Spicy Peanut Noodle Tacos
You know what I’ve discovered over the past year? You can really use just about any leafy vessel to house a taco filling. My intent with this recipe was to just shred red cabbage and use it as an ingredient but when I started to peel back the outer leaves of this fuchsiacoloured beauty I said “hey why not use this as the serving dish”???
Now really? Isn’t this stunners?
The best part of using these leaves is that they are sturdy. A lettuce leaf usually tears and falls apart when you pick it up. The red cabbage has some girth so no worries if you want to lift, roll and stuff it in your face.
The only drawback about using THIS MUCH cabbage in a dish is that….well….it has explosive properties when trying to digest this. I’m not kidding….I had to live through it the other night and what I witnessed was this…..my husband Steve suddenly became a “one man show”.
I’m going to attach a warning label right here → CONSUME AT YOUR OWN RISK – MAY CAUSE EXTREME GAS. FOR LESS EFFECT JUST USE THE CABBAGE LEAF AS TABLEWARE.
As far as these peanuty noodles go….they were absolutely delish. I served them warm but this really is considered to be a cold noodle salad. It’s great for company, a main dish or a side dish – or in my case a “side show”.
And let’s give a hand to Steve for the great job on demonstrating how to hold noodles up high with slippery chopsticks. It only took about 15 takes before I was happy with the angle. Check out all the pictures below↓
See what I mean? Tall noodles, short noodles, fat noodles, some noodles, more noodles….you really need to use your noodle here.
Hang on…..one last story before I go. See that parsley? So pretty. So fresh. So GREEN! I’m going to let you in on a little secret. It was growing in our garden all summer long, waaaaaaaaaaay into the fall and up until last week it was still going strong because of the mild weather we’ve been enjoying in Canada. When I looked outside the other day, the entire garden was covered in snow. Ugh + Ugh. I asked Steve if there was a chance that the parsley was still viable. He said I will NEVER find any out there. Challenge accepted. I said, “hmmmm…let me see”. I donned my snow boots, winter coat and sunglasses, pulled up my hood and went outside trudging through the snow. Geez it’s FREEZING. Lo and behold I managed to retrieve ONE sprig of parsley. Yes. ONE. The rest was frozen solid. Um Steve….Never say never.
Spicy Peanut Noodle Tacos
-Kosher salt -½ package, 8 oz or 250 grams dry chow mein noodles (cooked, rinsed and drained) -1 package broccoli slaw (or you can julienne your own veggies - 1 cup carrots, 1 cup broccoli and one cup shredded cabbage) -1 cup shredded red cabbage -Peanut Dressing -1 cup vegetable oil -¼ cup rice wine vinegar -⅓ cup soy sauce -3 tablespoons dark sesame oil -1 tablespoon honey -2 garlic cloves, minced -1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger -1 tablespoon sweet thai chili sauce -½ cup smooth peanut butter -3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves ½ cup crushed honey roasted peanuts + extra for garnish -Additional red cabbage leaves to serve as tacos
1) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the chow mein noodles and cook according to package directions (about 3 - 5 minutes). Drain, rinse in cold water and set aside. 2) For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, thai chili sauce and peanut butter in a medium bowl. 3) Combine the chow mein noodles and vegetables in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the peanuts and the parsley and toss together. Garnish with additional peanuts and serve in red cabbage leaves if desired.
See ya next week!