Nutty Noodles

Last night, I was craving some kind of Asian food, but I didn't want to spend the money ordering in. I had some chicken breasts defrosted, and some peanut butter in the pantry, so I figured I could throw something together. I found this recipe, altered it a little to accomodate what I had, and was really satisfied with the results! If you multitask just right, it should only take about 20 minutes to make. This easy, quick, and healthy recipe just shot to the top of my weeknight recipe list.

Nutty Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup reduced fat creamy peanut butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• Splash of rice vinegar
• 8 oz whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 bag frozen sugar snap peas
• 1 bag frozen broccoli
• 1 bag fresh baby carrots
• 1/2 cup peanuts
• 8-12 fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil for the pasta.
2. Place chicken breasts in another pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer covered until chicken is fully cooked (about 10-12 minutes).
3. While chicken is cooking, cook pasta for about 8 minutes (it will be undercooked).
4. While both the pasta and the chicken are going, cook your frozen veggies in the microwave (mine took about 5 minutes).
5. While these three elements are cooking, whisk the peanut butter in a bowl with the garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and pepper. You may choose to add soy sauce and ginger to taste, depending on your personal preference.
6. Once the peas and broccoli are done cooking, add them along with the carrots and peanuts to the cooking pasta. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes until the pasta is fully cooked.
7. Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a cutting board to shred.
8. Drain pasta and veggie mixture, then place back in pot.
9. Stir peanut mixture into pasta mixture. Add chicken. Stir in basil and serve.

I haven't tried it, but I imagine this dish is good cold as a salad too.

What's your favorite weeknight meal?