Make It Once, Use It 3 Times

Lifestyle expert Roni Proter says you can make it once and use it three times. She reinvents dinner with recipes for shrimp spring rolls, chicken satay and Asian noodles all with the same Thai peanut sauce.

Thai Peanut Sauce

10 oz natural, salted creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup coconut milk
5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or sushi vinegar)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 knob fresh ginger
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Depending on the thickness of your peanut butter, you may need to add more water to thin the sauce. Add 1/4 cup at a time until you have a thick, creamy, pourable sauce. Top on chicken satay, spring rolls or toss in pasta.

Shrimp Spring Rolls

10 rice paper spring roll wrappers
7 oz bag vermicelli rice noodles
1 cucumber, peeled and julienned
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
12 cooked shrimps peeled, deveined and sliced in half lengthwise
handful of fresh basil leaves
handful of fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup Thai Peanut Sauce for serving

Bring a pot of water to boil. Place the vermicelli noodles and cook for 1 minute. Drain, Reserve 1 cup of very hot water, allowing to cool enough to handle (but still very warm). Place in a shallow, wide bowl. Dip a rice paper wrapper on both sides in the water. Do not submerge, this process is very quick. Remove and place on a dry cutting board. Working quickly, place a small handful of noodles, vegetables, shrimp and finally basil (or cilantro) and fold like a burrito. Continue with remaining rice paper, replacing hot water when it cools. Serve with peanut sauce.

Chicken Satay

4 boneless chicken breasts, trimmed
1 cup of Thai Peanut Sauce, plus more for dipping
bamboo or wood skewers
diced mango
chopped cilantro
chopped scallions
fried rice

Slice the chicken into thin, long strip. Toss in 1 cups of peanut sauce and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.Skewer the chicken, reserving any liquid remaining. Heat your grill to medium high heat and grill the skewered chicken, brushing on any remaining sauce every couple of minutes or until chicken is cooked.  Serve over fried rice with diced mango, cilantro and scallions.

Asian Peanut Noodles

1 cup peanut sauce
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 chopped roasted, chopped peanuts
sliced red bell pepper
1 package spaghetti

Cook spaghetti al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the hot pasta water.  Toss the spaghetti with the peanut sauce, adding a tablespoon of hot water at a time, until the sauce coats all the spaghetti well.  Add the red bell pepper slices and scallion and toss.