Vegetable personalities

You are so lucky! You are getting a double dose of Bearette today.

I'm going to post my peanut noodle recipe, which I made for dinner and realized I hadn't shared with you.

But first, we did our oral presentations for yoga school on Sunday. We each had to talk about a Sanskrit word for 5 minutes. We drew our words at random the week before. Mine was brahmacharya (celibacy or moderation in one's sex life). That's all I have to say about that ;)

Some of the presentations were really great. People opened up and I think it helped bring us closer as a group (though I am somewhat embarrassed now about mine; maybe I was a little too open, but no one seemed to mind).

Anyway, this one girl had a great presentation. Her term was "gunas". There are 3 gunas: rajas, which is greed, lust, aggression, etc.; tamas, which is heavy, lethargic and sad; and sattva, which is blissed out.

This girl said, "I'm going to read you my diary." So, acting as rajas, she read an entry where she said stuff like "I really like that hot waiter. I'm so much prettier than his girlfriend. #%$&^@!%, I need to make more money!" Then she put on No Doubt's "I'm Just a Girl" and told us to jump around.

Then she said, "I am tamas," and read: "Dear Diary, Adam and I broke up today. I am so sad. My heart is broken" and she put on Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares to You" and told us to lie down. This is where I and the girl next to me started giggling uncontrollably and there were actually tears running out of my eyes.

Then she said, "I am sattva," and read: "Dear Diary, I just went to J's 12:00 class. Then I got some healthy food with my yoga buddy. Life is good." Then she put on some reggae music and everyone loped around. The teacher said, "I'll never see those concepts in the same way again," and admonished her to "skip the expletives" next time. I thought it was a riot.

Anyway, here is my peanut noodle recipe:

Spicy Peanut Noodles (from Jeanne Lemlin's Simple Vegetarian Pleasures)

1/4 c natural-style peanut butter
1/3 c tamari soy sauce
2 T water
1/3 c firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 c oriental sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 t minced ginger root
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
6 scallions, thinly sliced (set aside 2 T for garnish)
1 lb thin spaghetti

1. Bring a large stockpot of water to boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the peanut butter and tamari in a small saucepan. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients - except the reserved scallions and the spaghetti - until smooth. Put a low heat under the pot to warm the sauce. (Don't do this too long because it will catch.)
3. Drop the spaghetti into the boiling water and cook until al dente. Don't overcook the pasta; it should remain chewy. Drain thoroughly in a colander and return it to the pot. Pour on the sauce and toss. Serve in bowls and garnish with the remaining scallions.