Latkepalooza!

Latkepalooza at the Gershman Y

I have had it with these motherf#@king leftovers in my motherf#@king fridge!

I contributed very little to Thanksgiving this year (Remember the less-than-precise recipe for pillowy mounds of mashed potatoes from October? I did that.). Thankfully, my aunts and mom TCOB'd with a potato leek soup, butternut squash/cranberry/sunflower salad, sweet potato casserole, matzo ball soup, roasted potatoes and more...

Which brings me to my excuse for not making posts (besides swine flu):

I've been eating free pizza (work)and leftovers (home visit)and I AM SICK OF IT. I know, I know- "Sick of Free???" Sometimes you just need to get back in the kitchen and dice some motherf#@king carrots!

Close Enough Pad Thai, because let's be honest, there is zero consensus on what is supposed to be in this stuff: 15 minutes, 2 servings, $4 max, 4/2= $2 a serving

Ingredients:

• 200g Soba/Udon Noodles-- Soba vs. Udon -- Soba noodles are hearty (+), made of buckwheat (+ or -), $4/2lbs at the 6th and Washington asian supermarket. That's 9 big servings (+! if you like hearty buckwheat). Udon noodles are made of wheat flour (+?), thicker than soba (+), more widely available (+), usually cheaper than soba (+) but also NOT soba (+?). I went with soba this time. Also, it is usually bundled in either 50g or 100g sleeves for measuring purposes.
  
• 2 carrots
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp. Peanut Butter
• 1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 lime
  
• Sriracha (The "Rooster stuff" is a good hot sauce investment, but definitely optional)

Bean Sproutes are a nice touch, but not even close to worth the extra cost

Preperation:

1. Boil half a small pot of water.
2. Dice carrots, and add to boiling water for 5 minutes.
   
3. Add noodles and boil for 3 minutes (watch out, noodles are starchy and will bubble up!).
   
4. Add peas (cook 1 minute).
5. Drain in collander.
   
6. In the now empty pot, mix peanut butter, juice of lime, soy sauce and red pepper flakes.
7. Return noodles, et al to the pot and mix around.
8. Plate half of that mess and add sriracha--if you're not too chicken.
   

Shaka Zulu!