Spicy Peanut Noodles with Chicken

I've been doing better trying recipes again, I'm going to try to keep up the once a week format on the blog. With a family dinner on Sunday and my 2 year old sleeping at least half of the nights I should be able to stretch out a bit. I made the Thai noodle dish on Saturday, Friday was a barbecued turkey bake, and Sunday was Strawberry crumble bars. Not a huge fan of the turkey bake but the other two were delicious. I'm featuring the Thai because I found a homemade chili garlic sauce to go with it and it was more involved so I have more to say.

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Chicken


Ingredients

* 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
* 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
* 5 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 1 tablespoon chile garlic sauce
* 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, lightly packed
* 1 tablespoon peanut oil
* 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into tenders
* 1 tablespoon table salt
* 1/2 pound dried Asian noodle
* 2 carrots, julienned
* handful snow peas or sugar snaps, trimmed
* 1 small red bell pepper, julienned

Directions

1. Bring 6 quarts water to boil in stockpot over high heat.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in saute pan or wok. Stir-fry chicken breasts until lightly browned, 4 to 8 minutes. Transfer to cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Using 2 forks, shred chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside.
3. Mix peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth.
4. Steam vegetables.
5. Using same water, prepare noodles following package directions.
6. Mix vegetables and chicken with sauce in saute pan until heated through. Reduce sauce a bit if necessary. Add noodles and toss thoroughly to combine.


The chili garlic sauce can be found here http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/homemade-chili-.html I used Lili's cooked sauce because with the simmering I expected a more mild flavor. The dish was spicy, but not overwhelming. And I'm not a huge chili fan. In fact I tend to be pretty leery of heat. Which is good since my family is even milder than me. I used a combination of poblano and jalapenos. It was what was fresh at our local farmstand.

Now, I don't have a steamer so I balance a corner of our large colander over the pot and covered it with saran wrap. It worked and I'm excited to venture more into steaming. I also realized I didn't have any fresh ginger or asian noodles so I substituted powdered ginger and whole wheat spaghetti. My problem is that I buy most of the ingredients and then add the recipe to my mental queue, forgetting that I waited on some ingredients planning on buying them at the farmstand or just being indecisive.

The reason I did all this Saturday is because my husband requested an unscheduled day, and so I knew this would keep me busy and at home. Otherwise I sit around until I can't stand it and then need to go somewhere or get grouchy in general. As it was, my good friend called offering raspberries so I ran this dish up and we did lunch and let the kids play. So that evening I came home and made freezer jam. I'm thrilled to have two kinds of jam to choose from first and I'm looking forward to trying Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins with the fresh berries. I should probably go make those. Hope you're all trying new things and enjoying the summer bounty as well.