Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce & Bang Bang Chicken

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted.....the cold I thought I was getting the last time I posted turned into a full blown flu and I spent the rest of the month too sick to think about eating, much less cooking.  I managed to get to work and cope with busy days, but found I had little appetite.  Throw in a few nights of Emily out babysitting and it became a multi-day stint of convince cooking and subsistence.  Thank goodness Emily can prepare herself a basic meal or two.
Anyway, I survived and even got my voice back, finally.  Yikes, this was one nasty bug.  Glad it's over.
Sunday I was scrolling through my emails when Emily glanced over to see what I was doing.  Being anti-social and reading email on my phone, of course.  I needed to go to church, but by the time I got there I was feeling like I should have taken another day on the couch.  Oh well.
One of the emails showed a series of recipes.  Emily pointed to the one titled "Bang Bang Chicken" and declared that was what she was making for dinner the following day.  I gave it a quick once over and decided it was doable.  Turns out she thought it was "Big Bang Chicken", as a nod to the TV show.
Later that afternoon I asked her what she was making to go with her chicken.  "Noodles with sauce," she informed me.  I probed further- what kind of sauce?  I wanted to steer her to something complimentary.  "The kind you eat," she told me.  Damn.  She's becoming fluent in sarcasm & throwing my lines back at me.
I found I was thinking spicy peanut sauce, so I did a little digging and found a recipe.  It had vegetables in it too, so that was one less decision to make.  Emily thought it sounded good, so I made a quick trip to the grocery store.
When I got home from work I suggested to Emily she prepare the sauce for her noodles first, and set it aside, and then start on her chicken.  While she measured peanut butter, soy sauce, water, rice vinegar & line juice into the blender I chopped a couple of scallions for her and peeled and grated a chunk of fresh ginger.  As she measured in the final ingredients I started chopping the broccoli and trimming snap peas to add to the pasta.  While the recipe directs the vegetables to be steamed separately and spooned on top of individual servings of noodles I told Emily we were going to save one pot and add the vegetables to the pasta when it was almost done.
While we waited for the water to boil I showed her what size to cut the chicken breasts into and helped her created her batter.  I advised her to batter & bread all the chicken and then cook it.  Once the chicken was done she dumped the whole bowlful into the hot oil.  I was doing dishes but quickly found some tongs and removed most of it, explaining she needed to cook a few pieces at a time.  She was sure she had ruined dinner, but I encouraged her, it's a mistake anyone could make, but crowding the pan is never a good idea.  She kept frying and I prepared the sauce for her, combining mayonnaise, chili sauce, honey and hot sauce.
Before long dinner was done.  I think Emily needs a few more lessons in timing, but her meal was good, and was equally delicious for lunch several times this week.  There was only enough chicken for lunch on Tuesday, but the noodles were certainly a meal in themselves.
As you can see it was too good to wait and take a picture!

Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce

3/4 lb spinach linguine or whole wheat spaghetti          2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 cups broccoli florets                                                    2 tablespoons lime juice

2 cups snow peas                                                            1 scallion, cut into pieces

2 cups sugar snap peas                                                    3/4" piece fresh ginger, grated

1/2 cup peanut butter                                                       2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce                                                            1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup water                                                                   1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  In the final few minutes add the broccoli and then the peas, or steam them separately.  Drain and rinse the noodles.

Toast the peanuts in a dry pan over medium heat, about three minutes, until they are fragrant.

Prepare the sauce by pureeing together the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar, lime juice, scallions, ginger, sugar and red pepper flakes until smooth.

Just before serving toss the pasta and vegetables with the sauce.  Top with the toasted peanuts (chop them if desired).

Bang Bang Chicken

1 cup buttermilk                            1 tablespoon hot sauce

3/4 cup flour                                  salt & pepper, to taste

1/2 cup cornstarch                          1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1" cubes

1 egg                                               1 cup Panko/bread crumbs

Sauce:

1/4 cup mayonnaise                       1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce      2 teaspoons hot sauce

Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

Whisk together the buttermilk, flour, cornstarch, egg, hot sauce, salt & pepper.  Heat about 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Dip chicken pieces in buttermilk mixture then into the breadcrumbs, pressing to coat. 

