Spicy Peanut Soba Noodles With Green Beans

Scott Suchman for The Washington Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

An easy pantry-friendly peanut sauce is the star of this recipe. Chili-garlic sauce adds just enough spice for a pleasant tingle. Soba noodles have a delightful nuttiness that complements the sauce, but you could use any thin noodle in its place (see NOTES). Saute the frozen or canned green beans before mixing with the sauce and noodles for a quick vegan meal.

Make Ahead: The sauce can refrigerated for up to 1 week. The noodles can be cooked, refreshed with cold water and tossed with a bit of neutral oil, and then refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Storage Notes: Refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Where to Buy: Soba noodles, chili-garlic sauce and rice vinegar can be found in well-stocked supermarkets, Asian markets or online.

When you scale a recipe, keep in mind that cooking times and temperatures, pan sizes and seasonings may be affected, so adjust accordingly. Also, amounts listed in the directions will not reflect the changes made to ingredient amounts.

Tested size: 4 servings; about 6 cups

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles according to the package instructions; do not overcook. Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold running water to stop the cooking. Thoroughly drain again.

While the noodles are cooking, in a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, water, chili-garlic sauce, rice vinegar and soy sauce or tamari until combined; set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the green beans, season with a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the green beans start to brown in spots, 5 to 7 minutes; remove from the heat.

Add the drained soba noodles and peanut sauce to the green beans and toss to combine. Taste and season with more salt and/or pepper, if needed. Transfer to a large platter or individual bowls and sprinkle with some chopped peanuts before serving.

If you don’t have soba noodles, try another thin noodle, such as vermicelli rice noodles or angel hair pasta.

Sriracha also works well in this recipe, or you could try it with whatever hot sauce you have on hand.

You can use another mild vinegar, such as apple cider or white wine, in place of the rice vinegar.

From Voraciously staff writer Aaron Hutcherson.

Tested by Aaron Hutcherson and Jim Webster.

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