Thanksgiving for Two

The measure of my success on Thanksgiving Day is how many times I have to call my mom (if she’s not physically with me). This year was one of the maybe two or three times I’ve cooked Thanksgiving away from home and away from that maternal safety net, where fears of undercooked birds and dried-out dressings are calmed.

This year, I only called her three or four times. Which is a success! That is between my first-ever attempt at making Parker House Rolls (recipe to come), gravy issues and an organic turkey that came out of its 8-hour brine a strange purple-blueish color:

Have you ever noticed color differences with organic turkeys?

I switched from Whole Foods to Costco this year and probably saved $5-$10 on an 11-pound organic bird. My Costco didn’t let me down! Mom helped me figure out that the strange not-yellow/white/pink bird was probably closer to what a real turkey should look like before it’s pumped full of hormones and processed. I would highly recommend Costco as I’ll be getting my birds there indefinitely!

I took a chance on a new turkey recipe this year, since it was just Grant and me and we didn’t have kids/other people to impress. Bon Appetit had an article about neo-traditionalist turkeys, basted with a soy/mirin butter sauce. The cover photo was so beautiful that I just had to try it and thank goodness I did – this may be my go-to turkey recipe from now on.

The turkey comes out such a deep golden amber – almost mahogany – and the well-seasoned meat and drippings make for some excellent gravy!

A few turkey rules that I always follow, before we get to the recipe:

1. Smaller is better – once you get above 16 lbs they are impossible to cook evenly (according to many reputable sources, including my taste buds).
2. Brine – I just did 2 c. salt dissolved into 2 gallons of water – brined for 8 hours (Cook’s Illustrated warns not to do it more than 4 hours due to over-salting).
3. Dry overnight – Once out of the brine, I pat the turkey dry, put it in its roasting pan and into the fridge overnight – this dries out the skin so it roasts nice and crispy.

Adapted from Bon Appetit…I probably should have made and blogged about this weeks ago, like all the professional bloggers. But I am a humble at-home cook with no time or patience for doing Thanksgiving early or – gulp – twice!

The Neo-Traditionalist Roast Turkey

Ingredients:

• 1 10-14-pound turkey, giblets and neck removed, brined and fridge-dried overnight, then left at room temp for 1 hour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce (I used regular – oops!)
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 3 sprigs rosemary

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 450°. Set a rack inside a large roasting pan. Pour 4 cups water into pan (note: I used chicken broth!). Tuck tips of wings under bird. If turkey is not brined, rub bird inside and out with 3 T kosher salt. Season inside and out with pepper and place on rack in pan. Place onion and celery in cavity. Rub 3 tablespoons butter over turkey. Roast turkey, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir remaining 3 tablespoons butter, soy sauce, and mirin  in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth. Add rosemary. Cover; keep glaze warm over lowest heat (not simmering).
• Reduce oven to 325°. Baste turkey with pan juices; add more water or stock if needed to maintain at least 1/4-inch liquid in pan (I probably used 6 c. of stock total). Roast for 30 minutes; baste with pan juices. Brush lightly with glaze.
• Continue roasting turkey, basting with pan juices and brushing with glaze every 30 minutes, and tenting with foil if turning too dark, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thigh without touching bone registers 165° (juices should run clear when thermometer is removed), about 2 3/4 hours total. (Note: I couldn’t get mine above 155 degrees, after 3 1/2 hours, so I took it out and it was fine. The juices were running clear).

Let stand at room temperature under foil tent at least 30 min, or until ready to carve.

Meanwhile, I heated up/finished all my sides, made a quick gravy and dressed up the turkey for its head shot. I usually just throw whatever herbs I have left over onto the plate. But if I were home, I would have been fancy with some berries or something.

Proof that my eyes are bigger than my stomach…I ate half of this:

Hope you all had safe and successful Turkey Days – I probably have two more days’ worth of leftovers to go – not bad.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

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Crock Pot Beef with Broccoli

I love Crock Pot days because the aromas wrap around you like a blanket as soon as you enter the house. The perfect welcome from cold nights and long days at work.

