Louanne's Kitchen: Ina's Garden...Szechaun Noodles

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Ina's Garden...Szechaun Noodles

Wow! Two weeks have passed since my last post? Time just gets away from me – we’ve been busy with school, meetings, work, fantasy football drafts – you name it, it’s on our agenda. However, I am quite happy that I took the time to search Ina Garten’s vast collection of recipes to find the subject of today’s post – Szechuan Noodles.

Delicious! Easy! Gluten-free! Actually, Ina’s recipe used spaghetti, but I subbed in cellophane noodles. What I love most about this recipe is the versatility. My veggie mix consisted of snow peas, red, yellow, and orange peppers, and green onions, but you can certainly use your favorite mix. In fact, one recipe I found used asparagus, which would not only be delicious but gorgeous, too. If you wanted to add protein, you could toss in some tofu, chicken, or shrimp. I brought the leftovers to the office for my staff to try, and all I heard at lunch was mmms, aaahhhs, and requests for the recipe. I will make this again and again, in fact, I’m making it for our Labor day family cookout to go along with teriyaki chicken.

All of the Ina's Garden hosts - April at The 21st Century Housewife, Chaya at Bizzy B. Bakes, Yummy Chunklet at Yummychunklet, Mia at Bright Morning Star, and yours truly - hope all of you will join us for our Indian Summer linky party – choose a summer or fall recipe! How easy is that? If you can't cook along with us this go round, please join us on September 15, for Cooking in Comfort, when you can link any of Ina’s comfort food recipes. Mac & Cheese? Chicken Pot Pie? Lasagna? I can’t wait to see what everyone makes!

Szechaun Noodles

1 pound spaghetti (I used cellophane noodles)
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned

1 cup snow peas, sliced diagonally
4 scallions, sliced diagonally

Sauce ingredients

6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (Subbed a pinch of powdered ginger)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce (LaChoy is gluten-free)
1/4 cup dry sherry (Subbed water)
1/4 cup sherry vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
1/4 cup honey (Subbed agave nectar)
1/2 teaspoon hot chili oil (Subbed chili garlic sauce)
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Prepare sauce by placing ingredients in a food processor or blender; puree until smooth and set aside until ready to use.

Julienne peppers, slice snow peas and green onions and set aside.

Cook spaghetti or rice noodles according to package directions. When cooked, drain and toss with 1/2 of the sauce; add peppers, pea pods, and green onions. Serve warm or at room temperature.