The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.
Another month, another Daring Cooks challenge. This month’s challenge was two fold and I was totally excited. Making my own nut butter has always seemed pretty simple but I never really considered making it. I’m totally sold now. You literally throw some nuts into a food processor and process to the desired consistency. This gives you control in a variety of ways. If you want organic, buy organic nuts. Do you like honey roasted nut butters? Add some honey. You can use whatever nut you like or a combination and it would cost you a fraction of what it costs to buy it in the story. Since I tend to be thrifty this is a bonus. Sure the shelf life isn’t as long as nut butters loaded with preservatives but to me that is a good thing.
I made peanut butter. I bought blanched peanuts, roasted them in the oven at 350F for about 10 minutes to deepen the flavour and then I processed them. I did it before work one morning and the whole process took about 15 minutes. Not bad.
For the second part of the challenge I made the Asian Noodle Salad. It’s essentially some veggies and some protein tossed with rice noodles, basil, green onions and topped with a peanut dressing. Super easy. I freestyled this one by sauteeing some yellow squash, zucchini, snow peas, shiitake mushrooms and red peppers and also by using Thai basil from my herb garden. The results were a hit and the peanut dressing is so versatile!
Thanks ladies for another great challenge!
Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew (or Peanut) Dressing
Yield: 4 servings
Recipe notes: Customize the salad by adding or substituting your favorite vegetables. Shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and slivered carrots would make nice additions. Obviously, you can omit the shrimp, or substitute chicken or tofu or the protein of your choice. The dressing is equally as good with peanut butter rather than cashew butter. We tested the dressing with nut butters made from salted cashews & peanuts with good results.
Ingredients:
Cashew Butter:
1 cup (240 ml) cashews
Cashew Dressing:
½ inch (1 cm) slice of fresh ginger, chopped
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste, chopped
½ cup (120 ml) cashew butter
¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) sugar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) vinegar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) toasted sesame oil
¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (75 ml) water
Hot sauce to taste (optional)
Noodle Salad:
1/2 pound (225 g) linguine or thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
1/2 pound (225 g) small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced
1/4 cup (60 ml) sliced green onions
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped cashews (optional garnish)
Lime wedges (optional)
Directions:
- Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth. (*Or start with ½ cup (120 ml) prepared cashew butter.)
- Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger, garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency – thinner or thicker — to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favorite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted, you may want to add salt to taste.) Makes about 1 ½ cups (360 ml) dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
- Prepare noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
- Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternately, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
- Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about ½ cup (120 ml) cashew dressing; toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you’d like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired.
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{new blog entry} Daring Cooks: Homemade Peanut Butter and Asian Noodle Salad http://goo.gl/fb/i2BNL
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Seems lots of us went the Asian route this time round!
Both of your photos are gorgeous and yes I agree the Asian noddle sauce is super delicious well done on this challenge. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
I so want to join the daring Cooks, but I’m afraid I will chicken out. This looks awesome.