Peanut Noodle Stir Fry

The ingredients... ready to go.

 Most nights at dinner, there is at least one kid who is rolling his or her eyes and making a face at what is being served. This, as you might imagine, drives me crazy! There are very few meals that everyone in my house of picky eaters actually likes. In fact, I can probably count them one hand. But one of those meals happens to be one of my favorites as well, so we have it nearly every other week. And would you believe this meal is vegan, gluten free, healthy AND delicious? I'm talking about Peanut Noodle Stir Fry.

Another great thing about this meal is that I can prep up the ingredients ahead of time, and stick them in the fridge. Then when dinner time rolls around, I can have this on the table in 15 minutes flat. This recipe is versatile, too... you can substitute whatever veggies you have on hand, and if you happen to have a little extra peanut sauce leftover, it makes a yummy dip for raw veggies.

Peanut Noodle Stir Fry

Ingredients:

One package of rice noodles
1 Tbsp peanut oil
1 small onion, sliced
Large head of broccoli, cut into florets, then shred the stems in a food processor (keep stems separate)
2 cups of carrots, shredded
1 cup of snow peas
(other suggested veggies to add or substitute: thinly sliced peppers, peas, baby corn, green beans)

Peanut Sauce:

1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of warm water
2-3 Tbsp of soy sauce (to taste)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Prepare the peanut sauce first, buy whisking all the ingredients together until smooth. If it's too thick, add more warm water. Set aside. (You can prepare the sauce ahead of time and store it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to two days)

Boil a large pot of water. Meanwhile, heat the peanut oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the onion, and cook for a few minutes, until it starts to soften a bit. While the onion cooks, add the rice noodles to the boiling water, turn off the heat and cover. (The noodles take about 10 minutes to soften, which is about how long it takes to cook the rest. Stir them once or twice to keep them from sticking together.) Back to your wok, add the broccoli and the snow peas. Stir and cook until crisp-tender. Stir in the broccoli stems and shredded carrots. Stir and cook another minute, just to heat through. Drain the noodles, then toss them with the veggies and sauce until everything is well-coated. Serve in big bowls. If you want to be very fancy, you can top this with some chopped scallions and some crushed up peanuts.

YUM.