Sunday: Dinner

Tonight for dinner I made a new recipe from the September issue of Fitness magazine: Peanutty Thai Noodles with Sugar Snap Peas. I've been feeling like I need to introduce some new recipes and foods into my diet, and this seemed like an easy way to experiment with rice noodles. And it was! Preparation was super fast, the only changes I made to the recipe were to half the ingredients since the package of rice noodles I bought was 6 oz instead of the 12 oz called for. In the future, I'd probably stick to just make 6 oz as it yielded a huge amount of food, enough for dinner tonight, plus two more servings for future meals. And it's hearty: the chicken broth, peanut butter and soy sauce mixture cooks down and the just-cooked rice noodles absorb the nutty tang so that it feels quite rich and savory, with the cilantro and lime juice adding a wonderfully bright contrast. I ate a third of what I prepared and am stuffed. I also had half a zucchini I needed to use up, so I sauteed that in a teaspoon of olive oil along with half a tomato I had and a clove of garlic, plus a dash of oregano.

Peanutty Thai Noodles
(adapted from Fitness magazine)

6 oz thin rice noodles
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth (I only had Herb's Ox chicken broth on hand so I definitely did NOT have a low-sodium version of this meal)
2 tablespoons peanut butter, chunky or creamy (I used the creamy version of my favourite brand, New York'sPeanut Butter & Company)
1.5 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 lime

Soak the rice noodles in hot water for 10 minutes; drain and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together chicken broth, peanut butter and soy sauce and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Add the sugar snap peas and simmer, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the noodles and cook for an additional 3 to 5 mintues until the peas are tender and the liquid is absorbed.
Stir in the cilantro and lime juice.

400 calories, 10g fat, 22g carbohydrates, 4g fiber, 14g protein