What We Ate Wednesday--cheating stir fry with peanut sauce

Hello Lovelies! Today is one of my favourite quick meals. When I am working in the shop I don't get home until 6pm. Spiderman usually gets home around 4pm from his job so he can chop the veg and get food a-cooking before I get home. Fridays are the exception. We both get home at 6pm.

He is tired. I am exhausted.

He is hungry. I am ravenous.

This dish is the perfect remedy for that. It's a stir fry. In a delicious peanut sauce. With a little bit of a cheat to make it faster. If you think frozen food is tantamount to child abuse, I suggest you sod off look away now.

I use a combination of frozen stir fry veg and fresh veg for this dish. You can't really tell about the frozen veg as it is smothered in peanut sauce. Who doesn't like peanut sauce? People with peanut allergies, for a start. OK, besides them. Who else doesn't like peanut sauce?

I buy this bag of frozen stir fry vegetables at Tesco. It cost £1.20 for 600g.


I also buy these rice noodle nests from Tesco at £1.49 for 5 nests. These are a Godsend when you need something like NOW and don't have the time/energy/patience to wait for rice to cook. These babies cook in 3 minutes in boiling water. 3 minutes, people!!! We prefer to break up the noodle nests with our hands before we add the boiling water. If you forget (because you are exhausted and ravenous) then just use your kitchen scissors to cut up the cooked noodles after you drain them. You don't even have to cut or tear them into bits, really. But be aware you'll be slurping up a mile long noodle with peanut sauce clinging to it and it *might* just leap up and flick you on the glasses causing you to swear and preventing you from watching Doctor Who. Not that I would know anything about that....

I wish they were brown rice noodles, but they are not. If wishes were horses poor men could ride.

I  always have a tin of water chestnuts on hand because their crunchy goodness makes everything better.

I also save time for the prep for this by doing a bit in advance. Any time I use a red pepper or a carrot I always put half away in the fridge for the next day's meal. Carrots like to be covered in water, Peppers do not.

Cheating Stir Fry in Peanut Sauce

Make your sauce: (or have someone else do the sauce while you do the rest)
This sauce is based on one from the cookbook Vegan on the Cheap. She used rice vinegar and I can't find that here or when I can it costs too much money so I just use lime juice from a squirty bottle that costs 85p.
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 TB soy sauce or tamari
1.5 TB lime juice
1 TB liquid sweetener (I use golden syrup, but agave would be good too)
1 TB toasted sesame oil
garlic to taste--by that i mean lots
about a TB of chopped ginger root (I also have this pre-prepped--I cut up a big piece of ginger and freeze it in portions)
2 TB water to thin it out

to make the stir fry:
1.  Boil your kettle. When it boils, pour water over noodles and set the timer for 3 minutes. When it beeps, drain them and let them sit until you are ready for them at the end.

2. Measure out 200g frozen stir fry veg (a third of the packet for me) and add 1/2 cup frozen peas and a 1/2 cup frozen edamame.

3. Heat them (no oil needed) in your biggest pan until it is warm and nearly defrosted. There will be a bit of water. Don't worry about it now.

4.  Add your choice of fresh ingredients. we favour a half a chopped red pepper, a half a carrot cut into matchsticks, 5 chopped button mushrooms and a drained tin of water chestnuts.

5. Cook for a few minutes until the fresh ingredients are crisp-tender. Carefully drain away any excess water.

6. Add the peanut sauce and stir to coat. Let the sauce heat a bit and then add the noddles. Stir to get everything all coated with the lovely sauce.

Then slump down on the sofa and eat like you haven't had a meal in a hundred years while you watch Doctor Who.