Food For Thought

This past weekend was an event known as “Unofficial” for those of you who don’t go to my university. Generally, our Spring Break falls so St. Patrick’s day doesn’t happen while we’re on campus, so long ago there was an impromptu holiday created. Starting at 6AM – sometimes earlier if you’re hardcore – students awake and start their days with kegs and eggs. After attending a few lectures, and maybe taking a power nap through biochemistry, they return home for lunch, followed by some shots with roomies. After finishing up the classes for the day, and catching a few more z’s in macroeconomics, the real parties begin. Pong outside, flippy cup inside, a man in a beaver costume walking up the street with multiple cases of beer, and of course, stealing your friends bike to take funny pictures. The party continues on well into the night, and at some point before the sun rises, all is calm on campus, and the smoke clears. This all is, of course, only for the students who are of age to participate – of course.

Amongst the craziness these past four days, I did actually manage to cook things. Walking through my apt, you wouldn’t know it – Chinese takeout boxes are strewn about the living room and the dishes haven’t been done a couple days – but we had guests, and not the kind that require a spic and span environment to be happy. That being said, when I do have guests, I like to provide mass quantities of food. Now when I say “mass”, I mean it; for eight people yesterday, I made ten pounds of chicken legs and thighs and 4 pounds of carrots (more on this later), on top of the immense brunch we had of pancakes, bacon, cinnamon rolls, frozen pizza, and hash browns – yes, we’re in college. Marathon training and the accompanying diet took a backseat to good times and good food this weekend, and now it’s back to granola and water and fruit. But knowing that I had a sandwich for lunch Friday that consisted of Jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, buffalo chicken bites, ranch dressing and french fries all on a hoagie, just makes me happy, even though I fear for the life of my heart.

Here’s a slightly healthier snack, or meal depending on portioning, that will soak up whatever you have in you, is acceptable to eat cold, and can easily be made without an extra trip to the store, assuming you like spicy food and have salt and pepper in your apartment unlike some of my friends (how can you not have salt and pepper?! This baffles me.).

Peanut Noodles
Adapted from Smittenkitchen.com who adapted from Gourmet

Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon peeled fresh ginger
1 large clove of garlic
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine everything above in a blender and whizz until smooth. Set aside and cook noodles and veggies.

Noodles

1lb whole wheat thin spaghetti
1 bell pepper, go colorful or not, up to you
4 scallions, just the greens, sliced thinly
¼ hothouse cucumber, sliced thinly
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

In a wok, or a large saute pan with sides, cook the vegetables in about a tablespoon of sesame oil until tender. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Once the vegetables are softened, add the noodles and sauce, and cook through until everything is coated with sauce and hot.

Like I said, this is good hot or cold, but if you have tactile issues like me (cold pasta, yecch), this reheats very well. Enjoy!!