Dan Dan Noodles

This spicy Asian noodle recipe is super-simple to make. After cooking and draining my thin, whole wheat spaghetti, I blitzed the sauce ingredients in the blender. Sauce done. Everything after that went super-fast.

Browning the mushrooms and celery over high heat.

I added thawed edamame for texture and protein along with the scallions.

Warming the sauce with noodles and spinach. I used almond butter instead of peanut.

It all comes together!

This is a good veggie-ful weeknight dinner option. It will go even faster if you make the sauce and cook the noodles ahead, like maybe the night before, or use leftover spaghetti from Italian night.

Dan Dan Noodles

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces thin spaghetti
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
2 stalks celery (finely chopped)
9 ounces white button mushrooms (finely chopped)
handful baby spinach

SAUCE

2 small cloves garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon ginger (minced)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoonsil hot chili oil (or less if you don’t like it too spicy)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter (you can sub almond butter or tahini)
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add spaghetti and cook for 8-9 minutes, until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
In a pan over high heat, add peanut oil, celery and mushrooms and cook for 8-10 minutes, until mushrooms are beginning to turn a golden brown color. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a blender and blend until smooth. Add sauce to the spaghetti and toss until the noodles are evenly coated. Season with salt until you are satisfied with the taste.
Add mushroom mix, spinach and scallions to the noodles and toss well. Serve.