May 11, 2007: Citrus Peanut Noodles

Friday night's dinner was taken from one of my favourite food blogs, 28 Cooks. Fiber posted this recipe for Citrus Peanut Noodles on Tuesday - within hours I'd bookmarked it; a day later I had the ingredients; three days from posting it was on our table! We doubled the sauce recipe so that we had plenty of flavour to coat some sugar snap peas, julienned zucchini and carrot as well as the noodles. We actually ate it warm on Friday night, but it proved to be just as tasty cold for a picnic lunch on Saturday. There's still more to be enjoyed as a work lunch on Monday! The sauce is very much like a light satay so you know it'll get your tastebuds jumping. Even better, the orange zest adds something entirely new: aromatic, sweet and a little bit tangy.

Citrus Peanut Noodles

250g noodles
1 carrot
1 zucchini
1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons sesame oil
4 teaspoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons chilli sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
zest and juice of two oranges
4 teaspoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons peanut butter
a good handful of coriander leaves, rinsed and chopped

Cook the noodles until tender, then drain. Chop the carrot and zucchini into matchsticks, get those fibrous little strings off the peas, then briefly stir-fry them all with the garlic. Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, chilli sauce, lime juice, orange zest and juice, ginger and peanut butter in a food processor until smooth.

Get a hefty bowl and gently combine the lot: noodle, veges, sauce and coriander leaves. Serve with pretty salad tongs and a big appetite!