Thursday Recipe

As I mentioned earlier this week, a few of my fellow doctoral students are getting together for an Easter luncheon on Sunday. My responsibility for the luncheon is bringing a side dish. There's a recipe from Ina Garten that I've been dying to try and I think this is the weekend for it given how nice the weather is going to be. I was thinking about trying something from Julia Child's cookbook, but I didn't see anything I thought would be appropriate, so crunchy noodle salad it is.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 1/2 pound thin spaghetti
• 1 pound sugar snap peas
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
• 4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring another large pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, return to a boil, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Lift the sugar snap peas from the water with a slotted spoon and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. Drain.

For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.

Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers and scallions in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and the parsley and toss together.