Asian flavors are my secret to creating interesting dishes with the Crock Pot. Otherwise, the typical pot roast or beef stews just get a little old. But soy! Sugar! Sesame oil? Now you have something different.

This slow-cooker version of the classic cheap Chinese dish recreates the thick, dark gravy but doesn’t give you the chewy texture you get from beef strips stir-fried with broccoli. Instead, the beef is fork tender and full of hours worth of flavor.  Warm and satisfying from your nose to your toes.

I ended up cooking the broccoli separately and serving it over the rice, but the recipe has you cook it with the beef. I simply didn’t get home in time for this step.

Crock Pot Beef with Broccoli

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 lb. boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thick strips
• 1 c. beef stock
• 1/2 c. soy sauce
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1 T sesame oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T cornstarch
• 2 heads worth of broccoli florets
• Cooked rice (I used brown rice)

Place beef in Crock Pot.

Combine in small bowl the stock, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil and garlic. Pour over beef. Cover and cook on low, 6-8 hours.

In a cup, combine cornstarch with 2 T cooking liquid until smooth. Pour over beef and stir to combine. Add broccoli, cover and cook on high an additional 20-30 min. or until broccoli is cooked.

Serve over hot rice.

I topped mine with chopped scallions for an extra bite – highly recommend it. And a few sprinklings of sesame seeds.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Turkey Fried Rice with Potato Chips

When you see a recipe that includes potato chips as a garnish, you don’t have a choice. You make it. And I don’t even like potato chips.

There is, however, something trendy about using junk food in gourmet or (like mine) normal weeknight meals. This trend continues on shows like Top Chef and inside the doors of Momofuku Milk Bar.

Here, the potato chips add two key elements: crunch and salt. Sprinkled on top of your lean meat mixed with rice and seasonings – egg to hold it together, green onions for color – it’s a nice first flavor as you bite down. Honestly, it doesn’t dramatically change the dish, but it’s fun. And you better bet your kids will try this if they see potato chips are involved.

Adapted from a former Top Chef himself, Angelo Sosa…

Turkey Fried Rice with Potato Chips

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 3 T canola oil
• 2 T minched fresh ginger
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 T minced lemongrass bulb
• 4 oz. ground turkey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 C. cold cooked rice (I used brown rice)
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. chopped mint
• 1/2 c. plain potato chips, crushed
• Sriracha hot sauce, for serving

Heat large saute pan or wok until very hot. Add oil, ginger, garlic and lemongrass and saute 1 min. Add turkey and salt and stir-fry until turkey is just cooked through, about 3 min.

Push turkey to side and add eggs, cooking until just set. Add rice and stir-fry until heated through, 3 min. Add soy sauce and stir until absorbed, about 2 min. Stir in sesame oil and transfer fried rice to bowls.

Top with green onions, mint, crushed potato chips and Sriracha to taste.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Shrimp Fried Brown Rice

My goodness I love fried rice. Breakfast, lunch and dinner I could eat it. And I have. It’s hard, though, to pull off that wok-seared flavor in your own humble kitchen, where you’re not working over a massive black pan on direct heat.

But there are a few tricks you can employ to make your at-home fried rice as tasty (or close to) that which you buy from the restaurant. I, of course, turned to my favorite Jaden at Steamy Kitchen. Her first “watch out” is to always use day-old rice – otherwise it will be too wet to fry up. Second, she has you let the rice get a bit toasted and crunchy (don’t stir it TOO much), which adds a nice texture. Finally, tossing the shrimp in cornstarch before cooking keeps it from getting rubbery.

I added my few own touches to this recipe, notably using brown Basmati rice instead of white rice. I’m so glad I did – it added an extra bit of texture.

Definitely check out Steamy Kitchen, if you haven’t yet!

