Whole Wheat Sesame Noodles with Spicy Peanut-Sriracha Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
• generous amount of salt, added to water for cooking pasta
• 2 cups coleslaw mix, shredded napa cabbage or shredded cabbage
• 2 cups sliced sugar snap peas
• 1 red bell pepper, seeds and stem cut away and then thinly sliced
• 3 green onions, cut in thin diagonal slices
• 1 T sesame seeds, optional
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 3 T Tamari or soy sauce
• 1 T rice vinegar
• 1 T Sriracha Sauce 
• 1 T sesame oil
• 1-2 T sweetener of your choice
• salt to taste, optional

Directions

Break spaghetti in half. Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil, then add spaghetti and cook until barely al dente (The spaghetti should still be slightly chewy. I cooked this pasta not quite 9 minutes.)While spaghetti cooks, measure 2 cups coleslaw mix (or slice cabbage). slice green onions, slice sugar-snap peas, and slice red pepper strips.Put the peanut butter into a big glass measuring cup and microwave 20-30 seconds, until it’s just starting to soften. Then add the Tamari or soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha Sauce to taste, sesame oil, and 1 T sweetener. Whisk together to make a creamy sauce. Taste to see if you want more sweetener (or more Sriracha if you really like it spicy.) You might also want to add a pinch of salt if you’d like it a bit more salty. You can also add a tablespoon or so of water if the sauce seems too thick.When it’s done, drain spaghetti into a colander placed in the sink, then rinse with very cold water and let drain well.When spaghetti is well drained, put noodles in a bowl, add sauce, and gently stir to coat all the noodles with sauce. Stir in the veggies and gently combine.If desired, put sesame seeds in a small frying pan on the stove and toast for a minute or so. (If you buy toasted sesame seeds you can skip this step.)Put finished noodle into a bowl, garnish with sesame seeds and a few extra slices of green onion, and serve.Leftovers of this will keep in the fridge for a few days. I eat them cold, but you could microwave very briefly to heat if you prefer.