hot and cold sesame noodles

here's a little snippet of a conversation i had with my mom as i walked home from work yesterday:
mom: so what are you guys making for dinner?
me: oh just those spicy sesame peanut noodles, i had to work a bit late and they're easy.
mom: oooo the ones kris made for me? those are yummy! you should yumcoast them so then i'll have the recipe.

this is a recipe that kris and i found years and years ago and it's still in our regular dinner rotation. yes, it's a rachael ray recipe, but it's so quick, easy and delicious and it doesn't require the purchase of a bunch of ingredients. it's also great leftover the next day. over the years we've taken some things out and added a little twist of our own. you can easily adjust the spice level to your taste or throw in other vegetables that you have hanging around. we used to make it with spagetti noodles but now prefer shapes (shells may be our favorite...they trap the sauce just right!). anyway, here ya go mom!

hot and cold sesame noodles
(adapted from rachael ray's recipe)
ingredients:
1/2 pound pasta of your choice
1/4 cup tamari dark soy
1/4 rounded cup all-natural unsalted smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons hot sauce (we like to play around with the hot sauce...try different kinds!)
2 cups thinly chopped cabbage (we usually do red but green works too)
3 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1-2 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped

Cook pasta to al dente then cold shock it to stop the cooking process by running it under cold water in colander. Drain the pasta very well.
In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together soy, peanut butter, vinegar, sesame oil, chopped ginger and hot sauce. Add noodles, cabbage and scallions and toss to coat them evenly with sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds throughout the salad and serve.
-d