Hoisin Cashew Chicken Noodles

I've got 2 chicken breasts left from last night's meal, so we'll go with another Asian inspired meal tonight. Some organic broccoli is also residing in our fridge, and I've got some angel hair spelt pasta in the pantry. Just need a sauce to bring it all together. The cashew hoisin dipping sauce from the spring rolls we made went over really well with both the Monster and myself, so I think I'll make up a batch of that and thin it with some of the pasta water. I've got another batch of green onions that I'll lightly saute and toss in with the whole works and call that dinner.

ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!!! The organic broccoli was riddled with buggies that I could NOT wash out! Ick! Organic good, bug infested that you can't wash out, baaaaaad. Not up for that extra protein tonight...sorry.

Alright let's revisit the fridge. Looks like it's going to be those green onions, a weenie bit of red pepper, and a bunch of fresh basil. There's a cucumber and carrots that can pass as a salad. Ok, crisis averted.
Onward!

Hoisin Cashew Chicken Noodles:

~1-2 tsp canola oil
cubed cooked marinated chicken (2 breasts from last night)
a bunch of green onions, sliced in ~2 inch lengths on the diagonal
~1/2 red pepper, diced
spelt angel hair pasta (or chinese egg noodles)
hoisin cashew sauce (recipe follows)
3 ladles full of reserved pasta water, save more than you think you'd need
generous handful of rough chopped basil
lime wedges

Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
When water is boiling, heat canola oil in a non-stick skillet over med.-high heat.
Drop noodles (the spelt only takes 4 minutes), and saute red pepper and onions for a couple minutes. Add diced chicken and warm though. Drain noodles, and toss into skillet with as much sauce as you'd like, a couple ladles of water...until you're happy with the consistency and toss with basil. Remove from heat and serve with a wedge of lime.

Hoisin Cashew Sauce:
(slightly adapted version of Steamy Kitchen's recipe)

This is great to have on hand. Quick to whip up and saves well for about a week in the fridge.
I end up finding all kinds of uses for it.

1 Tbs canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup hoisin sauce (if you're in Texas, Central Market has a great organic one)
a small squeeze of agave nectar
juice of 1/2 a lime
1+ Tbs chili garlic sauce (I use more than 1 T)
3 Tbs roasted cashew butter (look for it in the bulk section of your grocery store)
1/4 cup+ water (you'll need more than the quarter cup)

Heat oil in small sauce pan. Saute garlic until it starts to turn golden, then add
the hoisin, chili garlic sauce, agave nectar, lime juice, and cashew butter and whisk til creamy. Add water to thin, remove from heat, cover and set aside until ready to use.

Carrot and Cucumber Salad:

rice vinegar
a spoonful of chili garlic sauce
salt
pepper
a squeeze of agave nectar
a few drops of toasted sesame oil
quartered and sliced English cucumber, peel on
shredded carrots (I just put a hopperfull of baby carrots into my food processor and shredded using the grating plate)
a couple Tbs of chopped cilantro

Mix rice vinegar through sesame oil in the bowl you'll serve the salad in. Then add carrots, cuke, and cilantro and toss.