Crossing the Prairie

Okay, so this one is blatantly stolen from Rachel Ray’s website. I bought her magazine for a bit of light reading, and came across this recipe, which was a hit with four out of the five of us. Rome was the only one who was…. ambivilant. But he’s not exactly a big eater, so him not eating may or may not be an indicator that he doesn’t like something.  It’s possible he just wasn’t in the mood for noodles.

Chicken Satay Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

salt
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1/3 cup peanut butter, softened
2 TBS honey
1/4 cup tamari (dark soy sauce)
Juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (eyeball it)
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 TBS vegetable oil
2 cups skinned and sliced (or shredded) rotisserie chicken
1 cup packed freshed spinach, thinly sliced
1/3 cup shredded carrots (a generous handful)
4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
2 TBS (or to taste) chopped cilantro or parsley 

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it; add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, honey, and 1/4 cup warm water. Whisk in the tamari, lime juice, hot pepper sauce, and garliic. Pour in the oil in a steady stream, whisking to combine. Add the reserved noodles and toss to coat.
3. Place the noodles in 4 shallow bowls and top with the chicken, spinach, carrots, scallions, peanuts, and cilantro.

I typed the recipe pretty much verbatim (except for a few annoying Rachel Ray-isms), since it’s coming right off her website and magazine. But of course, I never ever follow a recipe exactly, so here are the adjustments I made:

• Double the amount of shredded carrots, add extra spinach, and a finely diced cucumber, to sneak in some extra veggies.
• After mixing the dressing in the bowl, add the chopped peanuts, chicken, and carrots. Then mix in the noodles and spinach, toss to coat. This is much more practical for a family than individually served plates, plus my kids are less likely to pick out the vegetables this way.
• Reduce the amount of warm water added to the dressing by about half - I think it makes the dressing too bland if you add the full 1/4 cup.
• The first time I made this, I forgot to buy limes and subsituted apple cider vinegar. I actually like it better this way, and it saves me from having to buy limes, which I never use now that it’s too cold for vodka and 7up.

Beware this makes a HUGE amount of food - about twice what my family eats in a meal.  I served five grown-ups and three little people with this recipe, and had leftovers. I haven’t tried this yet, but I think it would keep for a few days if you mixed the noodles up with the dressing, and left the veggies on the side to add at the last minute, like the original recipe calls for. I also like the fact that I can do all the prep ahead of time (when my kids are being cooperative and/or sleeping), and just toss it together at dinner time. That’s a big plus around here, since 4:00 - the time that would be logical to start dinner - is the time my children are usually possessed by screaming demons, who are decidedly set against me getting ANYTHING productive done, other than stopping out-and-out warfare.

Bon Appetit!

Photo credit: www.rachaelraymag.com