Shrimp Fried Brown Rice

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces medium uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons canola oil (divided)
• 3 eggs, beaten in a small bowl
• 4 stalks green onion, minced
• 4 cups previously cooked leftover brown rice, grains separated well
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch. Let the shrimp marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature. Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. When the pan is hot enough for a bead of water to instantly sizzle and evaporate, add only 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.

Now add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the pan so that they are not overlapping. Let the shrimp fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

Turn the heat to medium and let the pan heat up again. Pour in the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the frying pan onto the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

Use a paper towel to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean (no need to wash) and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and stir fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok or pan.

Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again, until the rice grains are so hot they practically dance! (I love Jaden’s writing here!) Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed, same with the sesame oil.

I finish mine with Sriracha hot sauce, naturally.

Yum! I’m so glad I made this and I can’t wait to make it again – vegetarian or with other meats. Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Don’t you just love eating that cheap, MSG-heavy Asian food at the mall? When I was little, it was my favorite meal. Now, it smells and tastes good…but doesn’t feel good….immediately after.

I’m not sure what, exactly, makes that mall food so evil for one’s entire body. Especially when you can easily make those foods at home for less money and without any of the repercussions. Anyhow, this meal offers all the pleasure of Asian flavors in a way that is guilt-free and risk-averse.

My Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken makes me feel like such a mom. It involves a Crock Pot, is healthy, makes large quantities and is pleasing for little people. I even found it on some mom blog that posts recipes on Pinterest. But in my never-ending pursuit of slow-cooker recipes, I charged ahead into momland and will never come back.

My only complaint is that the maximum cooking time is 4 hours. This working gal needs something that can slow-cook for at LEAST 9 hours, preferably 10. Do most people just come home at lunch and put the Crock Pot on? People take lunch breaks? I don’t get it. So I made this over the weekend, when a rainy day kept me inside with other endeavors: baking sandwich bread, pasta frittatas and a lovely spicy pork dish with black-eyed peas.

I made a few adaptations to this (I will definitely be trying more of their recipes!)…

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup ketchup (surprise! don’t judge – just do it)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
• Sesame seeds, for garnish
• Chopped green onion, for garnish

Season both sides of chicken lightly with salt and pepper, place flat into Crock Pot. Scatter onion over the top. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, sesame oil and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and shreds easily (mine cooked 3.5 hours). Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Shred chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Serve, sprinkled with sesame seeds and scallions.

The honey plus ketchup add the right sticky sweetness that you expect from a good teriyaki-type dish. So yummy! Sweet and savory and satisfying. Wonderful over rice, as we had it, or noodles. Even in taco shells would be good.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Singapore Street Noodles

Singapore Street Noodles were my favorite dish at a restaurant called Soba in Bend, Ore. Soba was one of the few Asian restaurants in town, offering lots of yummy rice and noodle dishes, including a staff favorite: Singapore Street Noodles. The rice noodles were a bit spicy and smoky, mixed with perfectly cooked shrimp and egg. Like an even better  pad Thai.

Now I live on the East Coast and the Singapore Street Noodles have a distinct difference: curry. It adds a heat, sweetness and turmeric hue to the dish. Definitely different from my little Oregon dish, but just as satisfying.

I was so happy to see No Recipes post his version of the dish, and I quickly made it myself with a few tweaks.

Singapore Street Noodles

Ingredients:

• 5.5 ounces dried rice vermicelli (a.k.a. mai fun)
• 1 lb. small shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 8 ounce can of strip bamboo, rinsed and drained
• 4 ounces bean sprouts
• 3 green onions, sliced thin
• Canola oil for stir-frying

Note: do ALL prep work ahead of time because cooking is fast.

Heat a medium pot with water. When almost boiling, add rice noodles and remove from heat. Let soak for 3 minutes, stirring to loosen. Rinse in cold water several times to prevent the noodles from absorbing too much water and to wash off excess starch. Set aside.

Add the shrimp to a bowl and season with the soy sauce, vinegar and corn starch. Set aside.

Measure out the curry powder into a small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the fish sauce, oyster sauce and chicken stock. Set both aside.

