Sunday I went to Whole Foods, which, to be completely honest, freaks me right out. It's so yuppie. It's so "Green Hills" if you're from Nashville. It's really pricey.
But, I know when I'm going in there that I don't have to worry *quite* so much about what I'm going to be taking home with me. They have lots of overpriced stuff. But they also have lots of stuff that I normally can't find anywhere. AGAVE COLA! Meaning, soda that I can drink without becoming diabetic. Pizza crusts that aren't sugar-filled and so.much.more.
One thing I found that I was anxious to try out was a ginger-peanut sauce. I make my own ginger-peanut sauce fairly often. It's super quick, it's easy, and best of all it's cheap. RECIPE BELOW! WOOT! But when I saw this sauce at Whole Foods, I decided to give it a try because what's quicker than making a quick sauce? Dumping a sauce out of a bottle. Granted, I'd have to cook whatever the sauce is going on anyway, but I was in a Whole Foods induced stupor. I remembered to take the picture of the bottle, but Dave had the camera - so phone picture it is.
And this is what I decided to do with my new ginger-peanut sauce. I decided to make um... Coconut-ginger-peanut-lasagna-with-kale-and-shrimp. Right. What is that, even? I don't know either. It was right after my workout, I was delirious, I was feeling experimental, and I was hungry. That's really a dangerous combination. Turns out, it's not terrible. But it definitely isn't recipe-shareable. It kind of tasted exactly how it sounds. I didn't finish the bowl.
The recipe that totally IS worthy of a share, however, is my Thai peanut sauce. I prefer it to the bottled kind that I bought, which is good, because it's cheaper. It's good with chicken, it's good over noodles, it's good as a dipping sauce... it's just good. My little sisters and I LOVE IT. Dave could take it or leave it, but we have opposite taste preferences. Mine has got some heat, but you could easily knock the heat down a few notches.
Thai Peanut Sauce-2 cloves of garlic minced
-about 1/2 inch of fresh grated ginger (ginger packs a punch, so if you don't want heat, use less ginger. also, to store extra ginger grate it, wrap it up, and freeze it. Just cut off however much you need and it'll thaw as you're cooking next time!)
-1 1/4 cup of milk
-1 1/4 cup of peanut butter. *normal peanut butter is pretty darn unhealthy. It's loaded with sugar, which I didn't know until recently. I bought a jar of peanut butter that's only ingredient is peanut. This recipe is based around THAT type of peanut butter. Using "normal" peanut butter will throw the recipe off.
-about a tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce
-salt and pepper to taste (not really a need to add salt since you're using soy sauce and garlic salt, but Mr. Hagen adds salt to everything)
-3 pinches of red pepper flakes (again, use less if you don't want much heat)
-and about a tablespoon of garlic salt
-let the garlic and ginger sit in the pan for a bit to heat up and release their flavor
-add the other ingredients and keep stirring! if it sits, the peanut butter won't melt well
- let it all cook together until it's melty and heated through (such technical lingo)
Dave ALWAYS adds more milk to his bowl because he prefers it runny. I like my sauce to be thick... so if you like yours a little less "much" like my husband does, just add a little milk until it's the consistency you prefer.
Let me know what you think, if you try it. I'm pretty new to actually writing down recipes as I go. I'm normally an 'eyeball it and figure out what it needs later' kind of gal. Moral of the story: if you're shopping in whole foods and you see a version of something you make that you already like, save your money for Agave cola.
