7 Minute Peanut-Lime Noodles

I made this recipe for lunch today. It was so quick to cook that the longest part was bringing the water to boil and cooking the noodles. Depending on the type of noodles you are using you could probably cook the whole meal in less than 7 minutes.

Another fantastic thing about this recipe is that it is pretty much "no measure." As long as you get the ingredients in roughly the right quantities it will work well. If you want the sauce slightly thicker don't add as much water, if you want it thinner do the exact opposite. Realistically it's pretty hard to go wrong on this one!

7 Minute Peanut-Lime Noodles

2 teaspoon peanut oil, divided

1 clove garlic

1 chili pepper

1 cm (about a 1/4 inch) piece of fresh ginger

2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Juice of 1 lime

250 ml (1 cup) water

250 grams (8 oz) noodles (soba, udon, whole wheat linguine, etc)

chopped vegetables (peppers, mange tout, bok choy, broccoli, mushrooms etc.)

pinch of sesame seeds

1 spring onion chopped

In a large pot, boil enough water to cook the noodles. Cook the noodles for the time listed on the package. Drain the noodles and run cold water over them.

While the noodles are cooking, dice the garlic, pepper and ginger. In a small pot saute the garlic, pepper and ginger in 1 teaspoon of peanut oil for 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice and water and stir until everything has blended. Bring sauce to a boil and then turn off heat.

Chop the vegetables into bite sized pieces. Using the same pot the noodles cooked in, heat a bit of peanut oil and saute the vegetables for 2-3 minutes. Pour the peanut sauce and noodles into the vegetables and heat through.

Serve with sesame seeds and spring onions

Serves: 2

Cooking time: 5-10 minutes

Prep time: 2 minutes

Rainy Weekend Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls are decadent but you need loads of time to make them. Like any yeast based recipe they need to rise for a few hours before they can be baked so make sure you have set aside 3-4 hours before you're planning on serving them. I made these last week and served half the following day and put half in the freezer. The there is only 1 left of the "freezer stash" and the ones I served were gone in a matter of minutes!

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

1 package of yeast

1/2 teaspoon of white sugar

1/8 cup (25 ml) warm water (slightly warmer than body temperature)

1 cup(250 ml) low fat or fat free milk

1/4 cup (50g) white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups (300g)whole wheat flour

1.5 cups (200g) all purpose flour

Cinnamon filling

3/4 (150 g) cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup (55 g) of butter -melted

1 teaspoon milk

2-3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4-1/2 cup of chopped pecans

1/4-1/2 cup of raisins

Combine the yeast, water and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add liquid ingredients into the yeast mixture, then add the 2 types of flour. Kneed for 5-10 minutes to ensure that everything is fully mixed and that the dough has a nice elastic feeling. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has double. Tip: Turn your oven on to the lowest temperature for about 2-3 minutes. Turn the oven off and then put the bowl in. This guarantees a warm place where the dough will rise well.

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and let rise again in a warm place until doubled.

Punch the dough down a third time and roll out into at least a 12 x 16 inch (30x40) rectangle. Combine the butter, sugar, milk and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread this mixture onto the dough rectangle. Sprinkle the chopped nuts and raisins on top of the dough. Roll the dough along the short side. Cut into 12-15 pieces and place in a greased tray (I used 2 trays, one round and one rectangular) Let rise for about 10 minutes

Bake at 180 C (375F) for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.