Sesame Noodles

In my quest to find something that my kids will eat I started thinking about the "crap" they eat over and over again when we go out. Panda Express is a favorite for their Orange Chicken and Lo Mein. I actually found a copy cat recipe for Orange Chicken on the Internet, but we'll save that for another night. Tonight, I wanted something quick because we were all starving. I had a few leftover things that needed to be used up..so, Sesame Noodles it turned out to be. Took about 15 minutes and both kids LOVED it.

1 1/2 Skinless Chicken Breasts chopped
1 Carrot diced
1/2 small Onion diced
2 Cloves Garlic minced
2 T Garlic Butter
3-4 t Sesame Oil
4-5 t Soy Sauce
8 oz Thin Spaghetti cooked

Start your water to boil, either salt or throw in a couple of chicken bouillon cubes. When water is boiling, break your pasta in half, throw in a cook. Thin spaghetti cooks relatively fast and that's why it's a favorite around here. Drain pasta. Chop up your carrots, onion and garlic and saute with 1 T garlic butter (see below) for about 4 minutes. Throw in your chicken, 1 T garlic butter and some salt and pepper, taste to make sure you have it seasoned to your liking. Cook until chicken is done, about 4 minutes. Add your pasta. Drizzle 3 t of Sesame Oil and 4 t of soy sauce over pasta. Give it a toss. Taste, if you can't taste the sesame, add another teaspoon. If you need a bit more salt, add another teaspoon of soy sauce. Toss again and serve.

If it was just for me, I would have added some chopped spinach or cooked asparagus with the pasta or some sesame seeds but it wasn't so..plain and easy it was tonight.

GARLIC BUTTER...I had made some for another recipe which I'll share later but basically, just take a stick of softened butter and add 1 t of garlic powder. Mix it up, give it a little taste, if you want a more garlic taste, add a bit more.
I bought some real carrots! You know the kind with the green tops, the kind you have to *gasp" peel;) I haven't done that in forever but they taste so much better and I was feeling crazy so "real" carrots are on the menu tonight. If you don't have "real" carrots, as I typically don't..just use a handful of baby carrots and give them a good dice. If you're using the "real" thing, peel, slice in half and then slice down the middle again and start chopping.
This is what it should look like. You want them to cook relatively quick unless you want some crunch in your meal so the smaller the better. Also, if they are small, they stick to the noodles and the kids can't pick around them as easily;)
Throw the carrots, diced onion and garlic in the pan with 1 T garlic butter. If you use something other than the garlic butter (I don't know why you would because butter is the BEST but if you're trying to be healthy...I get it, make sure you add a bit of garlic powder to the vegetables.
I only had 1 1/2 chicken breasts thawed, you could easily use a whole package of chicken breast to make this more substantial but my kids don't eat much meat when it's mixed into something.
Cook your chicken with another tablespoon of butter and season to taste with salt and pepper, you don't need to adjust the amount of butter if you use more chicken, we just want to give it a bit of the butter flavor.
Add your pasta, sesame oil and soy sauce. Toss it about and taste. Adjust seasoning accordingly.
Here is the Sesame Oil I bought in the Asian aisle at the grocery store. It really makes a HUGE difference in taste. Add sparingly because it has a BIG flavor.
Done...that will be $5.95 or did you want to add a drink with that??