them in a drizzle of oil so they don’t stick.
- While you are heating the water to cook the noodles, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and green onion and saute for 3 minutes or until the green onions are softened.
- Next, add in the garlic, jalapenos, and ginger and saute for 2 minutes until the garlic and ginger become fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic! Add the bell pepper and stir for about 3 more minutes or until they are just beginning to soften.
- Add in the broccoli and the snow peas and cook for 6-8 more minutes. I like to leave my vegetables still slightly crunchy so I don’t cover them but if you want them to soften significantly, cover the pot and stir occasionally. If you like them with a slight crunch, cook them till they are bright green and about half cooked.
- While everything is cooking make the peanut sauce! Combine all the ingredients into a blender or food processor, or you can vigorously whisk it in a bowl. If you are going to whisk it yourself, I recommend using hot water because it breaks up the peanut butter better.
- Toss the vegetables in about half of the peanut sauce until coated. Then add in the noodles and the rest of the sauce and toss it all together! Drizzle some extra lime and sesame oil on top before serving to amp up the flavor!
