Wednesday Dinner #12- Sesame Hot Noodles

Christmas has supplied me with a few shiny new cookbooks, which has renewed my enthusiasm for cooking. I'm particularly excited about making stuff from "The Vegetarian Bible." It's got lots of little guides in it on how to handle different types of food, and really beautiful photographs. Best of all, there isn't that much overlap between it and my other vegetarian recipe book.

Since I work on Wednesdays now, it's become imperative to have dinners that are fast and easy. This noodle recipe totally qualifies. I wasn't totally thrilled with how the Sauce came out, but I think a few quick changes could really improve it. It could also be really great as a salad dressing.


What got me really excited to try this one was the fact that it used peanut butter. I like Thai food, and they tend to use peanuts a lot. The combination of that, spiciness and delicious sesame really lured me in. This serves 4.

1 lb pasta
3Tbsp sunflower oil
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 garlic clove, crushed (though I like things garlicky, I added another 2)
1 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 small green chilli, seeded and chopped
3 Tbsp sesame seeds
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp lime juice
salt and pepper
4 Tbsp cilantro

1. Cook the pasta
2. Mix the oils, garlic and peanut butter until smooth
3. Add the chilli, sesame seeds, and soy sauce.
4. Add lime juice.
5. Season w/ salt and pepper to taste.

6. Drain pasta and toss with the dressing and the cilantro.
7. Eat.



My main complaint with this sauce it that it wasn't spicy enough for me. I think there are a few ways to remedy this. You could use a bigger green chilli, or a stronger variety of pepper. Or, you could heat up the sauce a little to try and bring out the flavors. I did notice, eating my leftovers at work the next day, that microwaving did seem to make tastier.

Overall, I give this guy a B+. A+ for easiness. B- for taste. Plus extra credit points for the peanut butter.