Peanut Sauce and Noodles is a delicious standby. It is easy, I usually have all of the ingredients lying around in one form or the other. The idea came from something they USED to serve at the dining establishments right here at my University, but no longer since the dining services has recently established a new system of dining...to my dismay. They used to serve these made to order asian noodle and rice stir fries. (Lovingly referred to as "bowls" by students) They were vegan, readily available and soooo delicious. They were simply noodles or rice (jasmine or brown) served with a stir fry of your choice of vegetables and your choice of sauce. The sauces were all pretty good, I was quite found of the spicy teriyaki, but the peanut sauce was pretty good too! Well, the days of hoppin' it to the Summit to get a bowl are long bygone and have since been replaced with stirrin' one up at Irene's house. And my rendition of the bowl is damn tasty.
You can use any vegetable you have laying around for this dish...as with so much of the other dishes i make. For the version above a I used a convenient frozen Asian vegetable stir fry medley I bought from Trader Joe's. It's not the best, but it is really convenient. The vegetables i would suggest are snow peas, broccoli, bell pepper, mushrooms and onions. Here is the recipe:
Peanut Sauce Noodle Stirfry (Enough for One w/ leftovers =D)
For the sauce
1/8 cup peanut butter and equal or less amount of water (to thin it out)
1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
Hot Pepper Flakes
For the Rest
Vegetable oil for stir frying
Vegetables that you like (my suggestions are above)
Tofu, drained and pressed, cut into bite sized slices
1 clove garlic minced
2 tsp garlic, grated
1 serving of noodle of your choice (I use whole wheat spaghetti)
Fresh lime
1. Boil a pot of water and start boiling your pasta. If you're using a quicker cooking noodle, do this later.
2. Mix all your ingredients for the peanut sauce. Mix it really well. It's going to look really unappetizing in the beginning but will form a homogenous mixture. Gauge the consistency and flavor to your liking.
3. Put enough vegetable oil into a sautee pan to more or less coat the bottom and turn on to medium high heat. When the oil is hot, put in your slices of tofu. Brown the tofu on both sides.
4. When tofu is browned add aromatics (garlic, ginger, and onion if you're using it). Saute for maybe a minute then add the rest of your vegetables and stir fry until cooked. If you're using fresh broccoli, I suggest putting it in before anything else (besides the tofu) with a little bit of water for a quick "wok steam" make sure to put the lid on the pan if you do that.
5. Drain your pasta/noodles and put into saute pan. Stir fry for about a minute.
6. Pour peanut sauce over everything and stir to combine making sure that everything is coated in peanutty goodness.
7. I garnish with some flax seeds (or sesame seeds but i don't normally have sesame seeds) and squirting fresh lime all over the noodles at the very end gives it that WOW factor.
- - - - - - - -
I have read a similar recipe on one of the most gorgeous vegan foodblogs i've ever seen VeganYumYum. In her version, she makes a soy-mirin sauce and flavors the tofu with it before anything else goes into the pan. I think i will try that next time because the tofu could use a little more flavor than the peanut sauce offers.
You can use any vegetable you have laying around for this dish...as with so much of the other dishes i make. For the version above a I used a convenient frozen Asian vegetable stir fry medley I bought from Trader Joe's. It's not the best, but it is really convenient. The vegetables i would suggest are snow peas, broccoli, bell pepper, mushrooms and onions. Here is the recipe:
Peanut Sauce Noodle Stirfry (Enough for One w/ leftovers =D)
For the sauce
1/8 cup peanut butter and equal or less amount of water (to thin it out)
1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
Hot Pepper Flakes
For the Rest
Vegetable oil for stir frying
Vegetables that you like (my suggestions are above)
Tofu, drained and pressed, cut into bite sized slices
1 clove garlic minced
2 tsp garlic, grated
1 serving of noodle of your choice (I use whole wheat spaghetti)
Fresh lime
1. Boil a pot of water and start boiling your pasta. If you're using a quicker cooking noodle, do this later.
2. Mix all your ingredients for the peanut sauce. Mix it really well. It's going to look really unappetizing in the beginning but will form a homogenous mixture. Gauge the consistency and flavor to your liking.
3. Put enough vegetable oil into a sautee pan to more or less coat the bottom and turn on to medium high heat. When the oil is hot, put in your slices of tofu. Brown the tofu on both sides.
4. When tofu is browned add aromatics (garlic, ginger, and onion if you're using it). Saute for maybe a minute then add the rest of your vegetables and stir fry until cooked. If you're using fresh broccoli, I suggest putting it in before anything else (besides the tofu) with a little bit of water for a quick "wok steam" make sure to put the lid on the pan if you do that.
5. Drain your pasta/noodles and put into saute pan. Stir fry for about a minute.
6. Pour peanut sauce over everything and stir to combine making sure that everything is coated in peanutty goodness.
7. I garnish with some flax seeds (or sesame seeds but i don't normally have sesame seeds) and squirting fresh lime all over the noodles at the very end gives it that WOW factor.
- - - - - - - -
I have read a similar recipe on one of the most gorgeous vegan foodblogs i've ever seen VeganYumYum. In her version, she makes a soy-mirin sauce and flavors the tofu with it before anything else goes into the pan. I think i will try that next time because the tofu could use a little more flavor than the peanut sauce offers.
