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!

Oh Fudge

Among the many popular misconceptions about vegans - we're all anemic, we don't get enough protein, we'll defriend you on Facebook if you eat a burger in our presence - my favorite is the idea that vegans are all health nuts who subsist on quinoa salads and raw kale. Not so! And as proof, I offer you Exhibit A: Peanut Butter Fudge.

Ohhh this fudge. I can't remember the last time I made something so rich and decadent. I can normally put away sweets like nobody's business, but even I couldn't handle more than a single square at a time. The coconut cream is the key here - it'll make your fudge super smooth and thick, and has the added bonus of smelling incredible when you melt it together with the chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon. 

This recipe is a little bit time-consuming, but really easy - all you need is a heavy saucepan, a bowl, and some patience! If peanut butter isn't your thing, try adding chopped nuts to your fudge, or maybe even subbing out the vanilla with strong coffee for a hint of espresso flavor. 

Peanut Butter Fudge

(chocolate fudge adapted from Cassidy's Cravable Creations; peanut butter topping adapted from Minimalist Baker)

Makes one 8x8 pan

For the chocolate fudge:

½ cup coconut cream (to make this, stick a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge for at least an hour)

¼ cup maple syrup

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

2 tablespoon coconut oil 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 ¼ teaspoon salt

For the peanut butter topping:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (the natural kind is best!)

 ¼ cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons  coconut oil

½  cup coconut cream

¼ tablespoons maple syrup

Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil and set aside. This is my favorite part: crack open your can of cold coconut milk and you'll see that it's surprisingly solid. That's the cream! Carefully scoop it off - don't get too rowdy or you'll end up breaking through to the liquid on the bottom, which we don't need for this recipe. 

Dump all of the ingredients for the chocolate fudge into a heavy saucepan over low heat and slowwwwwly melt everything together, stirring all the while. I'm usually all for turning that flame up to speed things along (perhaps why I set off the fire alarm so often), but be patient here or you'll end up burnt chocolate and that's just a damn shame. 

Just look at that silky deliciousness

When the mixture is smooth and silky and delicious, pour it into the prepared pan and pop it into your freezer for an hour. While you wait for the chocolate to set, you can get started on the peanut butter half of this beautiful relationship!

Taste test liberally

You don't even need a pot for this step - just scoop all the ingredients for the peanut butter topping into a bowl and stir it up really well. Work those forearms! This mixture will be a lot thicker than the chocolatey mess, but you should still be able to easily pour it over the frozen fudge. 

A match made in heaven 

Now pop that all back into the freezer for another hour and dance around in anticipation for the magical dessert you're about to eat. Once the peanut butter topping has set, slice your fudge into 1-inch squares and enjoy! Store your leftovers in the fridge to keep them from getting too gooey, but I recommend serving at room temperature to get that soft, fudgy texture that we all know and love.