This week is all about sauces and what you can do with them. I thought it would be fun to showcase easy things to make that will allow different dinner options than your typical store bought sauces. To be fair and completely honest, when I work all week and want food on the table before 8pm, sometimes store bought is the best way to go about getting that job done.
My attempt this week is to give you a few different basic sauces that can help you spice up the standard weeknight meal. You can make them ahead of time and they are ready to go when you are. The first one is this homemade peanut sauce. There are a variety of different peanut sauces out there, depending on their origin, the flavors will vary between Chinese, Thai, Indonesian or a variety of other Asian & African cultures. This recipe isn’t of any specific origin and was truly thrown together through taste. Which makes it a wonderful base if you would like to add more to it (see variations).
One of the best parts about this sauce is that there isn’t much prep that is involved in it and it comes together quite quickly. Which means that you can make it ahead of time or in my case, while the noodles are boiling and the chicken is cooking.
Uses for the Peanut Sauce:
- Dipping Sauce for any Meat – Chicken, Beef, Fish, Tofu
- Basting for Grilled Meats
- Coating Noodles (Soba or Udon) or Rice as Side Dish
Homemade Peanut Sauce
Ingredients:
- Can Unsweetened Coconut Milk
- 3/4 Cup Peanut Butter
- 2 Tbls Sesame Oil
- 2 Tbls low sodium soy sauce
- 1-2 Tbls Sriracha (depending on the level of spice you want in your sauce)
- 2 tsp ground ginger or fresh ginger grated
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Juice from one lime
Preparation:
- Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat and whisk until fully incorporated. Do not bring to a boil, just heat long enough for all the ingredients to become one.
- As the sauce heats, taste frequently and add more peanut butter, ginger, soy or lime as needed till you reach your desired flavor.
- Serve in any manor you would like as mentioned above. If you are making this ahead of time, cool slightly and place in sealed container in fridge until serving – reheat on the stove before serving. Sauce is good up to 1 1/2 weeks in the fridge.
Variations / Additions – Other foodie items that can be added depending on your palate:
- Cumin
- Curry Powder
- Lemongrass
- Shallots
- Caramelized Onion
- Hoisen Sauce
- Chinese 5 Spice
- Sugar
- Chili Pepper
- Lemon Juice
Happy Saucing!!!
