I love asian peanut sauce.  I am always trying to find the perfect version to make at home.  I had made one I was happy with for my Noodles with Zucchini and Carrots with Peanut Sauce.  But I have found a sauce I like even better – from Ellie Krieger’s Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce.  This may be the best one I have tasted.  It is peanutty, but also light.  It is unusual to eat a peanut sauce dish and be able to call it “refreshing”.

I picked the broccoli from the garden.  I am so happy to be able to start using veggies from my garden! We had such a short window for the broccoli – as soon as they started to get size on the heads, the weather turned hot and they would start to flower.  I find that I still enjoy using them in the early flowering stage, the flowers themselves are fairly sweet, so I do not worry about them.

By the way, I planted lima beans, green beans, sweet potato, eggplant and basil today.  The garden is fairly complete.  The next vegetable that will be ready to pick is swiss chard.  Probably later this week.

 Ellie Krieger’s Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce

3/4 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
2 cups (about 9 ounces) broccoli florets (from the garden)
2 cups (about 6 ounces) snow peas, trimmed
2 cups (about 6 ounces) 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
1 scallion, cut into pieces
3/4 inch fresh ginger, finely grated
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shelled unsalted peanuts

Directions

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.

Toast the peanuts in a dry pan over a medium heat until they become fragrant, about 3 minutes. Set them aside to cool, then chop them. (I used unsalted roasted peanuts in the shell, so all I had to do was shell them and chop them).

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.

Right before serving, toss the pasta with 3/4 cup of the peanut sauce.

 

Divide into 6 serving bowls and top each serving with the vegetables. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the vegetables. Sprinkle the peanuts on top and serve. Enjoy!

Serves 4 – 6.