Sesame Noodles!! Party Time, Every Time!

One blender... 15 minutes... and you have some SERIOUSLY savory sesame noodles! This is for you, Judy! And everyone who loves spicy sesame noodles. You can ease up on the spice, for the kiddies, if you like, but this is how I usually make this dish! As an aside... something this cheap (shhh), and this fast (double shhh) has NO business tasting this GOOD! But it does... There are really only 3 things to think about for this dish. The sauce, the pasta, and whatever you "add on" to finish the dish! First, the sauce. Now, this looks like a big, rather suspicious cast of characters, but this will take you 5 minutes... NO JOKE! You will literally toss all these ingredients in the blender, and let her do all the work (thank you shiny, cool, blender-girl)! First add 3 cloves of garlic (maybe less, if you're on a date, but tonight, it was 3) and about 2 inches of fresh ginger (peeled and chopped) to the blender. Now, you probably already do this with fresh ginger, but for easy peeling, I trim the ends even on that piece of ginger, so I can pop it up on the board like a little log. Next, I slice right down the sides and get rid of that skin... super easy. Ginger is super stringy too (in a fresh, gingery, good way, of course), but I don't like gagging on ginger threads, so I take an extra second and chop the ginger into rounds before adding it to the blender. Nothing in this world could be better than fresh ginger and garlic, together.... nothing!! I'm getting excited (focus, Lee, focus)!! After adding the fresh garlic and ginger, add 5 tablespoons cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes (less if you like), 3 tablespoons of sesame oil, and end with 1 cup of peanut butter. Lastly, and literally 3 minutes after you've started, add 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water. Looks weird, but, weird is good... in this case! Cue handy-dandy blender girl, and whiz that sauce until combined! Taste for seasoning, and brace yourself, 'cause your about to fall in love! So now, the sauce is done. Park it on the sideline and cook your pasta according to the directions. Tonight, we used "high fiber" pasta, and here's why. Peanut sauce is seriously FULL of FLAVOR! It can totally handle a whole grain or high protein pasta, so I sneak in the healthy pasta when ever I can! Here's where you can totally make this dish your own! Toppings!! Tonight, all I had was one fresh red pepper (sliced), leftover roasted chicken (SCORE!!), carrots, toasted sesame seeds, and fresh cilantro! Why,yes... that will do! What could YOU ADD? Oh, anything... fresh scallion, cucumber, chopped peanuts, broccoli, pork tenderloin, bean sprouts, sliced jicima, sliced cabbage, literally anything you like! When the pasta is cooked and drained, add to a big mixing bowl and cue your handy little pasta helpers, your tongs. Pour all that saucy goodness over the pasta right away. Use tongs to coat all the pasta (getting even more excited)!! Now... finish line!!! Top the noodles with that moist, tender chicken, crispy sweet carrots, red pepper, and fresh cilantro! One protein packed, kid pleasing, power house of flavor! I bring this to almost EVERY summer party because everyone BEGS for it... and loves it! You will too! Sesame noodle addiction... fulfilled! Happy, happy Gremlin Mamma (and happy Gremlin boys too)!