Cold Asian Pasta Salad w/Spicy Peanut Butter Sauce

Cold pasta for hot days. You can use most any vegetable you like. If you have a dinner party, serve the vegetables and sauce on the side in separate bowls so your guests can build their own meals. The recipe is easy to scale up. (Revised May 2023)

Ingredients:
12 oz. pasta. I like Linguini or Fettuccine. (To make the pasta easier to cook and eat, you can break the pieces in half by bending the box over the counter. Be sure to stir the pasta when you first put it in the boiling water to stop the pieces from sticking together).
5 or 6 leaves or small heart of Romaine lettuce, cut into bite size pieces
4 stalks of celery, sliced
Handful of pea pods, bite size
Cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, de-seeded and sliced 1/4 inch
One tablespoon toasted sesame oil to mix with cold cooked pasta

Directions:
Cook the pasta in salted water per directions, drain and rinse in cold water, put in your serving bowl and mix with the tablespoon of sesame oil. Refrigerate until well chilled.
When ready, mix the vegetables with the pasta and serve with the sauce on the side.

Peanut Butter Sauce:
Beat together three large spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter (around 1/3 to 1/2 cup) with one tablespoon sugar, two tablespoons real soy sauce, two tablespoons lime juice, two tablespoons rice vinegar , 2 cloves finely minced garlic and a sprinkle or more of cayenne pepper. Add water to blend to the consistency of heavy cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
If you have an easy to clean jar with a lid, use that to get the peanut butter to mix easily. Just shake it until you have a good consistency.