I enjoy watching Ina Gartin’s Barefoot Contessa.She comes up with fine cuisine,great tips,mouth-watering and scrumptious food. It gets too tempting to eat what she makes.The other day, I was watching her make “Crunchy Noodle Salad” were she used Spaghetti,Snap Peas,Olive Oil,Sesame Oil,Sesame seeds,Scallion,Garlic and few other ingredients to make a lovely salad. You can look for her salad here – http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/crunchy-noodle-salad-recipe/index.html
I like experimenting with things from time to time. Since am not a salad eater, I tried using most of the ingredients that was used in the original recipe along with few additions as per my choice and made my own “Sesame Peanut Spaghetti “.Yes, I gave it a different name as it was not a salad and not even close to the original one. After I was done with the dish, I felt I could add could something more…How about some roasted eggplant ,tofu???? Ummmm, I will probably keep these for my next experiment and for now here it is…
Ingredients:-
Spaghetti – ½ pound (thin) – cook as per instructions
Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp(toasted/roasted)
Peanuts – 3 tbsp (roasted and crushed)
Snap Peas – ½ cup (cook in salted water for 5mins until tender)
Bell pepper(any color) – 1 cored and seeded, thinly sliced
Onion – ½ cup (roughly chopped)
Scallions – ¼ cup (chopped) (optional)
Honey – 2 tsp
Parsley/Cilantro – for garnishing
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Green Chillies – 4 nos(crushed)
Soy Sauce – 3 tbsp
Vegetable Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – as per taste
Method –
1.In a large wok, heat Oil, add ginger garlic paste , Green chilies and Onions. Sauté until translucent.
2.Add the Bell Pepper and cook till tender.
3.Add Soy sauce and sauté for about 2-3 minutes and add honey, snap peas & scallions.
4.Gently toss the Spaghetti along with the mixture. Add salt.
5.Ensure all the ingredients are mixed well. In the end add the peanuts and roasted sesame seeds and mix it slowly. Garnish with Parsley/Cilantro. Serve hot.
Instead of Spaghetti,even Hakka Noodles can be used.
A Culinary Odyssey! 