Sesame Chicken and Noodles and day two of this gross heatwave
It's hot. And humid. A one-two punch of icky weather here in New England. ugh. It's not usually this hot around here for early June. Next week it'll be much more seasonal, with temps in the 70's to low 80's. This sticky weather is more common in July and August and sometimes, September. Anyway, I'm here in the AC--not cooking, having a glass of this, (which I urge ALL of you to try--it's so refreshing!) and looking back on what we had last week.
One of those dishes was Sesame Chicken and Noodles, from the folks at Cooking Light. This is a delicious dinner, and very quick to get on the table. The most time consuming part is making the sauce, and that takes less than 5 minutes. It'll be on the table and being devoured faster than you could get takeout!
I don't know about you guys, but I love good leftovers for lunch the next day. Love them. So when I make this, I double up the pasta and the sauce ingredients. You may need to add a little olive oil or a touch of butter when reheating it--you know how pasta absorbs sauce when it gets cool and sits in the fridge. But it's worth it! This makes great leftovers. I'll give you the recipe as I have it in my files, but just remember that I double the sauce ingredients and use a whole box of pasta instead of 8 oz. You can also add more chicken. Oh, I also think a touch of sesame oil would be really good in the sauce. ADDING: Made this again, and did add 2 tsp of sesame oil to the sauce. Nice addition! I also added some chopped peanuts over the top. Also very nice!
Sesame Chicken and Noodles
8 oz uncooked spaghetti
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter
2 TB sesame seeds, divided
1 TB brown sugar
2 TB rice vinegar
2 TB low sodium soy sauce
1 TB fresh lime juice
2 tsp sesame oil (optional, but really good.)
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (I like Sriracha in this!)
2 TB canola oil
3/4 lb chicken tenders, cut in one inch pieces
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups matchstick carrots
1 1/2 cups sliced green onions
coarsely chopped peanuts for sprinkling over (optional, but again, so good!)
Directions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain--reserving 2 TB cooking liquid.
2. Combine broth through hot sauce and mix in a small bowl.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.
4. Sprinkle the salt over the chicken and cook for 3 minutes.
5. Add carrots and green onions, cook for 2 more minutes.
6. Add sauce mixture to the pan.
7. Add reserved cooking liquid and pasta to the pan, and toss to coat.
8. Top with remaining sesame seeds and serve immediately/or garnish with chopped peanuts.
I'm going to submit this to Presto Pasta Nights, which I keep meaning to do! Kevin at Closet Cooking is the guest host this week.
Elle | Print Article | Share Article | Email Article | 35 Comments tagged chicken, cooking, main dish, new england, peanut, recipe, sesame
Reader Comments (35)
It is so incredibly hot I'm hiding inside under my ceiling fan (no AC) catching up on blogs, and whatnot. I cannot wait for it to cool off!
This dish looks solid. And, I too like to take noodles and pasta dishes as leftovers. I find they do dry out a bit because the noodles soak up the sauce, as you mentioned, but not so much so that it makes that much of a difference. Extra sauce reserved on the side helps too, of course.
Blah, the weather here is super hot & humid as well - I suffered a minor heat stroke this morning, actually (no joke). Stay cool, and keep cooking deliciously! :0)
Ok, this looks yummish! I think I'm going to make them mine by using some soba noodles I have in the cabinet. (Since I don't have any spaghetti, but have everything else.) ;)
Thanks!!
The lime/lemon drink totally suits crazy weather like this. Tell me about the heat. I'm at the equator :(
This dish looks fab! Quick + easy + yummy = awesome weeknight meal!
That looks delicious! It's quite dry out here in Denver-but warm too. I really do like the weather out here :) Wait till July/August and I will for sure be complaining!
I hear you on the heat, Elle. It's pretty warm out here too and only shows signs of getting warmer. I'll have to work on some cool weather recipes too.
These noodles sound so delicious! I might just have to make them tonight.
BTW, I love the widget. I'm totally going to copy you. I've been wanting to have print functionality forever and just couldn't get it to work. Thanks!
