Spicy Thai Noodles

So I’m kind of good at just throwing something together and it being pretty darn yummy. I’m not sure if it comes from my love of Food Network and watching how the chefs blend flavors for their amazing dishes or if it is an offshoot that stems from my other super power of  being able to mix and match exactly any color with paint. I’d like to credit imagination and just being willing to experiment. I’ve had plenty of misses, to be sure, but those are few and far between.

This dish was one of those throw something together and hope for the best kind of meals and it did not disappoint! It seems like a lot of steps but it only took about 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook. It also probably seems like a lot of ingredients, but it’s stuff I had already in my supply and some of it is personal taste and you can substitute ready made sauce or curry seasonings. Also I honestly didn’t measure anything (I know, don’t you hate it when people say that?!) but... I did try to guesstimate for the recipe I am sharing. You may want to adjust any of the spices to your own taste- ours was nice and spicy- like good Thai food should be.

I started off by marinating my chicken tenders- throw them in a gallon zip bag, add all the marinade ingredients below and squish around. Put them in the fridge for a few hours or overnight and just every so often go squish them around some more.
Chicken Tenders Marinade:
3T Sriracha
1T Minced garlic
1/3 C Soy
1T Fish sauce
1 T Ginger paste

To cook: splash some EVOO in a non-stick skillet and dump the entire contents of the bag into your warm pan. Just keep flipping these until they are done through- about 10 minutes or so. Remove chicken from pan and deglaze with some chicken stock, soy, and any seasonings in the list below you like, and thicken with a TBSP of cornstarch. Set sauce aside to pour over everything once you add veggies and noodles. You can chop your chicken into smaller bits and then toss with your veggies once they are done.

While your chicken is cooking, get a deep skillet or wok if you have one, and add a couple spoons of EVOO, rice vinegar, onion, garlic, fresh thai basil and sage. Sauté until onions start to go clear and then add the rest of your veggies and seasonings and stir it up to mix the seasoning. Cover and let cook on low for 5-7 minutes. Add chicken broth, cover and let steam for another 7-10 minutes. You want your veggies done but still firm. Remove from heat and squeeze the juice of orange over the top of your veggies and toss to coat.  Add chicken and noodles and then pour the sauce you set aside earlier over all of it and toss to coat.

Veggies: (what I used but freestyle your own favorites)
2 Zucchini chopped
1 C red, yellow, orange pepper rings- I use the small ones that come in the variety bag
1C Celery chopped
1/2 Onion chopped
2T minced Garlic
1/2 jalapeño minced
2-3 nice sprigs of Thai basil- leave whole
2-3 sprigs of Pineapple sage- leave whole

Seasonings for veggies and sauce: all to taste, but I didn’t use more than a tsp of any of them- except chicken stock... that was maybe 1/2 cup.
1/2 C Chicken broth
Salt/pepper
Turmeric
Chinese 5 Spice
Cloves
Twisted Q Asian
Soy
Juice of one orange

Noodles:

1 pkg of spaghetti or linguine cooked

**Note: I used leftover spaghetti noodles from the night before but you can make some fresh noodles. I find they taste better and fry better if they are a day old and cold, but it’s a personal preference.

Like I said, it was an easy weeknight throw together dinner, I do that a lot, and this time took only 3 bites before I had to stop and write it all down so I could share with you! I hope you enjoy it!