RAMEN NOODLES with a PEANUT SAUCE

This recipe was created early last week, when I was desperately craving peanut butter. I've had peanut butter in stir fries before, however I often find it super rich and fatty. After some researching online I created my own with the use of some beautiful Mrs Flannery's all natural peanut butter. I felt like tofu in my dinner, however I knew my fiancee would turn up his nose at the no meat factor, hence the chicken addition. You can make this recipe with either tofu, chicken or half each quantity and combine both. Just a tip for preparing tofu; if you purchase a water based tofu you will need to dry it out and press it- if you have the time. I chose to just dry my tofu out, due to time restrictions yesterday. Here is a great link that explains how to dry and press tofu: http://www.veggiebelly.com/2011/04/how-to-press-tofu.html 

Ingredients

• 270g ramen noodles 
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil 
• 450g free range chicken breast, cut into even strips or 350g firm tofu, cut into even rectangular pieces 
• 2 tablespoons green shallots, plus extra to serve 
• the juice of 1 lime
• 1 x 400g tin light coconut milk
• 1/4 cup organic or all natural peanut butter 
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into even-sized florets and stalk chopped
• 1/4 wombok (chinese cabbage), shredded 
• 250g carrots (3 medium), cut into even rounds 

Cooking 

1. Bring a large saucepan filled with around 10 centimetres of water to the boil. Once boiled, add the ramen noodles to the water and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender. Remove from the stove and drain under cold water. 

2. Meanwhile, heat a large, deep frying pan over medium heat and add the sesame oil, swirling to coat the pan. Cook either the chicken or the tofu pieces or half of each serving for around 6 minutes or until just cooked. Stir the chicken often until it is lightly golden in colour. For the tofu- flip each piece only once, cooking for around 3 minutes on the first side and 2-3 minutes on the second side. Remove the chicken / tofu from the pan and place in a bowl. 

3. Add the shallots to the pan and the lime juice, stirring for a few seconds. Next add the coconut milk and stir for 2 minutes, making sure that the liquid does not boil by continually stirring and keeping the heat at a medium range.

4. Next, add the peanut butter to the pan and stir until the mixture is smooth and not lumpy. This should take a few minutes. Once smooth, add the broccoli to the pan and stir well to cover the broccoli with the sauce before covering the pan. Cook for 4 minutes or until a fork can slide through the broccoli stalks with a little bit of resistance. Add the wombok and carrot to the pan and toss well to combine all ingredients, then cover the pan for another 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 

5. Lastly, add the cooked chicken and /or tofu and the noodles to the pan and stir all ingredients together. 

Serve warm, with extra shallots sprinkled on top, if desired. 

Serves /  6 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 25 minutes

x Emily