Spicy Peanut Noodles

We had a potluck at church this past Sunday, and since it was Pentecost, we decided to take spicy food. We've been making peanut sauce for steamed vegetables for awhile, but haven't written about it (since we haven't written at all in...years). I made some lo mein noodles, some peanut sauce, and some steamed vegetables as follows:

Ok, I'm not actually going to tell you how to boil lo mein noodles--just read the directions on the package. Yes, I am advocating following directions in this instance.

Peanut Sauce (usual recipe)
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
some ginger
some garlic
3 Tbsp (at least) peanut butter (chunky or creamy)
some Sriracha chili sauce (depending on your heat tolerance levels)

Stir together on lowish heat until the peanut butter is melted and everything is mixed nicely.

I thought we didn't have any sesame oil, so instead of sesame oil, per Ryan's suggestion, I heated some canola oil in the pan and then dumped in a lot of black sesame seeds and stirred for several minutes until they seemed toasty. Then I added the rest of the peanut sauce ingredients, and when it was done, I added the now-boiled lo mein noodles and transferred everything to a big bowl.

While making the peanut sauce, I steamed carrots and broccoli for 10 minutes. After 5 of those minutes, I added some red bell pepper strips. After 2 more minutes, I added a large handful of sugar snap peas. When the vegetables were done, I mixed them into the noodles and added some green onions.

We usually eat things like this hot, but since it's hard to keep food warm at church through the entire service, we stuck this in the fridge and served it cold. I liked it cold; Ryan wasn't convinced.