My Foodie Call

Whole Wheat Sesame Noodles with Veggies

Here is a recent family meal that was a hit. And trust me. Many are not.

And boy do those kids let me know.

I always hear, “Are you going to blog about this??”

…followed by how either I should or shouldn’t.

Thanks, guys.

Example you ask? Well, I tried to make “Oatmeal hot chocolate pancakes” a few weeks ago.

Epic fail.

The pancakes tasted good, but the texture was just wrong and weird and just WRONG.

However, this meal was not.

What I personally liked the best about this dish was the toasted sesame seeds. LOVE THEM. Also having a nice tahini sauce for a change was good. I have done the peanut butter sauce/noodle thing several times and it’s good and all, but been there done that. Tahini for today.

Do you have tahini? Or even know what it is? It’s just sesame seeds ground up into a paste. Give it a shot. Buy it. Try it.  Look for it near the peanut butter/almond butter section of the “healthy” section of your grocery store.

As always, here is a closer look at how this meal goes down.

 When I am pressed for time, I use my “cheater bags”.

Pre-cut bags. Yes, easy. Yes, lazy.

Fine chop your broccoli either by hand or get even lazier and use the pulse button on your food processor.

Add green onion…

Cook your spaghetti, carrot…

and broccoli concoction…

Toast your sesame seeds…

Mix your sauce, seeds, noodles and veggies. Done.

Whole Wheat Sesame Noodles with Veggies

Ingredients:

The Sauce

• 2 tablespoons tahini (You could use peanut butter here and I am sure it would still be good, but will not be the same. Try for the tahini!)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 3 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

The Noodles

• 8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
• 1- 12oz package broccoli florets, fine chopped
• 1- 10 oz package shredded carrots
• 3/4 cup green onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted at 350 degrees for 10 minutes total, (stirring after 5 minutes).
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions: 

Sauce

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir well with a whisk. (Note: if your tahini is a tiny bit hard, heat in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to make it easier to whisk into the sauce.)

Spaghetti and Veggie

***Spaghetti and veggies will all be cooked together, but vary on time.***

1. To prepare spaghetti, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water for  8 minutes. DO NOT DRAIN.
2. Add bag of carrots. Cook for 1 minute.
3. Add fine-chopped broccoli. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Drain pot of pasta and veggies. Place in a large bowl.
5. Sprinkle with chopped green onion, sesame seeds and salt.
6. Pour sauce evenly over the noodles and toss well.

Whole Wheat Sesame Noodles and Veggies.