Heat a large skillet over high heat until very hot then add a tablespoon of oil. Add the egg, scrambling. Transfer the egg to a plate and set aside.

Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the pan, then add the garlic and ginger and then fry until fragrant. Add the shrimp and saute until just turning pink, 2 min.

Add the onion, bamboo, and bean sprouts. Fry while stirring vigorously, 2-3 min. Add the curry powder and stir-fry until fragrant, 30 seconds, then pour in the chicken stock and fish sauce mixture. Stir to combine, then add the noodles, coating with the sauce (use tongs).

Top with scallions and serve!

Yummy! The only thing better than having Asian take-out is making your own and having tons of leftovers to bring for lunch. Carb heaven without the MSG hangover!

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Crock Pot Asian Pork

Crock Pot success! I swear, I just do not “get” a Crock Pot. It’s too easy. You’re telling me you just throw some things in, put the lid on and it’s done in 6-8 hours? Psh. Give me a kitchen full of grease splatters, oven spill-over and a bunch of dishes and I’ll believe you.

But finally, I saw this great recipe on Pinterest. If you haven’t joined Pinterest yet, you must immediately! Check out my pin boards to get your juices flowing. It’s basically a digital pin-board application that allows you to easily keep track of all the cool things you see on the web every day. It’s my favorite new social media community and has served up tons of inspiration from weddings to food and fashion. GET ON IT. I think it’s still in beta, so you’ll have to request an invite, but that takes less than a day.

So this yummy pork dish came from Pinterest and Skinny Taste. I like it because it’s healthy but so RICH in flavor. Searing a pork butt and then bathing it in a pool of soy sauce, sesame oil, chili flakes, garlic, balsamic vinegar and ginger…reveals a most succulent butt of pork. It doesn’t seem like enough liquid to keep the roast from drying out, but do not fear! (Note: Grant says he dumped a bottle of beer into it, which I cannot confirm, but the liquid was still low when I finished).

Fabulous over rice, I could practically drink the juices (that fat solids of which nicely solidify in the fridge for you to scoop out the next day).

Crock Pot Asian Pork

Ingredients:

• 2 lb lean boneless boston butt pork roast (or pork center rib roast, pork center loin roast)
• kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 2 T canola oil
• 1 cup low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 cup good soy sauce
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger root

Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat large skillet with canola oil. When hot, sear pork on all sides, until nicely browned, then set aside.

In Crock Pot, combine remaining ingredients. Place pork in pot, cover, and put on low for 8 hours.

Remove pork – it will be so soft, you can barely hold it with tongs – and shred with two forks. Add meat back to sauce. If you like, add some mushrooms and greens.

Serve up over rice and top with chopped cilantro and green onions.

I mean wow, I can’t stop talking about this! The next night, we used the leftovers in pork tacos.

If you are a Crock Pot novice, I highly recommend this recipe. Not only is it easy and delicious, but you will go crazy smelling those smells all day long! I cooked mine on a Sunday where I didn’t have time to do much cooking – had the roast in by 10:30 a.m. and it cooked away. Just fabulous.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Momofuku-Inspired Chicken Wings

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows that I’m obsessed with Momofuku, the too-cool-for-school noodle bar/Crack Pie maker in NYC. So when my favorite Jaden from Steamy Kitchen posted her take on one of the ridiculously difficult Momofuku recipes, I started to sweat a little.

And then I made them.

These are way healthier than the fried version of chicken wings, but they are still crispy and juicy and full of powerful flavors. We grilled the chicken wings instead of baking them, which added a lot of additional smokiness. We also served the sauce along the side, for extra dipping.

These Asian-inspired chicken wings are tossed in a simple ginger-chili-garlic-soy-sesame concoction. I believe that few things taste bad with that flavor combo.

