Chinese Vermicelli

I had the BEST time on the east coast last week! My friend, Cora, and I attended three women’s conferences in eight days, I taught four classes, we ate at Cracker Barrel twice, ate cheese steak in Bellmawr and Philly, had pizza in New York, discovered Rita’s, were wowed by Carnegie Deli, had three gelati apiece, and made Harry (our host and husband of my dear friend, Irma) tell us mob sto

ries. I saw some much-loved old friends and made several new friends. I saw my first Broadway production and got to watch Cora’s face as she experienced New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York for the first time. It was an amazing trip, and I miss the east coast already … but it is good to be back home, back to work, back on schedule, and back in my kitchen.

As I type this, the crock pot is happily bubbling away with the crock pot chili Dave requested, and I’m cooking pasta for a second batch of Chinese Vermicelli. The first, which I’ll bring to the potluck at our last Joyful Life meeting tonight, is cooling in the fridge. But I knew it would be unkind to take that whole bowl to church and not leave an equally big bowl home for Tera. She adores this dish. Asked for it, in fact, for her 16th birthday dinner … which should tell you something. So when she drags herself through the door after a grueling track practice in a few hours, this should brighten her right up.

This is the perfect bring-along dish. The ingredients are somehow always on hand, it takes no time at all, and the bowl is always empty by the time you head for home. With all the summer barbecues coming up, you might want to tuck this one away.

Chinese Vermicelli

• 1/2 cup sesame oil
• 1/2 cup soy or tamari sauce
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup hot chili oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 lb vermicelli noodles (or plain spaghetti, which is all I had on hand today)
• garnishes: toasted sesame seeds, thinly sliced green onions)

There’s just not much to this … and I’m sorry about that, if you were in the mood for a big, dramatic, mess-creating cooking session. You simply mix up the first five ingredients, cook the vermicelli (or spaghetti) until al dente, mix it all together, and cool in the fridge. Just before serving, sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and green onions, if you have them and like them.

You can pretend it was a more complicated process if you like. I won’t say a word.