Spicy Soba Noodles

It's odd cooking for myself. I can make two recipes last the entire week...weird. Maybe I'm too simple of a person that when I enjoy eating something, I enjoy it over and over and over again. Or maybe I'm just the laidback and less invested in food than I think I am. Either way, it's been a learning experience so far, about how to cook for one. It can be...challenging. I'm not great at cutting portion sizes on recipes and I don't think they ever turn out correctly when you try to reduce/double a recipe. I'd rather just leave it as it's intended and have lots leftover! That totally ended up being the case for this dinner and I kept eating this for over a week, sometimes for lunch and dinner. I'm not sure I buy 8-10 serving sizes.... I think I had it last even longer than that! Haha!



But it didn't bother me to eat it so much - this recipe is good. Like really really good. Between the soba noodles (love!) and the peanut sauce, I was sold on eating this so often. It was a great meal for my first week without Will because a bunch of things came up (wolf spiders in the apartment, shelves falling off walls, sick kitties), so it worked out well that I had a big batch of dinner on hand each night when I got home. It made it totally worth the amount of time I invested in making it on that first Monday! It had enough veggies to make me feel healthy, despite being slathered in peanut sauce. It's an absolute must-try!

Cooking Notes: I used a creamy peanut butter, instead of a crunchy just to ensure the smoothest sauce possible. I also used chicken tenders (not breasts) and filled out my lack of chicken with a can of chickpeas, just so I wouldn't use all the chicken I had on hand. I didn't want to take away from the substance of the dish too much, so I thought chickpeas would be a great way to fill it out. I only used 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil and substituted rice vinegar for white vinegar. I tossed in 2 cloves of garlic, since I like it so much and a whole jalapeno (not a half like it calls for).




Spicy Soba Noodles (adapted from Pinch of Yum; serves 8-10)
4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken tenders
1 each red, green and orange bell pepper
8 oz. (250 grams) soba noodles
5 tbsp peanut butter
5 tbsp water
5 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, destemmed and seeds removed
1/2 cup peanuts
Fresh cilantro, to top

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then place the chicken in and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Allow to cool and then shred with two forks, in a bowl. Set aside. Cut up the bell peppers into very thin strips, almost the size of noodles in width. Toss in with chicken.

In a food processor, add the peanut butter, water, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, garlic and jalapeno. Puree until smooth, then add the peanuts, pulsing until desired consistency is reached (totally smooth or a few little peanut chunks).

Cook the soba noodles, drain and then toss in with chicken and veggies. Pour spicy peanut sauce over the top and mix well. Add cilantro and serve hot or cold (cold is way better). Enjoy!

Recipe: Pinch of Yum: Spicy Peanut Chicken Soba Noodle Salad