Spicy peanut and cilantro sauce is the flavor combination that first sold me on Thai food. I first experienced that via a dish prepared by an old friend. Her version had tofu, and instead of noodles, she served it over coconut rice. I’d devour plate after plate of that stuff, and it was quite an amazing meal. I don’t know about how I’d do with plate after plate these days, and to be totally honest, the combo of coconut milk and peanuts, though delicious, seems a little heavy. That’s why I decided to create a dish with the same flavors, but using soba noodles instead. What I ended up with was definitely reminiscent of that tofu dish I used to enjoy so much, but the noodles did something special. Peanut butter on noodles is like magic. The other thing that’s pretty cool about the noodle version is that it’s incredibly easy. Noodles and veggies cook up in one pot, sauce gets blended in the food processor, put it together and you’ve got a meal that tastes like it took all day! You could really use any kind of noodle here. Soba happen to be my favorite, and they cook up in only four minutes. Feel free to use whatever you’ve got on hand though, just add your broccoli two minutes before cook time is up.
