Udon Noodles with Edamame Pesto

After our success with some of the America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks I mentioned, I still have a backlog of recipes from my first round of trying.  However, true to form, I couldn’t help but put holds on every one I thought interesting at the library.  I tend to go a bit overboard on these kind of things.  So,  now we have even more to delightfully consume and share.  This was a great vegetarian option although you could easily add some chicken or even fish (if you’re into that sort of thing…).  I generally am quite pleased with anything pesto-related, and this wasn’t any different.

As you can see, we were a little lazy about cutting our asparagus down prior to eating, but it would have cut down on having to do that pesky stop and cut into manageable bites thing had we done it in advance.  Our only change for next time was that our package of Udon noodles were thin and came with 3 “bundles” of noodles, and so following the recipe, we only used two.  Nevertheless, we both felt there was enough pesto to actually cover all three bundles which would just make for a delicious lunch for Corrie the next day.

Udon Noodles with Edamame Pesto

• 8 ounces frozen edamame, thawed
• 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 2 (9-ounce) packages fresh udon noodles
• 1 pound thin, asparagus, trimmed and cut on bias into 1 1/2-inch lengths

Bring 4 quarts of water (no salt) to boil in large pot.  Process edamame, parsley, cilantro, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.  Transfer to small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add noodles and asparagus to boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles and asparagus are tender, about 4 minutes.  Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and asparagus and return them to pot.

Stir pesto into pot with noodles.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and add reserved cooking water as necessary to adjust consistency.  Serve.

Recipe Source: America’s Test Kitchen Simple Weeknight Favorites

Spicy Peanut Noodles

My friend Brooke and I were enjoying a lovely lunch at Jimmy John’s (salt and vinegar chips on the vegetarian, I’m like yes) discussing the finer points of life, the impending birth of her sure-to-be adorable Valentine’s baby, and oh, yeah, how annoying it can be to make meat based meals.  Chicken particularly requires just too much effort some days.  First you buy, then often have to freeze, then you have to know at least a day ahead of time that you want to start defrosting it, then it’s probably still 1/2 frozen, then you freeze your hands off trying to clean off nasty stuff, then you have to sanitize everything, then you have to be completely paranoid that it’s completely cooked through. ICK.  Thank God, most days, my darling husband will immediately start on the chicken while I’m doing other parts of the recipe, because he knows that I hate it. #yesiknowhowgoodihaveit #spoiled

I have a thing for peanut noodles, and we actually made another recipe this week that was freaking awesome that will also be shared shortly.  In the meantime, this version was also pretty darn delicious and chock full of veggies.  My only change is that next time I would increase the peanut butter and decrease the water slightly to add a little more body to the sauce which is reflected below.  The original version had chicken, and well, that didn’t quite happen for reasons aforementioned, but I don’t think either of us missed it!

 

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Dressing Ingredients: 

• 5 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 minced serrano chile, seeds and ribs removed
• 1/3 cup peanuts

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 cup julienned red and yellow pepper
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed in a paper towel to remove excess moisture
• 1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 8 oz. cooked soba noodles or linguine
• 2-3 Tbsp. minced fresh basil
• 2-3 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Combine all the dressing ingredients, except peanuts, in a food processor and puree until smooth.  Add the peanuts, and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped.  Season with salt and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the dressing to the salad ingredients, and toss to combine.

Top with cilantro and basil before serving.

Very slightly adapted recipe discovered at Pink Parsley

Pork Fried Rice with Pineapple

Before we left Knoxville, I was working my way through two stacks of recipes from America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks.  We had a lot of success with several recipes and they were relatively fast and easy.  I have amassed a huge stack of recipes to work down (which will never happen since I add to it pretty much daily), but the Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated recipes are usually so good that it won’t be long before I’m adding another cookbook to my list…

The only change I made here was I’m realizing I’m not an enormous fan of hoisin sauce, so I had decreased the quantity and replaced it with additional soy sauce, brown sugar, and a little additional sesame oil.  If you like hoisin, leave the recipe as is.

Initially I wasn’t sure about the pineapple even though pork and pineapple go well together, but it made the dish so don’t leave it out!

