More Scrumptious Adventures with Sweet Potatoes!!

I am now calling this time, "The Week of the Sweet Potatoes"! :)  I just can't stop myself from trying some new recipes with our favorite tubers!  I have so many on hand right now, and am busy trying to come up with some new and exciting ways to devour the delicious sweet potato!  I keep hearing about how delicious it is to combine sweet potatoes and peanuts, and after feeling very intrigued, finally decided to give it a try myself!  I've seen a plethora of sweet potato soup recipes that contain peanuts, but as my husband has a very specific dislike for soup, I had to find another creative way to try this combo.  We happen to be incredibly huge fans of Asian style noodle dishes, so the first thing I thought of was a Thai-style Peanut noodle dish with sweet potatoes!  YUMMY!  Following is the recipe I created this afternoon, and let me tell you, it is now our favorite way to eat Thai Peanut noodles!  The sweet potato almost acts like a noodle itself, and the flavor is in every bite, without it just tasting like sweet potato!  The peanuts are still front and center, but they definitely share the spotlight with the sweet potatoes.  I was very pleasantly surprised with this dish, and I think you will be too!  Give it a try, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of this exotic Sweet Potato ADVENTURE!

Scrumptious Thai-Style Sweet Potato Peanut Noodles

Ingredients:

3 cups water
3 ounces rice noodles (dry, flat noodles)
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter (peanuts and salt), chunky style
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1-3 teaspoons hot chili sauce (I use Sriracha)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 large sweet potato= about 3 cups, grated
2 teaspoons ginger, freshly grated
1 cup Napa cabbage, shredded
1 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, unsalted
1/3 cup water
1 small bunch cilantro
4 small limes

Preparation:

1. First bring the 3 cups of water to a boil in an 8 inch skillet. While it is coming to a boil, grate the sweet potato into shreds.  You should get about 3 cups of shredded sweet potato from a very large size sweet potato.  Use 2 smaller potatoes if needed, you just want to end up with about 3 cups. Set aside.
2. When the water is boiling, turn off the heat, add in the rice noodles, and submerge completely.  Set aside to soften while preparing the rest of the dish.
3. In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar and chili sauce.  Add less chili sauce for mild, more for hot, taste as you go and add in small quantities so it doesn't get too spicy for you! Stir very well to thoroughly combine. Set aside.
4. In a large skillet (10- inch or larger), heat the cooking oil over high heat, and then add in the grated sweet potato.  Spread over the entire bottom of the pan so that it will cook evenly. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, about 5 minutes, grate the ginger, and shred the Napa cabbage.  Add the ginger and cabbage to the pan and continue to cook, stirring frequently.  You are basically stir-frying the vegetables together, and want to cook it fast and hot!  Cook for about 4 more minutes, until tender.
5. Chop the green onion and add to the pan, stirring well.  Add in the peanuts, and continue to cook about 1-2 minutes.
6. Finally add in the previously combined peanut sauce (you may have a little leftover if you don't want as much sauce, add as much as you'd like! I used all but about 3 tablespoons of the sauce, and served it on the side.) and the 1/3 cup of water, stirring well.
7. Drain the rice noodles and add to the pan.  Continue to cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the ingredients are fully combined.
8. Serve with plenty of chopped cilantro and lime wedges, squeezing the lime over the noodles as you eat.
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!

Serves: about 4
Prep time: about 5 minutes
Cook time: about 15 minutes