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.


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