Spice Spice Baby

I think the beginning of DC's muggy summer is making me nostalgic for Southeast Asia, because curries, noodle soups, and stir fries have all been in particularly heavy rotation recently. While today's Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles are not what you'd call traditional Asian cuisine, they are a quick and tasty solution to hot nights when you don't feel like sweating over the stove for hours!

Peanut butter and Sriracha are both indisputably awesome in their own right, so it should come as no surprise that combining them makes them twice as nice. I like marinating my tofu/tempeh/seitan in the sauce while I prep my vegetables, which infuses each little nugget with spicy, nutty flavor.

Feel free to go crazy with your vegetables here; my go-to combination includes broccoli, bell peppers, baby corn, and bamboo shoots (because apparently I love alliteration?), but mix and match to your heart's content. Just stir fry those suckers up with a little sesame oil and soy sauce - the sauce is super flavorful, so you're not going to need too much seasoning on the veggies.

Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles
(adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen)

Serves 4

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons peanut butter (the hippie natural kind with no added sugar is best here!)
2 tablespoons Sriracha
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 green chili, thinly sliced

1 pound of your favorite meat substitute (I used tempeh but extra firm tofu or seitan are also delicious)
1 pound of noodles (rice noodles, soba, udon - whatever you have on hand!)

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce. Get aggressive with your whisk if the peanut butter is clumpy - you want everything to be nice and smooth. Slice up your fake meat into bite-sized pieces and toss them into the spicy sauce bath to marinate.

In the meantime, chop up your veggies and sauté them for 3-5 minutes in a large saucepan or wok. Once they're done - tender but not limp - cover the pan with a lid and set aside until you're ready to eat.

Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil for the noodles. While you wait, heat a little bit of sesame oil in a medium pan, then use a slotted spoon to fish your tempeh pieces out of the sauce and carefully set them on the skillet. Keep the heat on medium-low and flip your non-meat frequently! The sugar in the sauce will burn quickly if you wander off. Your tempeh will be done when the sauce has thickened up and started to bubble - take the pan off the heat and cover, just like you did with the veggies.

Last step! Cook your noodles according to the instructions on the package - this should only take a couple of minutes. Once they're done, drain the noodles over the sink and throw them back into the empty pot. Pour in the remaining sauce, then toss with a pair of tongs until the noodles are evenly coating with spicy peanut butter goodness.

To serve, just throw the saucy noodles onto a plate, pile on a scoop of veggies, and top with tempeh. Garnish with sliced green onions, extra Sriracha, and voila - a fancy, delicious dinner in 30 minutes or less!