Each month friends and I get together to swap dishes, similiar to holiday cookie swaps (aka my Brunch & Barter events). This month I prepared the following recipe to share tomorrow. I have to admit, I really didn’t have a clue what to make. Thanks to my friend Jen, she sent me a Cooking Light recipe which she made the last time we were over for dinner at their place. It was a great dish that’s calls for a lot of pantry staples.
The original recipe calls for peanut butter – a standard pantry staple I don’t normally have in the house. My husband isn’t a fan of peanut butter so I just stopped using it in dishes. Because I didn’t have any time to run to the grocery store, I opted to make a substitution – almond butter. I had plenty of raw almonds in my freezer to make a homemade almond butter so thankfully I saved myself a trip! I’m actually glad to have made this substitution because I feel better knowing it was truly a natural product without any preservatives or other miscellaneous ingredients.
The only other substitution I made was omitting the chicken using some broccoli slaw. It provided a bit more flavor and color to the overall dish and was something I had on hand. You’re welcome to add chicken to this dish for a more filling meal.
8 ounces uncooked rotini pasta
2 cups broccoli slaw (broccoli, carrots & cabbage mix)
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup homemade roasted almond butter (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon fresh ginger “thumb”
2 teaspoons Sriracha (hot chile sauce)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, black
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well and place in a large mixing bowl.
Add the broccoli slaw salad and sliced green onions with the pasta; set aside.
Combine broth and next 7 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a food processor and process until smooth (or whisk together in a medium bowl). Drizzle broth mixture over pasta mixture; toss well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Toasting the almonds brings out their flavor. It is not absolutely necessary to toast the almonds, but toasting will enhance the flavor of your almond butter.
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet.
Toast the almonds in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.
Remove the almonds from the oven when they start to change color.
Allow the almonds to cool to the touch.
Now that your almonds are nicely toasted, it is time to grind them into butter
- At first, the mix will be dry and dusty.
Continue processing the almonds until the oils release from the nuts and the almond butter becomes smooth and creamy. It can take up to 10 minutes for the oils to release.
- You will know the oils are beginning to release when the mixture starts to change from a dry, crumbly mixture to a smoother, creamier mixture.
Use a spatula to scrape clumps off the sides of the food processor as necessary.
Add salt, if desired, to taste.
Scrape the almond butter out of the food processor with a spatula.
Store uneaten almond butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Oh i love almonds and this looks like a great vegetarian option
mmm, i'm going to make honey almond butter now that i see it's so easy.
Thanks for the tips on making almond butter, I should totally try this soon! 🙂
I had NO IDEA it was that easy to make almond butter. Just another reason why I need to get a bigger food processor!
Making your own almond butter-very impressive! This looks like a great dish. Lots of nice flavors.
Looks very good. I like the additional veggies you added to it.
This looks good! Thanks for the almond butter recipe!
Nice, now I have an idea to make almond butter, its really easy. I'm really excited to have the taste of that pasta.. hmmm..