I lost a piece of my finger for these Super Bowl snacks…

Momofuku-Inspired Chicken Wings (from Steamy Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds chicken wings, separated at the joints, tips removed
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger (or grated)
• 1/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chili pepper (I used chili flakes)
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons canola, vegetable or grapeseed oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil (I used toasted sesame oil)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• freshly ground black pepper
• Cilantro, for garnish

Get your grill hot, then place oiled chicken wings on it, turning as they brown, until cooked through (4-5 min. per side – depending on grill).

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl (large enough to fit all of the wings) and set aside.

When wings are done, toss them in the vinaigrette to coat.

To serve, sprinkle with cilantro (or parsley) and plate with a side dish of the sauce. Finger-licking good, friends! xoxo

Mark Bittman’s Pad Thai

This is delicious and tastes about as close as I’ve come to recreating restaurant-quality Thai food. I used real tamarind, real fish sauce and everything else. But there was still something missing – MSG? More cooking oil? That smoky char you get from cooking on a huge wok? Still, even the next day, it was damn good. And it made about 50 pounds of noodles flavored with the tangy tamarind, the crunch of sprouts and peanuts and a squeeze of citrus.

This recipe came to me via Twitter, from Mark Bittman’s feed: @bittman. I instantly went to the local Asian market for tamarind paste, which of course ended with me buying unprocessed tamarind that I had to steep in boiling water and then strain in order to use. I also bought a bunch of huge prawns, the cabbage, sprouts and bottles of authentic soy sauce, rice vinegar and fish sauce that the store owner recommended. Everything cost me about $20.

The mise en place took forever because my shrimp still had their heads, my peanuts needed to be shelled because Harris Teeter doesn’t have any unsalted, and the tamarind needed to soak in hot water. Quite a bit of work on a late Friday night (while the “crack pie” was baking!), but I got to relax with a wonderful meal afterward.

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

• 1 box rice noodles
• 1/4 c. canola oil
• 4 T tamarind paste (or packed tamarind soaked in hot water and strained to 4 T)
• 1/4 c. fish sauce
• 1/3 c. honey
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 c. chopped scallions
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 eggs
• 3 c. shredded Napa cabbage
• 1 c. bean sprouts
• 1 lb. peeled, deveined shrimp
• 1/2 c. roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped cilantro
• Lime wedges

Place noodles in boiling water to cover, simmering until just tender, 7-10 min. Drain and drizzle with 1 T oil to keep from sticking.

Meanwhile, put tamarind, fish sauce, honey and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Stir in red pepper flakes and set aside.

Put remaining oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add scallions, then garlic, and cook 1 min. Add eggs, and once they begin to set, scramble until just done. Add cabbage and bean sprouts and continue to cook until cabbage wilts. Add shrimp. When shrimp is pink, add drained noodles and sauce to skillet. Toss everything together and continue to cook so the sauce thickens and coats everything, another 3-5 min.

To serve, sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro and squeeze a little lime over.

Yum, just seeing the pictures again make me hungry! Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Sesame-peanut noodle salad

At work, we have lunch frequently catered and whenever we get The Carving Board, people go crazy for their Asian noodle salad: thin noodles with sesame and ginger flavors. After watching Ina Garten make her crunchy noodle salad a few times, I decided to try my own version of this tasty side dish. How wrong can you go with peanut butter, ginger, garlic, soy, sesame and scallions?

You can add your own twist to these salads – for me, I added blanched broccoli and roasted chicken breast, which turned it into a nice little lunch meal as well as a hearty side dish. As with all pasta salads, this gets even better the second day and can be served warm, at room temperature or cold.

Sesame-peanut noodle salad

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• 1 pound thin whole-wheat spaghetti
• 1 pound broccoli crowns, cut into pieces
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
• 4 scallions, sliced diagonally
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Place chicken breasts on cooking sheet and rub with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until tender but cooked-through, about 25-30 min. When done, remove from skin and bone and shred into bite-sized pieces.

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 broccoli, return to a boil, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Drain and immerse 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, broccoli, chicken, 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.

I brought this to a backyard barbecue and then ate the leftovers for lunch the next day. I think I like it best when cold. Enjoy, friends! xoxo