Sichuan Chicken Noodles

I was feeling so confident after my chicken Marvasala dish (below) that I invited a friend over to taste this dish that I found from the "America's Test Kitchen 30-minute suppers" book (www.cooksillustrated.com). However, when I went to the door to buzz him in, my husband took a taste of my concoction and said that it was...well not up to par. Therefore, he added some special ingredients. See below. I will get there!

Recipe serves one Ironman triathlete, and two normal people.

Lesson learned from this recipe:
• It is important to read the directions...instead of the 1/2 cup of peanut butter, I added a full cup by accident!
• Use Asian noodles instead of linguine...(the linguine stuck together and it was a real mess!)
• Add some additional veggies...this will make it healthier and more exciting.
• Joe added some fresh basil from our basil plant, "Mr. B"
• He also added a little bit of Splenda to taste.

Here is the recipe:
1 pound chicken breast sliced into bite sized pieces.
3 T rice vinegar
3 T soy sauce
1 T chili garlic sauce
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 T oyster sauce (DO NOT smell this...ewwww)
1 T olive oil
1 T grated fresh ginger
Salt to taste
1 pound dried Asian noodles (do not use linguine)
1 1/2 cup button mushrooms
1 1/2 cup tomatoes sliced to your preference

1. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot for the noodles. Combine chicken, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 table spoon soy sauce, and chili-garlic sauce in medium bowl, whisk broth, peanut butter, oyster sauce, remaining vinegar, and remaining soy sauce.

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken mixture and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms here and cook for another 5 minutes.

3. If you have a small grater, grate the fresh ginger and then stir in ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth mixture and the tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon salt and noodles to boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of cooking water, drain noodles, and return to pot. Add sauce and toss to combine, adding reserved pasta water as needed. Serve with love and serve cupcakes for dessert!