Working in batches add the chicken to the skillet and cook until evenly golden and crispy.  Transfer to a paper towel lined plate,  

Serve immediately, drizzled with   the sauce, or serve the sauce on the side for dipping.                                      

 

Carrot Soup (Four Ingredient Lentil Soup)

Ah, February.  Groundhog Day, my birthday, Valentine's Day, the heart of mid-winter, the midst of cold & flu season, much maligned, February.  Incidentally, I did not see my shadow on Groundhog Day (my birthday, and so I have long considered myself an honourary Groundhog) so we should have an early spring.  Never mind that I leave the house before sun up.  As it happens I did not see my shadow when I was out & about later in the day either.  Gusty Chinook winds had blown clouds across the sky, so it was warm, if not sunny. Much as I have a tender spot in my heart for February I will not be sorry to see winter bid us adieu for another year.

Emily wasn't sure what she wanted to cook this week when I asked her.  Feeling rather bleary myself, settling full into the cold she had brought home from school I suggested this soup, or perhaps baked potato soup.  She quickly opted for this one.  I was pleased.  It is quick to make, easy and sounded like just the thing to ease my symptoms.

When I got home from work she had tidied the house & put away the breakfast dishes.  I helped her find the recipe, which I keep telling myself I should transcribe into one of my notebooks so I can find it easily.  I found it in a Kraft Foods "What's Cooking" magazine, but who can ever remember which one?  Thankfully, because I like this recipe the page was turned down and the magazine a little crusty with spilled ingredients, it was relatively easy to locate.

Emily decided to test the theory she'd read that chewing gum while chopping onions helps keep you from crying,  Initially she declared it to be true, but as she kept chopping decided otherwise.  Personally I still think running the peeled onion under cold water for a minute or so is the best trick.  At least it works for me.
Teary eyed she got the chopped onion into a pot then found the carrots in the refrigerator.  The recipe calls for two large carrots, Emily held up two smallish ones and asked if she should use more.  I suggested four.  I guess it depends on what you think a large carrot is.  I usually use three or four, depending on what's in the fridge.
I found the lentils for her, then helped her sweep the kitchen as the new bag she opened was held loosely and lentils skittered all over my kitchen floor.  At least the mice will be healthy!
To the lentils, carrots and onions Emily added chicken stock, bringing the whole thing to a boil then simmering it until the vegetables were tender.
While the soup was cooking I quickly made some baking powder biscuits.  I considered having Emily do it, but it was faster and cleaner for me to help this time.  Within about 30 minutes the carrots were tender and I pulled out my immersion blender, showing Emily how to use it, telling her NOT to lift it out of the pot while it was running unless she wanted to scrub soup off the ceiling.
She was thrilled to have a new appliance to try out, and soon we were sitting down to a lovely meal.

Four Ingredient Lentil Soup

2 large carrots, peeled & chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups red lentils, uncooked

1.5 litres (6 cups) chicken broth

Bring ingredients to a boil in a sauce pan; cover, simmer 30-45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.  

Puree using an immersion blender, or in small batches in a blender, until smooth.

Season with salt & pepper to taste.  I quite like a pinch of dried dill in my bowl.

*I ran out of red lentils once & substituted green ones.  Don't.  The soup tasted fine but did not look very appealing.  It was a muddy brown colour and not this appetizing orange.

This is, as I said, a quick & easy recipe.  It reheats well, if you have leftovers.  And I like it because the ingredients are things I usually have on hand, and it's always great to have a few of those kinds of recipes in your arsenal.  When I first started making it I called it simply "Carrot Soup" because Emily liked carrots, but would have balked at the thought of lentils, even though she didn't know what they were.  Whatever works.