Spiralized Zucchini Noodles with Peanut Sauce

This is for those times when you don't want your zucchini noodles to taste like diet noodles. The key is really cooking the noodles down in the sauce. The noodles become the vehicle for the fatty flavor of the peanut-sesame sauce. It's a beautiful thing. 

Another key: some brightness in the form of lime, ginger, and cilantro. You don't want to feel like you're eating straight peanut butter (save that for eating straight peanut butter). 

RECIPE: 

Spiralize 4 zucchinis on the largest setting. Slice 1/3 of a cabbage into 1/4-inch ribbons. Add cabbage and zucchini in wok with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute on high uncovered for 3 minutes until fragrant. Turn stove to low and cover for 5 minutes, to sweat out the veggies.

In the meantime, make peanut sauce and the veggies you don't want to overcook. Mix 2 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of chopped ginger. Chop two bell peppers and spiralize one carrot. Add veggies and peanut mixture to the veggies. You'll have to break up the peanut butter. Resist the urge to water it down because there's plenty of water in the wok. You don't want the sauce too watery. 

Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add juice of 1 lime, cilantro, and toasted peanuts before serving. 

Friday Links | 5.8.15

Happy Friday! This weekend I'm seeing my family for Mother's Day so there will be a lot of cooking, eating, and perhaps a visit to the zoo or a garden (Tom family traditions). I'm also seeing Ex Machina tonight. I think it's funny that Ava, the AI woman, is a Natalie Portman lookalike (though isn't played by Natalie Portman). I have a theory that all sciencey guys are in love with Natalie Portman. 

Anyway, on to links! 

Mariah Carey starts her 2-year Caesar's Palace "residency". Jon Caraminica of the New York Times basically describes her show as a case of morbid rubber-necking: a train wreck you can't take your eyes off. Yikes. In college, I saw Celine during her Caesar's residency and it was magical. I hope Mariah can bring it! Surely she has it in her. 

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my friend Andrea, the co-inventor of the LuminAID inflatable solar light. Well, now her former professor has a Kickstarter with a very similar product called the SolarPuff. WTF, right? I know a little about this, but I don't feel equipped to comment on this very serious intellectual property issue. Not to mention student-teacher ethics. So I'll just quote from the comment board, where people have not been shy about calling the project out: 

Like others in the comments below, I have given $1 only in order to help shed some light (pun intended) on the backstory of this project. I was once a student of Alice's, (and later a collaborator and co-teacher) and I was a student in the studio Alice taught in which she claims to have asked students to work with inflatable lights - this never happened. Anna and Andrea began to develop the LuminAid from their own independent research, LuminAid was completely their design and Alice started presenting the idea of the SolarPuff as her own only after Anna and Andrea made it clear that they would continue to develop LuminAid beyond their initial work in the studio. Its unfortunate to see that this misrepresentation has continued and the SolarPuff is being passed off as something it is not - there is certainly room in the world for many great designers to be working on behalf of the public good - but this seems like a good old fashioned case of intellectual theft and crafty marketing. It should be fine for a teacher to admit being inspired by their students without having to rewrite history to claim influence for the work of others. 

The other day, I posted my interpretation of April Bloomfield's whole-roasted cauliflower -- and she commented on it! I'm not one to get too starry-eyed when a "brand" engages with you (that's what they're supposed to do these days). But I had a major fangirl moment here (I also believe that April Bloomfield does her own social media, but I could be wrong). 

From McSweeney's: 13 Creative Writing Exercises for Women. "Write your greatest fear on a Post-it note. Place the Post-it at the corner of your eye before applying liquid liner, to create the perfect cat-eye." Ha! 

This article describes the lifestyle-office-crafting of Brad Sherman, who has designed offices/event spaces/Instagram stages for startups like Casper, Sakara Life, and Food52. I've been to the Food52 office -- it's basically like a Hamptons beach house meets a professional kitchen -- and I can see why he's in such high demand. 

And, related to the pic above. This goop-exclusive Spiralizer makes me laugh. It's very, very similar to the basic model, but 60% more. Why? Someone please enlighten me.

And, last, here's the recipe for the dish above. This is a true got-home-from-work-wanna-make-something-really-fast recipe. On days like that, I'm not making my own sauce and meatballs. This has a bunch of pre-made stuff, plus some stuff to round it out and make it fresher. 

RECIPE: 

Sautée 3 shallots, 4 garlic cloves, and 3 chopped carrots until sweating. Add 5 pieces of chopped turkey bacon. Add chicken meatballs. (I like Aidells Caramelized Onion. I also like to halve them because I like to spread out the meat more.) 

When everything is browned, add a can of crushed tomatoes and half a bottle of jarred sauce (I like Rao's). Add 3 glugs of soy sauce for extra umami. Simmer for 45 minutes. Add spiralized zucchini. Let them wilt, about 5 minutes or more, depending on how limp you like them. Serve.