Make Ahead

Thai Green Nut Butter Dip/Sauce over Whole Wheat Spaghetti (or Soba noodles if you have them)

by:
September 24, 2010
4.3
3 Ratings
  • Makes 4-6 servings
Author Notes

I remember when Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious cookbook came out. I was intrigued by the addition of squashes and beans added (deceptively) to make kids (and adults) think they are eating something decadent when they are really eating something healthy. The thing is, I don’t really believe in adding things deceptively to unsuspecting eaters. I like to veganize favorite dessert recipes and then announce it to the people enjoying them and wait for their reaction. For this recipe I did not want to be deceptive, just delicious. I wanted to jazz up a Thai inspired nut butter sauce and to turn it a really pretty green color to serve over whole- wheat spaghetti since I never seem to have Soba noodles on hand. I also wanted this to be a powerhouse of nutrition. I think it measured up. It turned a really pretty green color by the addition of spinach and edamame and it contained whole grains (whole wheat spaghetti), protein (cashew butter and edamame), and a healthy dose of greens compliments of the spinach.

This is perfect lunch food because it can be served cold. It would also make a good dipping sauce for dumplings, served over or beside tofu/tempeh, or even as a delicious vegetable dip. —testkitchenette

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3 big handfuls baby spinach
  • 1 packet shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions
  • 1 big handful of basil
  • 2/3 cup cashew/almond/peanut butter
  • 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 5 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons honey/maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (more or less to your liking)
  • 1/2 cup hot water
  • 1 package whole wheat spaghetti or soba noodles (omit if using as a dip)
Directions
  1. Blitz everything in the food processor until fairly smooth.
  2. Cook spaghetti or soba noodles according to your liking or package directions and serve sauce over the top. It makes for a delicious lunch or dinner and best of all requires no re-heating.
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2 Reviews

testkitchenette
testkitchenette September 27, 2010
Thanks Agnes...glad you and your family liked it! It all depends on the consistency you like for how much soy sauce you add (and saltiness!). I'll have to try it with your changes and nice idea to cook down the spinach first!
 
Agnes
Agnes September 26, 2010
Thanks for this recipe; everyone in my family loved it, from my meatloving husband (this is vegan?!) to my pizzaloving 1st grader and all the way down to Mr. Picky himself, my beige-foodloving 2 year old. I made it with Soba noodles, way more Soy sauce than called for (like, prob. about 6-8 tablespoons), and 2 large bunches of spinach which I cooked down first so that I could get more spinachy goodness in there...