I always have to have a large industrial sized jar of peanut butter in my fridge. It is a staple, used for everything from on toast, to creating delicious desserts, to snacking on celery with. One of my favorite applications for peanut butter however, is in a dressing, especially one with thai flavors! It is great on a tossed salad with veggies, but I especially love it when paired with noodles! When I used to be a pescatarian, I made one with shrimp and veggies, and it was always something that I loved so much I licked the plate clean. I hadn't made it since becoming a vegetarian, but decided to this week with sauteed chicken style seitan in place of the shrimp. I was going over to my boyfriend Scott's house for dinner and wanted something that could be made a day ahead of time and taste delicious, since I didn't want to cook after work. It was a risk, as he is not a vegetarian and seitan is something that was new to him. But I had confidence that it would be good, afterall, how could anyone resist a silky peanut butter sauce on noodles! I added lots of crunchy local veggies, radishes, snap peas and carrots, with cilantro and scallions. I wanted to add red pepper, but local and organic ones weren't available and I wasn't about to buy an expensive pepper shipped half way around the world that wasn't even organic. I didn't miss the pepper, and there was plenty of veg as was. I laced the dressing with lots of ginger and spicy pepper, and it had a nice kick, spicy enough to warm you up, but not so much that you burn your face off. The salad was satisfying and just as I had remembered it...I even liked the seitan better than the shrimp! Best yet, I got Scott to try seitan. He may not be a vegetarian, but that's alright, at least he eats my food, and in his own words the thai peanut noodles were yummy! Try it for yourself if you are a peanut butter lover like me!
Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken Style Seitan
Serves 2
16 oz chicken style seitan, cut into bite sized pieces
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp tamari
4 oz linguini or other long noodles, cooked and cooled to room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup carrots, cut julienne
1/2 cup radishes, sliced
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh organic cilantro, minced
Dressing:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp tamari
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
sea salt (to taste)
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
In a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, heat peanut oil and add seitan, ginger and garlic, and saute until ginger and garlic are fragrant and cooked, about 3-4 minutes. Add tamari and cook a minute more. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, combine seitan, noodles and veggies. In a medium bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients until smooth, then pour over veggies in the larger bowl. Toss to coat, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve!
