Spicy Asian Stir Fry Veggies with Pasta

You've all heard me lament on here how much IT Guy dislikes Chinese food. Really...I don't understand it. Well, I kinda do. He was raised on a farm in a little town in Arizona that was known for Mexican food. Plus his dad was a meat & potato sort of guy and he didn't venture outside of his comfort zone very often. Well...me... on the other hand, I was raised by parents who liked all kinds of stuff so I was exposed to different things early on. Consequently, when IT Guy & I married I couldn't understand his disdain for anything NOT in his food realm. I tried...I really did...to introduce him to Chinese food. But it was a no-go. And after almost 40 years of marriage, I don't think it's going to happen. Now #1 and #2 sons will eat Chinese food all day long so at least I have allies there. (I did right by THEM!) So instead of going out for Chinese food...which my beloved wouldn't eat anyway...I just make it at home. And here you have one of those dishes. The veggies in this dish can easily be switched up with the same results. Snow peas would be SO good, don't you think?? I like the idea of adding water chestnuts, too, for some crunch. Anyway you make it, it's a winner!
Spicy Asian Stir Fry Veggies 

with Pasta



3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons chili paste 
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2  tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow squash ~ sliced into "coins"
1 zucchini ~ sliced into "coins"
1 medium red onion ~ large dice
6 ounces spaghetti noodles ~ cooked al dente

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, chili paste, ginger and cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok.

Add all veggies.

Cook about 10 minutes or until crisp/tender.

Stir in soy sauce mixture; cook 2 minutes or until thickened.

Add cooked noodles and toss to combine.

Our ingredients.

Chop up the veggies then add 

them to the oil in the hot skillet.

Let 'em cook for about 10 minutes, 

stirring now and then. Then add 

the soy sauce mixture.

Stir to coat all the veggies.

Then add the cooked noodles.

Toss....

...and serve!!! So good!

IT Guy is not a fan of Asian cuisine. He'll indulge me every now and then but basically he stays away from anything with an Asian flair. And that's okay. I've learned that I can make pretty good Chinese food at home and I'll always whip up something different for him. And that's what I did for these ribs. I split them up into two sections and put plain ole bbq sauce on his then for #1 son and myself, I kicked up the flavor! So yummy!!! We polished them off with only a couple to spare!

Asian Glazed Pork Ribs



1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1-1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon chile paste
1/4 clove garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.

Cover a rimmed cookie sheet with foil. Spray a rack (I use a cookie cooling rack) with cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove membrane from ribs.

Season both sides of ribs with seasoning salt.

Baste both sides of ribs with glaze every 15 minutes for an hour until ribs are done.

Allow meat to stand at room temp for 15 minutes before slicing ribs apart.

Here's the stuff for the glaze.

And here are the ribs and seasoning salt ready to go in the pan on the rack.

Mix up the glaze ingredients.

Remove the membrane and season the ribs.

Baste the meat on both sides. (The only reason I cut my ribs into two sections was because IT Guy didn't want his "contaminated" with the Asian glaze. Freak.

Then just glaze and flip the ribs every 15 minutes for about an hour until the ribs are done. So yum!!