My brother Wes came over for dinner last night, and we were talking about good ways to keep on budget and save money. He mentioned that as a single guy its hard to spend time grocery shopping and preparing a homemade dinner even though ordering take-out can be expensive. So, tonight I set out to come up with a budget-friendly dinner that is easy to prepare. I also wanted to create a dish that would be good for lunch the next day. This peanut noodle recipe tastes great warm or cold, and is loaded with healthy vegetables and vegetarian-friendly protein.

A few of the ingredients like the sesame oil and rice vinegar might not be in your pantry right now, but I can assure you that they are great to have on-hand. They add amazing flavor to Asian-inspired dishes, and you’ll find plenty of recipes that call for them. Its fun to try new ingredients!

My Peanut Noodles

1/2 cup peanut butter, preferably homemade
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
a few good shakes of crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped
1 pound linguine noodles
fresh and frozen veggies of your choice (I used fresh carrots, frozen broccoli and frozen shelled edamame)
tofu or cooked chicken, if desired

Using a blender or immersion blender, mix first eight ingredients until smooth.

Boil noodles. Add frozen vegetables to the noodle water 5 minutes before the noodles are done. Drain.

Combine veggies, noodles and peanut sauce. Enjoy!