Vegetarian Udon with Creamy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• Noodles:
• 8 ounces Japanese udon noodles
• 1 (16 ounce) package firm tofu, drained
• 1 ½ cups shredded cabbage, or more to taste
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1 small sweet red pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 2 scallions, or more to taste, thinly sliced
• Peanut Sauce:
• ½ cup vegetable broth
• 6 tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce, or more to taste
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Step 1

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Once it’s bubbling, add the udon noodles and cook them, stirring now and then, until they’re tender but still have a little bite—this usually takes about 10 to 12 minutes. While the noodles are cooking, pat the tofu dry and cut it into small cubes, then toss your cabbage, carrot, red pepper, and scallions together in a big bowl.

Step 2

Make the peanut sauce by combining the vegetable broth, peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and a pinch of cayenne pepper in a small saucepan. Warm it gently over low heat, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens—this should only take about a minute. Once it’s ready, set it aside to cool a bit.

Step 3

When the noodles are done, drain them and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking and keep them fresh. Add the noodles to your bowl of veggies, pour in the peanut sauce, and toss in the tofu. Give everything a gentle toss to combine. Pop it in the fridge if you’re not serving right away.