Spicy Sesame Noodles

I like cooking Asian food, because when you make the recipe at home, it is often much more healthy than if you were to get the same dish as take-out.  And Asian food is easy to make spicy, which I like to prepare when it's colder outside.

I spent a few days visiting my parents this week, and we made Spicy Sesame Noodles.  I used soba noodles, made from buckwheat flour, which are often gluten free if that's a concern to any of your eaters (check the label).

I often make this recipe with chicken, but this time I just pumped up the vegetables to make it equally filling.

Ingredients

Sauce:
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp chili sauce, with garlic
2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped or 1 frozen cube of cilantro from Trader Joe's
2-3 cloves garlic, grated into the sauce
1 tsp grated ginger

Vegetables:
1/2 cup snow peas
2 shredded carrots
1 sliced bell pepper
broccoli or broccoli rabe

1 box whole-wheat spaghetti, whole-wheat udon noodles, or soba noodles
2 cooked boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips (optional)
garlic powder, onion powder, pepper
2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish

Directions

1) In a bowl, combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce, honey, cilantro cube, ginger, garlic.
2) Brown the chicken strips in a skillet with a bit of vegetable oil; season them with garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper.
3) Cook noodles slightly less than the package says (since they'll cook a bit more later) then drain, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water.
4) While noodles are cooking, add remaining veggies to the skillet with the chicken. Pour the sauce over them, heating the veggies through. When noodles are almost done, add them to the skillet and cook for another couple of minutes, tossing everything together. You can add some of the reserved pasta water if it's too thick.
5) Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

I don't know if my Dad was the biggest fan, but he went back for thirds, so take that as you will!