Vegan MoFo Day 3!

So here we are at Day 3 of Vegan MoFo and can I just say how much I am loving this?! So our recipe today was a new one we tried from Ann Gentry's cookbook "Vegan Family Meals". If you're in LA than you know Ann as the woman behind a favorite restaurant of mine Real Food Daily, her books is amazing & this was the second recipe we tried from it. Behold Szechuan Noodles with Hot Spicy Peanut Sauce...

RECIPE (Alterations by Joe & Alex in parentheses):

Sauce:
1/4 cup minced fresh ginger (We actually used 2tsp of ground ginger powder that day!)
6 gloves garlic
1/2 tamari (We used soy sauce)
1/2 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup agave
1/4 brown rice vinegar (We used plain (white?) rice vinegar)
1/4 smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup tahini
1 tsp crushed read pepper (We used close to a tablespoon!!!)

Noodles:
1 pound udon noodles (We used capellini (Angel Hair), but we imagine Spaghetti, Linguine, etc. all work fine)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons chopped shelled peanuts (We omitted these)
3 scallions, sliced diagonally
1.5 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (We used regular ones)

Joe minced the garlic super fine (and would have the fresh ginger, if we had some!) with a knife and the mixed all the sauce ingredients in a bowl big enough to hold the pound of cooked pasta.

Then, cook the pasta as usual in salted water with the tablespoon of sesame oil. Stir frequently in first few minutes to prevent the pasta from clumping together.

(Joe: "I've often wondered about the effectiveness of this. Some expert says it makes a big difference, another says it doesn't. When it comes to adding oil to pasta water; who really knows? I think it may offer some improvement, but I doubt it offsets the cost of the sesame oil. Alex: (*sigh*)
You are such a nerd.)

When the pasta is al dente, drain well. Transfer to the bowl with the sauce while hot and mix thoroughly. Add the scallions and sesame oils and mix.

Joe thinks the addition of some fresh cilantro would be nice and also some leafy vegetables, like chopped baby bok choy as well.





[we kinda sucked it up on the pictures for this one guys-sorry!!!]

REVIEW:

Joe: I liked it a lot. It was quick, easy, and reasonably delicious. And I finally found a non-hummus use for the millions of jars of tahini we have in our pantry!

Alex: We have 2 jars-oy! I did NOT like this recipe. It was too peanut buttery for me. I ate probably 5 bites and made Joe take it away. However, the next day, running late for work I grabbed a glass storage container out of our fridge (we try to be green 'round here-yay for glass not plastic!) for my lunch. Starving (not really just hungry) by noon I opened it to find the devilish too peanuty noodles! I popped some in my mouth to stifle the groans from my tummy only to find I really like it cold! Huzzah!

Joe: I really like it cold as well!

Alex: We have decided this dish is far superior when chilled & suggest for those who try it out to serve it cold. I don't know by what magic it turned delicious but boy did it ever! Mmm! :D

Try it out and tell us what you think!