Cold Sesame Peanut Noodles

Intended Menu: Scented Fish Salad; Cold Sesame Peanut Noodles

Actual Menu: Scented Fish; Random Salad; Cold Sesame Peanut Noodles

Lessons learned:

1. Just because it's at New Leaf Market doesn't mean it's a responsible purchase.  If you check out the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's sustainable seafood guide -- provided right on the New Leaf website! -- it says to avoid Gulf Red Snapper.  So why do they sell it?
2. At some point, enough substitutions make a dish completely unrecognizable.

I'm still feeling quite lousy, but this is Day Three and at some point you have to start tending to at least some of your responsibilities again.  Last night my husband gave me a break by staying home from work in the morning and cooking his specialty for dinner, pasta with tomato sauce and Italian sausage.  He even got Publix's Greenwise Italian chicken sausage instead of whatever he would have gotten when we were younger (probably Johnsonville).  It was a lot like the pizza we'd had the previous night and there was no vegetable dish, but someone besides me cooked it and it was delicious.

My kids aren't really eating.  It's not just that they're not trying things at dinner, but they're even abandoning crackers, bread, and apples at the table.  Sophie has barely eaten anything in days.  I'm trying very hard not to stress about it, because she isn't asking for other food and doesn't seem to be uncomfortable.  Maybe they are both coming down with my cold and just don't feel like eating?

After two days shacked up in the house, I took the kids to New Leaf Market, mostly for some produce.  I'm still trying to understand the availability of mangoes and avocados in this region, because all of a sudden they are more expensive again (both priced at $2 each at NLM).  I would think that they would be more in season in warmer weather, but no?

I needed to get fish, and saw that the snapper in NLM's seafood section was $2 off.  I knew it was risky not to get it from a fish market and I wondered why it was marked down as well, but not feeling well, I was happy not to have to make a separate trip so I took the chance.  The fish turned out to be tasty, but looking it up later I see that it's not harvested sustainably.  I really wish that by shopping at New Leaf, I could feel confident that what I'm buying is at least somewhat environmentally responsible and sustainable.  I sort of thought that was the whole point of the co-op, and I'm willing to pay more for that confidence.  But just like at any other store, it turns out I have to do all my own research.  It does frustrate me.

There's a recipe for Scented Fish Salad in my Thai cookbook, and it looks great.  However, it called for cucumber, mangoes, and something called pitaya, also called dragon fruit.  None of these were available to me, but I figured that I could ad-lib it a little bit and I'd get the idea.  Well, what I ended up with was some lettuce, tomato, and apples which I still tried to dress with a coconut-lime dressing (my standard cilantro-lime vinaigrette with some leftover coconut milk whisked in).  It didn't taste bad.  Well, actually I really don't know since I honestly can't taste much right now.  But I'm pretty sure it wasn't disgusting.  Not yummy, though, either.  Just kind of weird.

The fish, though, was quite good.  I cut it into strips and marinated it in some spices: ground coriander, fennel, cumin, and garlic, plus some sugar and oil.  It was supposed to go on top of the salad, but it seemed like it would just wilt the lettuce, which I hate, especially when all I can really sense right now is texture.  So we just ate the fish by itself, and it was yummy.  Tilapia is a "best choice" according to Monterrey Bay Aquarium, and I think this way of preparing it would work just fine with that fish.

I've been wanting to try this peanut noodle recipe from HTCEV for a long time, especially since my husband seems to like anything prepared with peanut butter.  It's super easy, and I ended up doing a blend of tahini (sesame paste) and peanut butter so as not to be overwhelmed by the latter flavor.  Recipe below.  If you use regular semolina noodles instead of egg noodles, it's vegan.

Cold Sesame Peanut Noodles

8 ounces Chinese egg noodles or other long pasta, like linguine
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 cup tahini, peanut butter, or a combination
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced pickled ginger
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Chile sauce to taste (we left this out for the kids, although I might add some on the leftovers to clear my sinuses!)
1 large or 2 small zucchinis (original called for cucumbers, but there were locally-grown zucchinis at NLM) 
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup minced garlic chives (I forgot these, unfortunately...use scallions if you prefer)

Cook the noodles as directed on the package.  When they're done, run them under cold water and/or toss them with ice cubes.

Meanwhile, mix together the oil, paste(s), sugar, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile sauce.  Toss the cold noodles with the mixture, then peel the zucchini and grate it into the noodles.  Toss again, then garnish with black pepper and chives.

Makes about 6 side servings.