sesame noodles supreme

my boy is very private.  you wouldn't know it once you get to know him, but he doesn't like it when i talk about him.  or write about him here.  or share his photo.  very private at the age of almost-nine.  so i had to ask for permission before sharing this story.  and he said it would be alright if i wrote here about how he made dinner on monday night.

first, i ought to tell you that we cook together a lot.  in our family, each child cooks one dish of their own choosing each week.  they have some great kids cookbooks that they use for choosing, though often a dish comes from their imagination, or a meal they've eaten in a restaurant, or something they've read about in a book.  it might be something for dinner or dessert or a weekend brunch, anything.  they choose, they cook, i stay out of the way as much as i can manage.  but since we've been remodeling the kitchen for most of the summer, we've been out of the routine, and we've all missed it, i think.

last week, the kids wanted to cook dinner.  the whole meal.  all by themselves.  they asked and asked, but circumstances beyond my control forced me to say "no" day after day.  sunday night they finally had the chance to prepare sesame noodles - the dish they were most eager to make (where they came up with this particular idea, i'm not certain) - in a hurry and with a lot of help from dad.  it was a delicious side dish - the pasta with a sesame sauce, but all through dinner we came up with embellishments, "it would be great with a little bit of this."  or, "maybe we should add a little bit of that." 

so monday, after the first day of school, we made it again.  and we made it supreme.  or, rather, b. made it again, and b. made it supreme.  he started with the same basic sauce as the night before, and the adjustments we had come up with at dinner, and then he added vegetables and added eggs and tofu until he had a whole meal in one bowl!  i might have made a suggestion or two, and i scrambled the eggs and boiled the pasta and the rice, but that was about it.  he even threw his vegetable scraps into the compost.  i was so proud of him.  he was so proud of himself.  and dinner was delicious.  

i couldn't resist sharing his recipe.  (with permission, of course!)

sesame noodles supreme

10 ounces whole wheat linguini, boiled and drained

1 cup brown rice, cooked

3 T safflower oil

3 T sesame oil

2 T toasted sesame oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 gigantic spoonfuls of crunchy peanut butter

4 T soy sauce

juice of one lemon (the recipe called for a lime, but we only had a lemon and it worked just fine)

3 T toasted sesame seeds

salt and pepper to taste

4 scallions, chopped

1/2 red pepper, diced

3 eggs, scrambled

1 block tofu, cubed

toss the noodles and rice together

add in the veggies, egg, and tofu

mix the sauce ingredients together and pour over the noodle mixture

toss together and enjoy warm or at room temperature or chilled from the fridge the next day

Comments

[Alicia A.]

he sounds like a peachy boy. shhhh... don't tell him I said that- he might be embarrassed. ;)

[leslie]

you have no idea how impressed i am!really!!!

and my kids are such slackers. :)i really have to get them cooking!!!

[Sarah Jackson]

yum! I hope he doesn't mind if my 10 year old boy tries his recipe. He thinks it sounds delicious.

[~kristina~]

Mmm, thanks for sharing the secret recipe. Sounds yummy.

[Grace]

oh-so-cute!! I love it!

[Rhonda]

My goodness... I am so proud of him, too! Believe it or not, I make a similar dish and I'm more than 3 times his age! I add a little hoisin sauce and chili sauce to the peanut butter to give it a sweet and sour kick. And i hard boil the eggs with the noodles to keep from using another pot. Fantastic story and I love the idea of having kids make their own dishes. Are they making their own cookbooks too?

[Tracy]

That sounds delicious. I think it's great that they cook something on their own each week. You definitely won't have kids who grow up not knowing how to cook!

[erica]

Delurking to say that this sounds wonderful! I'm so very impressed by b.'s work. Thank you and thank him for sharing. I think this recipe might make me get over my ambivalence to tofu, because I'm definitely going to have to try it.

[ani]

yum! i'll have to try that one this week!

i used to cook a meal a week when i was young. i think i need to start asking for more imput from kidlet...

[hrsj]

you had me at the three giant spoonfuls of peanut butter. :)

[molly]

i just ate lunch and now i'm hungry...

i can't wait for the days that my girls are getting in the kitchen together and i get to sit back and watch what they create!

[erin]

how fantastic is that?!?go b!and thank you for sharing.

[martha]

your kids are amazing. good job mama!

[amisha]

oh yum!and how awesome that the kids cook!! that sounds like such a fantastic family tradition. i don't think i learned to cook till i was about 20... or 25 :)xox

[Briana]

That sounds delicious! Your son is on his way to becoming a chef! If not professionally, someday he will be able to woo any lady he wants with his cooking! ;)

[bigbucketgirl]

My 9yr old, private, boy is begging to try this out for us!Thank you!

[B!]

My recipe.