VEGGIE PEANUT NOODLES
Serves: 3-4
Kosher salt
10 oz. broccoli florets (approximately 3-4 cups)
9 oz. (3 packages) instant ramen noodles, seasoning mix discarded
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
½ cup peanut butter
⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon honey, or sugar
Optional toppings:
thinly sliced scallions
chopped cilantro
more sriracha
chopped toasted peanuts
toasted sesame seeds
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water heats, chop the broccoli into florets (about 1 inch sized, or no bigger than your thumb).
Next, make the peanut sauce: in a large liquid measuring cup combine the peanut butter, low sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha and honey. Add a tablespoon of water and use a fork or narrow whisk to whisk everything together. If your peanut butter is very thick, you can continue to add additional tablespoons of water, one at a time, stirring to incorporate, until you have achieved a saucy consistency.
Finally, prep any toppings you want to add onto your noodles: we chopped scallions and cilantro and roasted salted peanuts so they were ready to go.
When the water is boiling, add the broccoli, then the cup of frozen edamame, then the ramen noodles. Cook for 2 minutes, until the broccoli and edamame are lightly blanched and the noodles are cooked but retain their chewy texture. Drain everything and rinse with cold water. Shake the colander to remove excess water. Dump the noodles and veggies into a serving bowl (or back into your pasta pot, if you’re not being fancy) and pour in half of the prepared peanut sauce and toss together to coat. Add more sauce to your liking and serve right away, topped with the fresh herbs, chopped nuts, sesame seeds and a few more drizzles of sriracha, if you like things spicy. Enjoy immediately.
Bulk it up: between the peanut butter, peanuts and edamame, there’s plenty of protein in this recipe as is. However, if you wanted more you could add baked or fried tofu, steamed shrimp or cooked chicken.
These are terrific right away but the leftovers also taste great cold out of the fridge.
This recipe is by Caroline Chambers, who writes the substack What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking and the cookbook of the same name. If you like this recipe, you can find her on instagram: @carochambers
BEVERAGE PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:
More and more these days, a weeknight meal means a mocktail. A little refresher to whet the whistle while still keeping enough energy in the tank to change the sheets and “finish” the laundry (big air quotes on that one). Our favorite mocktail comes from the good folks at Fever Tree who make a Light Ginger Beer that’s super spicy and flavorful. We like to pour it over ice with a big squeeze of lime. If we have any fresh mint, we might also add a sprig or two because why not? The key to mocktails being fun is to give them the same respect as the real thing. Garnish away!
If you however are looking to pair this with wine (zero judgment from us!) our go to with this would be a slightly fizzy, lightly sweet sparkling wine. The Mary Taylor Frizzante comes from the Veneto region in Italy and its low abv makes it the perfect bottle to pop on a weeknight. Pale yellow colored with a fine bead, this wine opens with aromas of juicy citrus and honeysuckle. On the palate it’s fresh and fun, with flavors of ripe melon and apple backed by honey-touched finish. This is a delightful wine to pair with spicy, Asian-inspired fare like these noodles, Thai takeout or spicy sushi rolls.
Beer would be a killer match with these as well – anything light and crispy would do, but our go-to pairing is actually a non-alcoholic option. It’s no secret for us in the wine and beer department that N/A as a category is on fire right now and the options have never been better. One of our favorite zero proof brews is the Notch Brewing Non-Alcoholic Pilsner. A Czech-style pils that’s equal parts crisp, herbal and hoppy, this craft brew gives us all of the flavor with none of the booze and we love that.