Quick Meal: Sweet and Spicy Soba Noodles

More often than not Trey and I come home from work and are super hungry. I'm sometimes on the verge of "hangry". It's that feeling when you start to get grumpy/angry, because you're so hungry. So we need to make dinner, and fast! 

This dinnertime crunch usually results in us making something in the pasta/stir fry department. Trey could eat the same dinner for weeks in a row. I am a little more picky. I am always tweaking or adjusting past dishes we've made. I just like variety, what can I say? This will for sure be making it onto our fast dinners rotation. It's super quick to make, pretty healthy and involves ingredients that we usually have on hand anyway. Except for soba noodles. I will just have to remember to buy those more often. Turns out they are awesome! Since the weather is starting to cool down, I served this dish hot. But this could easily be adapted into a cold pasta dish too, as soba noodles are awesome cold. Sweet and Spicy Soba Noodles, serves 2-3

6 oz soba noodles
6 oz cooked shrimp (or shredded chicken)
1 red bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add a little more if you really like it spicy!)
2-3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

First cook the soba noodles in boiling water for 5-6 minutes. Drain and set aside.Remove the tails from the shrimp (optional, but I hate doing this afterwards while eating). Slice up the red pepper. Cook these together in a hot skillet with a tablespoon or so of olive oil just until the peppers start to soften. Then, add the cooked noodles to the pan and turn the heat down to low/medium.

In a small bowl combine the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes and minced garlic. Stir to combine. Pour over the noddles, shrimp, and peppers. Cook for 6-8 minutes until the liquid has reduced some. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions.Dinner is served, in around 30 minutes or less. Score! Enjoy. xo. Emma

Credits// Author and Photography: Emma Chapman