Spicy Peanut Sauce

Summer is officially here! 

See also:  recovering my kitchen mojo.    

I've been baking and trying out new dinner recipes, aiming for recipes with more protein and veggies.

As I ponder dinner, spicy peanut sauce sounds good with everything.    Meatballs?   Stir fry?  Chicken wraps?   Peanut sauce it ALL.

If peanut saucing it all sounds like a plan, you can have homemade sauce in just a few minutes.

What You Need

5 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons water

5 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons  honey

juice of half lime (the other half was sacrificed for my rum & coke)

1/4 cup Huy Fong garlic chili sauce,  less if you don't want as much of a kick

1/2 cup peanuts (I used dry roasted)

What You Do

Pull out your trusty food processor.       Put all the ingredients except the peanuts in and process for 15-20 seconds to combine everything.    Add the peanuts and pulse briefly, so the peanuts pieces are small but not completely obliterated.    If you want it completely smooth, keep going until it's the texture you desire.   

Pour into a bowl or liquid measuring cup and you're good to go for all your peanut sauce needs.   

Recipe adapted from this salad on Pinch of Yum.  

In other summer news...

I took a weekend road trip to Long Beach.

I made it to my first Padres game of the season.

I wore bowling shoes for the first time in a long time.

I made this Raspberry Crumb cake.

What good things do you have going on this summer?   

Raspberry Crumb Cake

Summer is the season of eating.

Who am I kidding?   Every season is the season of eating.    But I've actually been back in my kitchen trying new recipes and baking things over the past month, so that's a win.   

In fact, I've been making dinner - thinking that vegetables and protein should probably be a thing.   Eating cheese is also a thing, however, there needs to be a balance.

If you're looking for vegetables and protein, can I recommend this recipe for Egg Roll in a Bowl from 40 Aprons?  I've made it twice in the past month.   Yum!

Now...back to the cake

Cake with berries.  

Cake with a cream cheese layer.

Cake with a crumb topping.

Have your breakfast cake and eat it too!

Giving credit where it's due, this delicious crumb cake recipe came from Sally's Baking Addiction.   I just traded the blackberries for raspberries.   So in the spirit of making a summer breakfast cake that will make you sing into your coffee cup, bust out your springform pan and hop over to the recipe on her page and get on it.    

In other summer food news....

Have  you tried these Doritos?  It's two (count 'em) experiences in one chip.    

How do food scientists do it?      

You can't just eat a chip, you have to have an experience!

I love ahi.  
Sushi - yes
Poke - yes
In this sandwich at Sally's - yes

I went to Long Beach a week ago, and happily stumbled upon the Pie Bar.  
Talk about the perfect bar.    Hello Mississippi Mud Pie.  

I also ate my way through Ecuador in May.    

If you ever have the chance to visit, you should go.    

Eating in Ecuador

What are you eating this summer?   Recipes you love?  New things you're trying?