PEANUT BUTTER IS A PERSONAL THING.  Growing up, my sister preferred Jiff.  I preferred Peter Pan.  She liked crunchy.  I liked smooth.  In my adult life, I actually almost broke up with a man who would not splurge for crunchy AND smooth peanut butter when we disagreed in the grocery store.  In my mind, he should have either bought the smooth peanut butter, or bought both jars if he insisted on having crunchy.  If he was too stingy or selfish to respect my wishes for smooth peanut butter, I was pretty sure the relationship was doomed.  And a few years later it WAS… so maybe I should have trusted my peanut butter instincts.

Even Elvis loved peanut butter.  Peanut Butter has always been a predominant feature of my diet.  Unless you are allergic to peanuts, it’s a pretty good source of protein, minerals and vitamins.  Yes, it is also high in calories so don’t just sit down with a jar and a spoon and lose your self-control.  A peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be a perfectly delicious and quick dinner (I prefer red wine with strawberry jelly).  When I was little, my mom used to fix a peanut butter and banana sandwich and pack it in a small paper bag with a container of cold milk and a bag of cheetos, the preferred side dish to peanut butter sandwiches.  Then, she would allow me to go have a picnic in the woods behind our house… and, yes, the woods in Alabama have snakes.  Can you imagine a mother today encouraging her five year old to wander the neighborhood and explore the woods… alone?  Well, things have changed.  But peanut butter has not changed.  Maybe that’s why it is so full of comfort and goodness.  What I have learned as an adult is that peanut butter is delicious in sauces, especially Thai sauces.  This dish started off as a stir fry with bok choy and broccoli and wound up being one of the best noodle dishes I have made.  It was fun to cook, easy and the recipe was rewarding.  This dish will definitely be on my regular rotation.  Just know that you will wind up slurping the noodles and spooning the sauce out of the dish to drink it like a soup (it’s that good) so you might want to avoid this one on date night.