I am so jealous of your hot, humid weather. I live in Washington state and took the dogs for a walk today wearing fleece. I passed one neighbor out gardening in a sweater and another wearing a down coat. There is a fairly good possibility that I will be able to wear summer clothing in August, but only for about two weeks :)
Peanut sauce over pasta is a definite winner!
I personally think pasta is *better* the next day around. I'll always make my batches extra large for that reason :-)
I'm hoping to avoid the heat wave this year in San Diego. At least you're not in the desert - that can can get plain ridiculous, and fast.
OMG Elle...Peanut butter, sesame and chicken?! Freaking YUM. That fresh cilantro is the perfect addition too. I've been craving Pad Thai...but I'm rethinking that in favor of this one. What a cool widget for printing, too! :)
The noodles look delicious, I LOVE sesame noodles so much. Hmm I think I'd take your heatwave over our freezing New Zealand winter...nifty widget btw! :)
What a great combination of flavours!. I like using peanut butter in savoury dishes like this. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights!
i think there is really a serious problem in our environment..here in southern france it must be hot and sunny by this time. but we have rain and cloudy weather instead :-(
btw, great entry for presto pasta nights!! i love the idea of using sesame seeds for spaghetti!!
UMMM KAPOWWIE! to this unbearable hot weather with your great dish!!
It's been in the 50's in Washington. I've been eating macaroni and cheese and soup for dinner. Your photo looked FABULOUS. I will be making this as soon as we get some summer here. The widget is a great idea.
I tried to comment on this recipe last night but Blogger has it out for me!
I'm going to try making this with soba noodles. It looks delicious. Peanut butter anything is my idea of heaven :)
I made this today and it was fantastic!
These sound really great - I just printed out the recipe (great widget too!). Love that I have most of the ingredients on hand already.
Wowz! Brilliant picture! Looks absolutely mouth watering!
Oooh...how refreshing! This dish looks and sounds perfect to enjoy in the hot weather! I will be trying this as soon as possible!
Thanks Elle!
Hi Elle, I found your site at Key Ingredient. I really enjoyed looking at your blog.
I'm from RI and the weather here is also miserable. It hit 95 degrees today and tomorrow is supposed to get even hotter! YUK!!!
The chicken recipe looks great and I will have to give it a try.
Stop by sometime... Annie
This pasta dish sounds delicious!
Its been extremely hot and muggy here too (not the norm for us) and I am sitting on my front porch in the dark with a nice cool breeze, reading blogs until Grumpy get's home!
Love your snazzy new widget! And the dish looks fabulous. I love leftovers, too.
I haven't had to turn on the ac for a few weeks - and I'm loving it!! (Although it looks like it is going to change over the weekend...)
This dish sounds exactly like something we would love. Delish! And I've heard of Key Ingredient - I checked it out once, but I'm glad to see how it all looks and works for you!
That looks beautiful Elle!
I feel you with the heat! It is all I can do to go outdoors - the only place with a breeze is the beach - so we have been there a lot this past week!
Love the slick recipe widget! Sorry about the heat. Ick. It's 105 in Phoenix today -- still awful, but dry.
Great looking pasta dish. I love these kinds of sauces with peanut butter inside. :)
Hope the weather has gotten better since you posted!
The noodles look great! I LOVE leftovers and I'm sad if I don't have any. Depending on whose coming over for dinner, I usually double and sometimes quadruple a recipe to have leftovers!!!
The heat in New York is unbelievable too. I feel like cooking naked underneath my apron... I don't think the health department would approve of that though. Haha. This noodle dish looks delicious. Do you deliver? :-)
Veggiegirl, oh my goodness! Be careful!
Thanks everyone, for all of your great comments!
Hi Elle,
This is Sophie from Key Ingredient :). Just wanted to let you know that I'm using the widget on my personal blog too :D.
The picture makes us want to beg for some...
awww this looks great! nothing like chicken and noodles
What a fantastic photo and I love all the ingredients. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.
Glad I asked Kevin to host so I could find a great new blog to visit (that's you!) ;)
This looks great! What a fun dish to cook up!
What a great noodle dish! I'm going to try this out, perhaps with tahini instead of peanut butter.