Hot and Cold Sesame Noodles

I know I’ve included this recipe in our family newsletter before, but I wanted to post it here as well. We served this along with Thai-Glazed-Chicken Lettuce Wraps to the missionaries for dinner yesterday. They really enjoyed the entire meal—they went back for seconds of everything (then again, it was Fast Sunday). We also served fresh fruit (watermelon, honeydew, blueberries, and raspberries). For dessert, I made fresh home-made ice cream cones that we filled with our strawberry ice cream (already posted on this site). They both said that the strawberry ice cream was the best strawberry ice cream they had ever had—and once again—they had seconds.

Salt
1 pound spaghetti
¼ cup tamari (dark soy sauce)
¼ cup (2 ½ ounces) smooth peanut butter, softened in microwave 15 seconds on high
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2-3 tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (original flavor)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 cups shredded cabbage and carrot mix
1 cup bean sprouts (available in produce department)
3 scallions, chopped on an angle
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Additional green onions, sesame seeds, and peanuts for garnish if desired

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil. Add salt, then pasta. Cook to al dente (with a bite to it), then cold-shock to stop the cooking process by running pasta under cold water in a colander. Drain the pasta very well.

To a large bowl, add tamari and the softened peanut butter. Whisk together until peanut butter and tamari are totally incorporated. Add the vinegar, hot sauce, and sesame oil and whisk into sauce. Add noodles, cabbage and carrots, sprouts, and scallions and toss to combine and coat evenly with sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds throughout the salad and serve. May garnish with green onions, sesame seeds, and peanuts of desired.