looking for spice...in spicy peanut sesame noodles with chicken

A year after my roommates and I moved into our place, one of my roommates decided it was time to pack up and move out to live the suburban dream. After months of making fun of our little suburbanite, we quickly realized we'd need a replacement ASAP! After weeks of searching, we interviewed a quirky optometrist with a killer smile. And by interview I mean meet up at a diner in Jersey and ask all sorts of inappropriate questions. Yes, it's important that I know just how many chicks my new roommate will be bringing home per week, and if he can change a lightbulb. For the record, I've been blessed with two incredible roommates who have become my best friends, supporters, sous chefs, cleaner-uppers and co-parents to my amazing dog. Any way, Brandon (the killer smile kid) is a pescetarian. What's that mean, you ask? Well, he's vegetarian with the exception of fish. Not only is he pescetarian, but he's also lactose intolerant (lactarded, as he puts it.) This new cooking venture of mine took a turn for the interesting, when I realized I wanted ALL of my friends to try out my dishes and Brandon couldn't try most. I began researching to find interesting dishes that we could all enjoy. What'd I come up with? Spicy peanut sesame noodles........with chicken on the side (for the carnivores. and by carnivores I mean me.)

Now let me just say this dish should really be a staple recipe in everyones kitchen. People will love it! Unless you're allergic to peanuts, in which case...sorry, bro. 

What you'll need:

1 box of linguine 

1 large boneless chicken breast (carnivores)

1 Tbs. sesame oil

2 Tsp. chili oil

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 Tbs. soy sauce

2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

1/4 cup peanut or canola oil

3 Tbs. water

2 Tbs. minced garlic

3 scallions, chopped (about a cup) 

If you're using chicken in this dish, bring it to a boil in a large pot of water over high heat. When the water boils and the chicken is fully cooked, let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then remove from the water. In another pot, bring a box of linguine to a boil. Once it's thoroughly cooked, drain and rinse the pasta in cold water until cool. Throw the pasta back in the pot and add 1 Tsp. of sesame oil. 

In the meantime, add all of the ingredients except for the scallions in a mixing bowl. If the sauce is too thick, feel free to add more water to create a consistency that's perfect for you. 

As you can see in the above picture, once I mixed the ingredients together and gave it a taste, I realized it could use some more heat so I added another Tsp. of chili oil. Yes, this is what I see when I'm cooking (no, not the smiley face in my bowl. although how awesome is that!? not done on purpose!) Lucy, my kind of useless sous chef. 

Once you've tasted your sauce (don't worry if it tastes too salty, it'll balance out with the pasta) and found it to be absolute yummy perfection, go ahead and put it into your pot of pasta. 

Going back to the chicken, shred it and mix it into the pasta. 

Once you've done that, throw in the scallions and garlic.

Toss to combine and plate this baby, garnishing it with sesame seeds. Brandon ended up loving the dish and I've already packed some away for him to take to work tomorrow. We're cute, I know. I actually ended up doubling the recipe for the sauce, as I thought it was too dry at first. Once I added more sauce to the pasta, it came out to the perfect creamy consistency and was so, so good! 

Lucy won with this dish too, as I had leftover shredded chicken and not much to do with it. Now, as I look over at my sleepy dog and full-tummied roommate; I have to worry about the exceptionally evil looking pile of dishes in the sink waiting for me. 

Until my next adventure...

xx,

ronit