Youth Crew 2015 – Day 16

Today’s Youth Crew session was focused on working together to build a new compost pile. Our system combined rocks at the base with wooden pallets. We split up into crews to prepare the pallets and move the stone and got it done in no time!

We also prepared some compostable food waste for the piles – pumpkins! Here’s our “smashing pumpkins” photo – might be the Youth Crew photo of the year, what do you think?!

After breaking up the pumpkins and building the pile, we headed indoors to prep our lunch. On today’s menu was spicy peanut noodles and farm salad with homemade dressing. Peanut noodles are so easy to make – you probably already have the ingredients in your cupboards. You just combine peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar (we recommend rice vinegar), Sriracha chili sauce, and veggies of your choice with pasta noodles. We used scallions from our farm and red bell peppers to add some sweetness. (See the recipe below.)

Look at those dicing skills! And, color coordinated hoodie and peppers!

We also combined some basic pantry ingredients with farm-fresh herbs to make a zesty Italian dressing to go along with a fresh spinach salad.

Spicy Peanut Noodles, serves two.

8 ounces linguine or spaghetti noodles
1 bell pepper
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1-2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (depending how much spice you like)
2-3 tablespoons pasta water
1 tablespoon chopped green onion

Cook the pasta according the package directions. Once it’s time to drain the pasta, be sure to reserve 2-3 tablespoons for the sauce. You can use water if you forget, but the pasta water is just a little bit more starchy so it works well in sauce.

In a bowl, stir together the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire, and chili garlic sauce. Set aside.

Remove the center of the bell pepper with the seeds, and slice thin. Sauté in a little sesame or olive oil over high heat for a couple of minutes until they begin to soften.

Once the pasta is ready, toss the pasta with the peppers. Pour the sauce, with the pasta water added, over the top of everything, and toss to combine.

Serve warm topped with a few green onions.

(Recipe source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2014/11/spicy-peanut-noodles.html)

About Real Food Farm

Real Food Farm works toward a just and sustainable food system by improving neighborhood access to healthy food, providing experience-based education, and developing an economically viable, environmentally responsible local agriculture sector.