Summer is creeping towards Yonkers.
After days of gorgeously cool, dry days and nights, the three H's are starting to rear their ugly little heads...
Another dinner salad was definitely in order, but I felt something different was needed...
So I cooked a box of angel hair, drained it and tossed it with a bit of sesame oil and a bit of reclaimed peanut oil from a jar of natural peanut butter. (I saved a ton of pasta water just in case, and boy was I glad later.)
Into the processor, I tossed 4 garlic cloves, a big thumb-sized piece of peeled ginger that I'd microplaned, a shot each of sriracha and sesame oil and lime juice, about 3/4 cup of peanut butter, and 1/3 C soy sauce... and processed away. It was too thick, so I thinned it with a splash of the reserved pasta water, and tasted it. It seemed a little flat, so in went a bit more soy...
When the noodles were cool, I added some pasta water to loosen them up and then started adding the sauce a little bit at a time. When it reached the consistency I liked, I stopped adding... knowing I had some in reserve. I removed 4 cups of the dressed noodles, saving the rest for dishes to come. And to those 4 cups, I added 1 thinly julienned red pepper, 1/3 of a cucumber... peeled, seeded and thinly julienned... and two scallions sliced thinly on the bias. I tasted again, decided on just a bit more soy, and topped it with chopped peanuts.
OK, fine, not really authentically from any specific country, but wildly satisfying and refreshing, and not gloppy at all! Though I will say, next time... spaghetti, not angel hair (hey... it's what I had!).