My New Favorite Quick and Healthy Meal: Sesame Peanut Noodles

This is currently my favorite go-to weeknight recipe. The sauce and vegetables require no cooking and can be prepared in the time it takes for the noodles to be prepared (including the time it takes for the water to come to a boil). Last night, I doubled the sauce recipe and have enough to use for tempeh dipping sticks tonight, which I'll serve with a thai-style slaw. I'd still love the recipe even if it took twice the time to prepare it, it is seriously delicious.

I used buckwheat soba noodles last night, and they were incredible...I highly recommend them for this recipe.

Peanut Sesame Noodles
Adapted from Gourmet, June 2002 (found on the smitten kitchen blog, smittenkitchen.com)

Servings: Makes 6 side-dish or 4 vegetarian main-course servings.

For peanut dressing
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes or a splash of the hot sauce or chili paste of your choice

For noodles
3/4 lb dried soba nooodles (whole grain linguine fini or spaghetti will work in a pinch)
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
Half a seedless cucumber, thinly sliced
1 cup firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Puree dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth, about 2 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl.

Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain in a colander, then rinse well under cold water.

Add pasta, scallions, bell peppers, cucumber and tofu to dressing, tossing to combine. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.