Chicken sesame noodle stir fry

Focussing on anything other than wedding stuff (2 weeks’ away) is very hard at the moment. I’m loving the preparations: list making, crossing off lists, spreadsheets, more list making, emailing guests with their responsibilities for the day (really!)… I am in my anally retentive element! It is exciting but also draining. It’s nice to think about and do something totally non wedding. Like this. Making dinner and then blogging it. My wedding weary brain is thankful for something else to cogitate on other than stick on bras (will it hold them up is my worry) and whether the pasta course will be too much (that’s after the antipasti and before the main course)…

The inspiration for the dish comes from a wonderful Nigella noodle salad that I have made before (with different vegetables) and really enjoyed. This time I took the dressing elements, tweaked them slightly and made a sauce instead. Also adding chicken and different vegetables. It is a total winner and this is why: it’s crowd pleasing (everyone loved it), easy as pie, mega healthy, and uber quick. This will be made again in our house.

Next time I’ll make it with prawns, or just keep it veggie. You may notice that there is a stupendous amount of sesame seeds in our dish. We do like them, but this was unintentional – the bag slipped and a several large handfuls, let alone tablespoons, went in. Most of which I managed to scoop out…

We enjoyed it with hot sriracha chilli sauce on the side. If not eating with kids why not add a fresh chilli or two with the garlic?

To make enough for 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 kids:
1 tbsn vegetable oil
2 or 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (free-range or organic), cut into thick slices
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 carrots, sliced lengthways into as thin strips as you can manage!
2 courgettes, sliced just as thin, lengthways
1 yellow pepper, again, sliced super thin
1 tbsn sesame oil
1 tbsn light soy sauce
2 tbsns sweet chilli sauce or jam
1 tbsn crunchy peanut butter (or smooth)
Juice 1/2 lime
3 tbns of sesame seeds (see note, above!)
275g fine rice noodles (or similar)
Large handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

• Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok until smoking. Fry chicken until sealed. About 5 minutes should do.
• Add carrots and fry for 2 minutes. Then add courgettes and peppers, garlic too. Stir fry for about 5 more minutes. 
• Measure in the sesame oil, soy sauce, peanut butter, chilli sauce and lime juice and stir well until the sauce is combined and coats the meat and vegetables. 
• Throw in noodles and sesame seeds and toss to coat well. 
• Scatter most of the coriander and toss again. 
• Serve with more coriander and wedges of lime.