noodles with lime peanut sauce

As requested by Paula, here is the recipe for the great dinner we made on Friday night.  When your amazing hairdresser asks you to do something - you better do it!!  The recipe is another great one from my The Food You Crave cookbook by Ellie Krieger.  This book is quickly becoming one of my faves and I recommend it to anyone looking to eat a bit healthier without sacrificing any of your comfort foods.

Aromatic Noodles with Lime-Peanut Sauce

(this makes enough for a family so feel free to cut as need be)

3/4 box spinach linguine or whole-wheat spaghetti

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups snow peas, trimmed

2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup water

2 tbsps rice vinegar

2 tbsps fresh lime juice

1 scallion (white and green parts), cut into pieces

One 1/4 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 tbsps firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, plus more to taste

Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse under cold running water.

While the pasta is cooking, put the broccoli in a steamer basket over a large pot of boiling water and steam for 3 minutes.  Add the snow peas and snap peas and steam for 2 minutes more until all the vegetables are crisp and tender.

Toast the peanuts in a small dry skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Set aside to cool.

Make the sauce by pureeing the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar, lime juice, scallion, ginger, brown sugar and red pepper until smooth.

Right before serving, toss the pasta with 3/4 cup of the peanut sauce.  Top each serving with vegetables.  Drizzle the remaining sauce over the vegetables.  Coarsely chop the peanuts, sprinkle them on top, and serve.

We paired this with a side of those frozen spring rolls that you can get from any Asian grocery store and used the rest of the peanut sauce as a dip for them and it was brilliant.