Going Nuts in March

By Colleen Walsh Fong

Do you love peanuts? I do! Whether cracking them open in the baseball stands or sneaking an occasional Butterfinger candy bar, peanuts feel like the All-American snack to me. But I also love to use them in savory dishes and have published dinner recipes that call for peanuts in Easy Weekly Meals touchscreen cookbooks. They go especially well in Asian-influenced meals.

March is National Peanut Month and in its honor I plan to cook lots of meals with peanuts. I’m hoping my local frozen yogurt shop will bring back its peanut butter flavor for the month! Here’s an old recipe I created to get some nutritious food into my most finicky eater. It’s Thai-inspired and I haven’t met a kid yet who doesn’t eat it all and ask for more. When serving adults, I kick up the heat with a couple of diced Thai chilies and double the cayenne pepper. This 15-minute meal serves 4. Use the Easy Weekly Meals Measurement Converter to alter ingredient amounts for more or fewer people.

Cooking Thai-Flavored Peanut Rice Noodles is a great way to use left over proteins. It can also stand alone on Meatless Fridays. As an added bonus, this dish is gluten free, and leftovers reheat well.

Thai-Flavored Peanut Rice Noodles

Ingredients

• 16 oz Brown Rice Spaghetti Noodles
• 1 C Creamy Peanut Butter (fresh ground if possible)
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 3/4 C Chicken Broth
• 1/4 C Tamari Sauce
• 1/2 C Cilantro Leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp Salt
• Olive Oil Spray
• 1 C Cooked Chicken, Pork, or Shrimp, shredded or chopped
• 2 Scallions, chopped
• 1 C Carrots, julienned
• 1 C Roasted and Unsalted Peanuts, coarsely chopped

Procedure

• Prepare all ingredients while bringing 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. 
• Break noodles in half and drop into water.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together peanut butter, lime juice, cayenne pepper, chicken broth, tamari, cilantro leaves and salt until well blended.
• Coat large skillet with olive oil spray and place pan over medium-low heat.
• Add puree and warm it through while stirring.
• If using meat, add it now along with scallions and carrots. 
• When noodles have cooked to al dente, drain and fold them into peanut sauce in pan. Coat them well.
• Place noodles into a serving dish, sprinkle chopped peanuts over top and serve hot as a complete meal.

What’s your favorite way to eat peanuts? Leave a comment and let us know.

Photo Credit: Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net