Coconut Peanut Butter Chicken Over Soba Noodles

Sometimes within this new food adventure, you have to fly by the seat of your new pants!  When you are looking for what to make for dinner, and have bought some "new to you" items, and have no time to go looking up a recipe on the internet...you just have to do some quick thinking! Be creative and think to yourself what tastes might go together. Don't be afraid! It's just food. What did I have? I recently purchased pastured organic chicken, soba pasta, and coconut milk. I had seen some recipes for Thai coconut soups that included hots, which I would never use, and fish sauce which I have never bought. So... what to do...what to do...

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I thought about how much I loved sesame-peanut butter noodles. I had no sesame oil either. So I just started to throw some things together and this is what I came up with for a dinner that did not take very long to make either. 

Coconut Peanut Butter Chicken Over Soba Noodles

1 pkg soba noodles (70% organic spring wheat 30% organic buckwheat) 

Pastured chicken pieces cut up (whatever amount serves two people in your family)
1/2 can or 6 oz of lite coconut milk
2 large heaping TBs peanut butter
2 oz soy sauce
1 or 2 tsp Penzey's Maharajah Curry powder
1/2 tsp Penzey's Vietnamese Extra Fancy Cinnamon 

1/2 inch fresh ginger chopped and minced

whole wheat bread crumbs
3 oz coconut water
1 TBs coconut oil

Slivered almonds

Optional: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, hemp seeds

Saute chicken pieces in coconut oil. Sprinkle whole wheat bread crumbs over chicken and brown till cooked, turning often. In a small bowl mix peanut butter and soy sauce, add enough soy to make the peanut butter look like loose shiny caramel, add coconut water to chicken when it has browned, and stir the bottom of pan to gather the pan juices. Let thicken a bit. Then add the lite coconut milk, spices, and ginger. Stir in the peanut butter and soy sauce mixture. Continue to cook till the consistency you desire. If sauce is too thick add more coconut milk to thin it out. (If you like things hot n' spicy you can add some of whatever that is for you at this time too).

Serve over the cooked Soba noodles with a side of lightly steamed, but still crunchy sugar snap pea pods. Garnish with slivered almonds.

When the hubby came home, I asked him if he was ready to try something I just made up today? He told me I was the best 'whooper-upper,' and he would be happy to try whatever I had created. You know what? Ben said it was one of the best meals he ever had, and that I better remember how I did it!

For the next day leftovers: I added sesame seeds, hemp seeds, and poppy seeds to the sauce mixture. Plus I poured in the rest of the lite coconut milk to extend the sauce. It was still delish!

Be brave and just make things up with these 'new to you' ingredients! It just might be the best thing you ever tasted!