Before I left for Cali, I catered a little cocktail party for my dad and some of his friends. I usually give experiential gifts for the holidays, and now that I have some professional skillz under my belt, my offerings have been seriously upgraded from the days of hug coupons. This year for Hanukkah, my mom got an Instagram and Pinterest lesson, and my dad a Sunday night finger food party.
I took control of the menu for the most part (you have to remember to read the fine print on the back of those coupons). But I did take one request: peanut noodles.
Cara made a version of this sauce for our friend Jordana’s birthday party in 2008. Along with some of my crostini recipes, the peanut noodles became the subject of our first ever post on Big Girls Small Kitchen, and eventually a very important narrative thread in our book.
In my early days of catering, these noodles were served in mini Chinese take-out containers. People went nuts over them, and they made even the biggest banquet table look like it housed a feast. But since I became gluten-free I’ve tried not to serve them too often. For one, putting saucy noodles in those little take-out containers, is a huge pain in the you know what. Second, there is nothing that kills my willpower more than this peanut sauce.
Since it was more or less my party too, I made the sauce with gluten-free tamari (I like this brand), which is an easy enough adjustment. But I felt bad subjecting the guests to gluten-free pasta.
Despite the mandatory tequila shot my dad made everyone take when they arrived, we still ended up with lots of leftovers. But I was secretly relieved to have a small container of peanut sauce to take home with me. After a long week of travel and eating out, there was nothing I wanted more when I got back than a bowl of homemade peanut noodles and 3 episodes of Fashion Police.
This week I’m heading out of town again – but only a quick excursion. I’ll be giving a talk to the Wharton food club on ways to cook smarter, not harder for the busy business school student. If you happen to be in Philly and want to come, let me know!
Xo
Phoebe
Brown Rice Peanut Noodles
Ingredients
- Peanut Sauce
- 1 pound brown rice spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 scallions chopped
- 1 cucumber peeled, seeded, and chopped
Instructions
- Make the Peanut Sauce
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the brown rice spaghetti until al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water. In a large mixing bowl, toss the noodles with the vegetable oil. Add the peanut sauce and toss to combine.
- Spoon the noodles into bowls and garnish with the cucumber and scallions.
This looks ridiculously easy, once you get the ingredients together. Tho I say skip the pasta and just drink the sauce.
I made these noodles for a baby shower yesterday, and they were a big hit! Thank you for the great idea and great option to break out of the normal pasta salad rut.
I love the idea of social media lessons for my parents as apresent. I tried to teach my mom how to use a touch iPod and that did not go so well, maybe that wasn’t her thing. hahaha! I love the idea of brown rice pasta instead. It has great taste and texture. That spicy peanut sauce looks amazing. I want to toss it with some grilled shrimp!
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Looks great! I’ve tried one similar to this from Chic Delish and it is delicious!!
Loved this recipe–thank you!
I’m so glad Cynthia!!
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