Recipes That Rock | Spicy Peanut Sauce

This week, I pulled out an oldie but a goodie in our house for dinner.  I've avoided it since Max started eating whatever we eat because I didn't think he could handle it, but I was able to adjust a few things to make it 15-month-old-friendly.  I don't remember where I originally found the recipe (the original was for "Spicy Peanut Noodles"), but I love it because it's very versatile.  I've made this sauce and served it with chicken or shrimp, over noodles or rice.  It works with it all!

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (I've also used pickled ginger, and last time I omitted it because I didn't have any...still was yummy!)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup very hot chicken broth

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor.  Blend/process until well-mixed, about 2 minutes.
2. Pour sauce over your choice of noodles/rice, chicken/shrimp, and sauteed veggies and stir until well-coated.  **I prefer to pour the sauce over individual servings as opposed to over the entire batch, but that's a personal preference.

I like to make lots of sauteed veggies (onions, bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli) to go with this dish, and I typically use sesame oil as opposed to my usual EVOO.  Goes great with this sauce.  This is a great way to use leftover baked chicken or sauteed shrimp.  To make it a little less spicy for Max, I simply put in a tad less cayenne pepper.  He enjoyed dipping his fish sticks and pepper slices in the sauce (obsessed with dipping).

This sauce is awesome the next day, too.  I store the leftover sauce separate from the other leftovers and spoon it over it all before heating it up to eat the next day.

Leftovers on the couch during naptime watching Monday's episode of RHOC.  Nothing better.

If you like Thai peanut dishes, this sauce is for you!  Give it a try!