Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Snow Peas

I had a lot of rice vermicelli noodles leftover from this soup, so I took another stab at creating a peanut sauce that I like a lot, and this one came out pretty nicely! Sugar snap peas also work for this.

I think I'll try to spice it up a little next time by adding a little chili sauce or crushed red pepper.

Serves 6. Serve warm or cold.

Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Snow Peas

Ingredients

1 8oz package rice vermicelli noodles
3 cups snow peas, trimmed
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

For the peanut sauce

3/4 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
1 14oz can coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 limes, juiced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Peanuts, roughly chopped, for topping
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the snow peas for about 20 seconds then remove them with a slotted spoon and run cold water over them. Bring the water back to a boil and cook the rice vermicelli noodles according to package.

2. Meanwhile, make the peanut sauce by stirring all of the ingredients together over medium heat until combined. Simmer for a few minutes until thick.

3. Drain the rice vermicelli and mix well with the peanut sauce. Mix in the cilantro and green onions and top with chopped peanuts.



Gettin' saucy:

Peanut Lime Noodles

I made this Food Network recipe for Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce (such a fancy name!) the other night and realized that my battles with soy do not end with tofu. Any ideas for good alternatives to soy sauce?

Despite that - I really liked this peanut sauce. It wasn't too thick or too thin, it was, well, just right (I just wrote a 10 page paper comparing three different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, so that's what is running through my brain right now).

Although I love veggies and practically add about a pound of them into every recipe I make, this recipe overloads the veggies quite a bit, so I cut those in half for the recipe. I also wasn't thrilled about the noodles I used because I couldn't find those clearish Pad Thai noodles, but overall, this was pretty tasty and fed me for a few days. I think the lime is really important, especially for eating the leftovers, so I'd get a few more of those to keep adding it on.

Ingredients

14 oz Pad Thai noodles
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup snow peas, trimmed
1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus extra to taste
1 scallion, chopped
3/4 inch fresh ginger, finely grated
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shelled unsalted peanuts
salt

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of water according to the directions on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water. While the pasta is cooking put the broccoli in a steamer basket over a large pot of boiling water and steam it for 3 minutes. Add the snow peas and sugar snap peas and steam for 2 minutes more.

2. Make the sauce by pureeing the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar, lime juice, scallion, ginger, sugar and red pepper flakes in a food processor or blender until smooth.

3. Right before serving, toss the pasta with the peanut sauce and vegetables. Chop the peanuts and add into the noodles. Squeeze extra lime juice onto the noodles and add salt to taste.

Brownies with Chocolate and Peanut Butter Frosting

My sister came over for dinner on Sunday night and while I was still trying to figure out what to make for dessert, we both talked about having cravings for Friendly's Reeses peanut butter cup sundaes. You know those delicious little prepackaged sundaes where the chocolate and peanut butter topping looks a little bit, or a lot, like plastic? Mmmm. So I did a search on Epicurious of "peanut butter" and "chocolate" and came up with this recipe for Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies with Salted Peanuts. They were good, but by the time we had finished eating dinner, we were too stuffed to eat all 30 brownies. Darn. So if you haven't had any yet, and you'd like some, I still have about 20 or so left.

I don't have a lot of patience for cutting baked goods into squares, so they came out a lot more rugged looking than the photo on Epicurious, but unless you're really trying to impress someone, does it matter?

Lastly, I don't mess around with ingredients or instructions in baking recipes, so this one is pretty much straight from Epicurious. I think the salted peanuts in the brownies could be made optional, they were fairly peanut buttery as is.

Ingredients

Brownies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped

Frosting and ganache

1 cup chunky peanut butter (the bad for you kind, not the natural kind)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
For brownies:
Preheat oven to 325 and place oven rack in the center. Line 13x9 baking pan with foil, leaving a long overhang on each side; butter foil.
Place 3/4 cup butter in heavy large saucepan. Add both chocolates. Stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt, then eggs, 1 at a time. Fold in flour, then nuts. Place mixture in pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Cool brownies for a while.
For frosting and ganache
Using electric mixer or food processor, beat peanut butter and 1/4 cup butter until blended. Beat in powdered sugar, salt, and nutmeg, then milk and vanilla. After the brownies have cooled, spread the peanut butter mixture over them.
Stir chocolate and 1/4 cup butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Drop ganache all over frosting; spread to cover. Chill for about 1 1/2 hours.
Using foil, pull brownies out of the pan and cut into squares.