Super Simple Peanut Noodles!

So on Monday, my roommate had to pick me up from work, and instead of paying him gas, he wanted me to cook him up some Asian food. He asked for Chinese, but I'm Filipino, that's really all I know how to cook, SO, I looked up Peanut noodles my friend had made for me a while back, was SOO good! So yesterday Dan and I ran off to the Pacific Market not far from my work to pick up some veggies, Lumpia, and fried banana rolls. Yea, has nothing to do with the noodles, because believe it or not, you don't really need anything from the Asian store to make these super simple noodles. However, I think I would have liked it better if I just got the peanut sauce under the brand 'San-J' which is what my friend Leslie suggested.

Sadly I could not find it, and I have a hard time talking to strangers asking for help. None or less, the noodles came out just fine when I made the sauce on my own.

These noodles are quick and easy to make, and I'd consider it healthy...ish. Of course white pasta isn't 'healthy' for you, and you defiantly should NOT be eating it very often. But in this dish, I had added a LOT of veggies. Anyways, lets start, shall we? Sorry, I don't have photos of the steps.

All Ingredient: (Including for the peanut sauce)

• 3 Cups Veggies (I made about 4-5. Was feeding 3 boys, plus myself. I like more veggies)
• Meat or tofu (Optional)
• Pasta  (8 oz. for serving of 3. I added more.) 
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter (Or peanut sauce from San-J)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (1 for stirfry veggies - 2 for peanut sauce)
• 3/4 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Substitute with canola oil. (For stirfry veggies, I used olive oil.)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• Crushed red chili flakes, as much as you like (If you want.)
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion or cilantro or parsley for garnish

If you are making this in a hurry, you can simply just put broccoli if you want. Or whatever favorite veggies really. 

Suggestions:

- Shredded raw cabbage
- Shredded carrots
- Chopped cucumber
- Red peppers cut into strips
- Bean sprouts
- Wilted kale
- Baby corn
- Onions (Was not suggested in the recipe, but I put onions in mine.)
- Water chestnuts (Also was not suggested in the recipe, but I love them, so I added them.)

For the sauce: Super easy!

3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil. Substitute with canola oil.
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons of water (I suggest using 4. Was still too creamy when I put the sauce in the noodles, so I had to water it down some.)
Crushed red chili flakes, if you'd like. The more, the hotter. Whatever pleases you.
2 tablespoons chopped green onion or cilantro or parsley for garnish
*I've read you can add 1 tbl spoon honey, and 1 tea spoon rice vinegar. I didn't add those this time, but next time I will! If you add this, tell me how it tastes!* 

What to do:

1. In a large pot, add plenty of salt and water and bring to a boil.

2. While water is coming to a boil, work on the sauce. Add all sauce ingredients (in whatever order you want) in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of water, and whisk everything together till a sauce forms. However, this was too strong for me, so you might want to add 4 tablespoons of water. All up to your taste. Now, set that aside. If you are using the San-J sauce, follow the instructions on the bottle. Set aside.

3. Put your wok on medium. Add a drizzle of olive oil (or whatever oil you like to fry your veggies in) to the wok. If you are cooking it with meat, or tofu, do that now. Tofu takes a long time to cook. Now time to cut, and add the vegetables into the wok. The veggies that can overcook faster, should be added last. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce in with your veggies while you are stir-frying them. (The order I did mine was onions, bellpepers, bean sprouts, baby corn, water chestnuts, broccoli, cabbage, and than frozen mixed frozen vegetables. - Carrots, green beans, peas, and corn.)

4. Once the water at a boil. Then add pasta to the water and cook according to package instructions. Make sure you don't over cook the pasta. Drain well. 

5. Add oil to the drained pasta to keep it from drying up. Set aside. (Not back onto the stove.) Keep an eye out on your veggies. Stir constantly. Once your veggies are cooked, add the noodles in with them.

6. Pour the peanut sauce all over the pasta and veggies, and toss well. Taste the pasta, if it needs more salt, or soy sauce add half a tablespoon at a time. If the peanut butter is too strong, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. Mix well!

7. Top it off with chopped green onions, cilantro or parsley. You can even add 1 Tablespoon of sesame seeds! And there you have it!

Let me know how that worked out for you!