 

Makes 4 servings

• 2 boneless center cut pork chops (about 1 pound), cut into ½-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce
• 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 6 scallions, white parts sliced thin, green parts cut into ½-inch pieces
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ¼ cup hoisin sauce
• 1 8-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained and chopped, 3 tablespoons juice reserved
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 (8.8-ounce) packages Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice (see note below)

Combine pork, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and chili-garlic sauce in bowl.  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Add pork mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, about 3 minutes.  Transfer to bowl.

Add remaining oil to pan and cook scallion whites until just softened, about one minute.  Add eggs and cook, stirring vigorously, until scrambled, about one minute.  Transfer to bowl with pork.

Add hoisin sauce, pineapple chunks, reserved pineapple juice, sesame oil, remaining soy sauce, and rice to empty pan and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.  Stir in scallion greens and pork and egg mixture and toss until heated through, about 1 minute.  Serve.

Test Kitchen Note: Two cups of leftover white or brown rice can be substituted for the Uncle Ben’s.

Recipe source: America’s Test Kitchen The Best Simple Recipes

Mongolian Beef(Chicken) and Broccoli

I had originally planned on making this with beef; however, I thought I had some in the freezer, and I didn’t so I used chicken instead.   It was still delicious, so I think other than the fact that I’d like to try this with beef, I would also let the sauce reduce down even further to become even more syrupy since I’m a strange bird and that’s how I like it!

Mongolian Chicken and Broccoli

Adapted from Love and Olive Oil/Dinner and Dessert

• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 lb. flank steak or chicken, sliced or cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 large green onions, chopped
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped (supposed to be microwaved for 2 minutes but I skipped this as I like my vegetables with some bite left)

Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Then add the ginger and garlic taking care to add the soy sauce and water before the garlic burns.  Add the brown sugar and stir to dissolve.  Raise heat slightly and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.

I didn’t do this section….Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4″ thick bite-size slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

Heat oil in a wok or large skillet until it just begins to ripple but isn’t smoking.  Add the chicken/beef and cook  on both sides until browned.  Next add the onions (and broccoli if you didn’t steam it; otherwise add at the end until heated through) and sauté for 2-3 minutes.   Pour the sauce  in and cook until thickened to taste.  Serve over rice if desired.

Cashew Chicken

Well my camera can’t decide if it wants to die or not.  For a couple weeks I couldn’t actually get it to take a picture hence the ugly flash picture below, now it’s back to working…who knows?  Indecisive…not that I can ever be that way.

This was good, I ended up taking the suggestion of doubling the sauce but wish I had also added another vegetable such as broccoli to the dish, both of these changes are reflected below.

Cashew Chicken

Adapted from Dinner & Dessert (originally from William-Sonoma/Amber’s Delectable Delights)

• 5 Tbsp. soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)
• 2 Tbsp. rice wine or dry sherry
• 2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into chunks
• 1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 1/2 Tbsp.  canola oil
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup salted cashews
• 1 cup broccoli florets, steamed
• Steamed rice

Combine together the chicken, 2 Tbsp. of soy sauce, sherry, and ginger.  Let sit for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, stir together water, remaining soy sauce, Worcestershire, sesame oil, sugar, honey, and cornstarch in a small bowl.

Heat wok or large pan over high heat.  Once hot, add 2 Tbsp. of canola oil.  Drain the chicken well and then place in the pan to stir-fry until cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the pan, and reduce heat to medium.  Add the remaining 1 Tbs. corn oil then the broccoli and green onions.  Once you can smell the green onions (20 seconds or less), add the chicken, cornstarch mixture and the cashews to the pan, allowing the sauce to reduce for 1-2 minutes.

Serve over steamed rice.

Szechuan Noodles

As a ‘good’ little Lebanese girl I like hummus, but like any food, it definitely has to be made correctly.  I’ve had some horrible hummus in my day.   I’ve recently started making my own more and more so now, I always end up with tahini in the cupboard, and this seemed like a perfect way to incorporate it into something else!  We both enjoyed it.

Szechuan Noodles

A Barefoot Contessa recipe via Annie’s Eats

• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp. hot chili oil
• 1 tbsp. dark sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

• 1 lb. thin spaghetti (I used a thicker noodle per Corrie’s request that night, but we both agreed it would be delicious with thin, which is usually my preference.)
• 2 bell peppers (red, orange or yellow), julienned
• 4 scallions, sliced diagonally

Using a food processor, pulse the garlic and ginger until finely minced.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add in the remaining dressing ingredients and pulse until smooth.

