Cruchy, Noodle, Asian Salad--that is Quick!

Sometimes, no matter what you do, things just get really hectic. Mike is literally in the final 3 days of grad school and it seems like there is at least 3-4 activities that we need to juggle each evening; between taking care of the pups, group meetings, work, traffic dinner-time has come and gone without my pre-planned meal. Last night I had a cheese and tomato sandwich at 9:30pm (don't feel badly--the tomato was an heirloom from the farmers market and the cheddar couldn't have been better!)





Tonight Mike had a meeting with his school group and was not coming home for dinner. I was hungry but not too motivated to make a full meal, so I decided to make a side-dish that I had planned to make later this week that was fast, easy and from Barefoot, so I knew it had to be good! Basically it is a soy/peanut flavored pasta dish that features sugar-snap peas and bell peppers. Ina made it with an Asian Salmon, I was going to serve it with grilled chicken...instead I had an ice cream bar with it!


Here is the recipe, I followed it except I didn't have parsley or scallions and it was still delish!

Ingredients
1/2 pound thin spaghetti
1 pound sugar snap peas
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. When there is about 3 minutes left to cook, add the snap peas. Drain and set aside.

For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.

Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers and scallions in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and the parsley and toss together.