With a fair number of friends and family needing to be gluten-free; I am always in search of tasty alternatives to traditional menu staples, like pasta.
So, when I came across some bronze cut Italian brown rice pasta, of course I had to give it a try.
Thing is, and this is very nice pasta, my husband doesn’t really care for it when served with traditional tomato-based sauces, but, add a peanut sauce?
And he is all over it! Add some air-fried sweet chili glazed salmon and freshly chopped basil, and we had ourselves a fine dinner for our gluten free friends and family.
INGREDIENTS
Sauce:
•1/4 cup peanut butter
•2 tbsp Sambal Oelek
•1 tbsp Tamari
•1 cup chicken stock
•2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
Pasta:
•1 lb brown rice noodles
•2 tbsp toasted sesame oil, divided
•1 cup shredded carrot
•2 cups shredded cabbage
•1 cup diced onion
•4 cloves garlic, minced
•2 tbsp ginger, grated
Toppings:
•Chopped scallions
•Sunflower seeds
•Basil leaves
•Lime wedges
First, make the peanut sauce by stirring the ingredients together until well blended (an immersion blender works a treat for this).
Set the sauce aside and cook the pasta according to package instructions.
Drain and rinse the pasta, then transfer to a bowl and toss with one tablespoon of the sesame oil. Set aside while you cook the veggies.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil in a large pan over medium high heat, then add the cabbage, carrot, and onion and cook until tender, about eight minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for one minute more, just until aromatic.
Reduce the heat and add the pasta, tossing to mix well with the veggies.
Stir in the peanut sauce and cook for another minute or two, to heat the pasta and sauce thoroughly.
Add some of the chopped basil and serve.
I offer side bowls of more basil, sunflower seeds, scallions, and lime wedges so folk can dress up their pasta as they like.
Note: for some reason, my market did not have any peanuts, which would’ve been the traditional topping, but the sunflower seeds were a tasty replacement.