Cook the pasta until al dente in a big pot of boiling salted water.  Drain and then, while warm, toss the pasta with 3/4 of the sauce.  Add the bell peppers and scallions and mix to combine.  You can serve it warm or at room temperature, adding more sauce as needed.

Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Peanut Pasta

When Corrie drives home there’s always this ridiculous spot that slows to a crawl for no reason.  Once past the spot, traffic resumes as normal…usually.  However, on the night I made this, my perfectly planned (for once) timing was for naught when it took him an extra 45 minutes to get home.  At first I thought the dressing had gotten thicker, because I had chilled it, but I also think it was attributable to failing to read the original post and only reading the actual recipe.  Ree (the Pioneer Woman Cooks) says in her post that you’re supposed to use the less flavorful sesame oil and that you’re supposed to drizzle it over the pasta to coat to keep it from sticking while it cools, but the recipe probably assumes people are smart enough to think of that on their own…no comment.

Nevertheless, now that I have a couple new ‘tricks’ I want to try next time I make this, I would definitely say I’ll make it again – even without because I tasted it and made a few modifications, it was pretty darn tasty.  Especially if I can find the red chile oil, which, for whatever reason, I wasn’t able to find the time I went looking for it.

Note:  This recipe makes a ton, so if you’re only two people like us, you may want to halve it!

Spicy Peanut Pasta

Found at: Pioneer Woman

• 1 1/2 lbs. linguine (or any thicker pasta noodle)
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 cup chunky peanut butter (I used smooth, because it’s what I had on hand…)
• 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 4 -  5 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 6 tbsp. brown sugar
• 3 tsp. red chile oil (updated 10/27/09 – made this yesterday WITH the chili oil, and it was still good but a little too much kick at 1-2 tbsp.; I would add a little then taste it to see what your preference is!)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup sesame oil (can also use 1/2 cup olive oil)  THIS IS THE “LESS FLAVORFUL” STUFF – aka not the small bottle
• 1 – 2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil – the “flavorful” stuff
• 1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced

Cook and drain linguine.  Drizzle with the less flavorful sesame oil to keep it from sticking, and set it aside to cool to room temperature.

In a blender or food processor, combine garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, and brown sugar, and pulse until smooth.   Then, if you can find it, add the chile oil and pulse again until smooth.  Then leaving the blender or food processor running, drizzle in the other oils through the “hole” in the top until the mixture is smooth enough to be poured.  If you’ve added all the oils and still no luck, add some water to thin it to the desired consistency.  If you’re not eating the pasta right away, chill the dressing seperately until you’re ready to eat.  Once you’re ready, combine the pasta, dressing (add slowly until you have enough to properly coat, but I didn’t end up using all my dressing), cilantro, and green onions.

“Healthy” Sesame Chicken

At some point I need to adopt a healthy eating plan.  This was going to be my start last week, but its been downhill since then.  There’s always tomorrow.   And when I get that going, I’d definitely make this again; tasty and simple!  I think next time I would add some vegetables for an additional crunch, maybe some snow pea pods or broccoli.

Sesame Chicken

Found at Mrs. D Loves to Eat; originally from Martha Stewart

• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 2 tbsp. sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Mix together honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce and garlic in a small bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together egg whites and flour then add the chicken to this bowl seasoning with salt and pepper.  Mix to throughly coat the chicken with the egg/flour mixture.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Once hot, add half the chicken or whatever you can without crowding the pan.  Cook for 3-4 minutes then flip the chicken pieces over and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through.  Remove that chicken and repeat if needed for another batch.  If not, leave the cooked chicken in the pan and add the honey/sesame seed mixture and the scallions and mix together.

Serve with vegetables or over rice.

Asian Noodle Salad

As soon as I saw this salad on Pioneer Woman Cooks.   I knew I was going to have to try my hand at it because it just looked super yummy, and turns out…it was!

This was great the night of but I also really enjoyed it “refrigerator cold” the next day for lunch.

Again, sorry for the afterthought picture of an entree…I’ll get better one of these days? At least this time I did remember to take a picture!

Other than the fact that I slightly altered amounts of vegetables, hot pepper, etc. to my own tastes I pretty much followed the recipe as it is so I’m just going to link you here.  Ignore the fact that I didn’t have Napa cabbage or spinach in my salad; the grocery store apparently runs out at 8 PM on a Sunday…