Veggie Noodle Stir Fry

This recipe was adapted from Our Best Bite's Quick and Easy Noodle Stir Fry.

Ingredients:

• 6 to 7oz. whole wheat thin spaghetti
• 2 Tb. soy sauce
• 1 1/4 Tb. brown sugar
• 1 1/4 Tb. rice vinegar
• 1/2 Tb-1 Tb Sriracha chili sauce (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1/2 Tb sesame oil
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. ginger powder
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 6 oz pkg snow peas, cut in half
• 1 yellow squash, julienned (a zucchini would work here too)

Directions: 

1. Bring water to a boil and cook the noodles. When the noodles are done, drain them and toss in 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil.
2. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, Sriracha chili sauce, and sesame oil. Set aside.
3. While noodles cook, heat 1-2 Tb. olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the onions, garlic, and ginger. Stir to coat the onions with the ginger. Stir fry 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the snow peas, stir to coat with ginger, and stir fry another 30 seconds or so.
5. Add the yellow squash and bell pepper, stir to coat with ginger, and stir fry for another minute. 
6. Add the noodles and mix well. Restir the sauce mixture and pour on the noodles and veggies. Stir to coat.
7. Serve immediately. Serves 2-4.

Notes about this recipe:

1. Stir fry recipes work best when ALL of your ingredients are chopped and ready, and the sauce is mixed and ready to go. You don't want your veggies getting soggy, which is why you only cook each ingredient for about 30 seconds before adding the next. Having everything ready allows this process to go smoothly and to have crisp tender veggies in your stir fry.

Asian Bowtie Pasta

This recipe was submitted by Vanessa H. She found it at the blog, Week of Menus. The original recipe calls for rotisserie chicken, but Vanessa left it out and turned into a delicious veggie meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb farfalle (bowtie) pasta (I used the mini farfalle)
• 1/3 cup canola, safflower or other mild tasting oil
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 red, yellow or orange bell peppers, cut julienne
• 1 cup of scallions, diced
• 3 tablespoons roasted sesame seed
• Pepper to taste
• 3 cups washed baby spinach
• 1/4 cup cilantro, OPTIONAL
• 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes, OPTIONAL
  

Directions:

Boil and cook pasta according to directions. Make sure to salt the cooking water. Drain pasta and set aside. Return the pasta pot back to the stove. (You don't need to wash it.) Add the canola oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and rice wine vinegar. Heat over low heat until the honey is dissolved. Remove from heat and toss in the pasta. Add the bell peppers, scallions, pepper, sesame seeds, cilantro (optional) and red pepper flakes (optional). Toss well to coat all the ingredients. Before serving, toss the pasta with the spinach, to keep the vibrant green as much as possible.

This can be chilled or served warm at room temperature (which was really delicious.)

Serves 6-8

Notes about this recipe:

1. I did NOT stir in the spinach at the end. I don't want soggy spinach in my leftovers, so I put some spinach on each plate and spooned the pasta on top.

Tofu Lo Mein

I adapted this recipe from the Chicken Lo Mein recipe in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. It was so tasty there were no leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 6-8 oz of tofu, pressed and cut into small cubes (probably 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 Tb. oyster sauce
• 1 Tb. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 6 oz angel hair pasta (I prefer wheat), or Chinese egg noodles
• 3 Tb. olive oil
• 4 oz. (or 2 1/2 c.) bok choy, cut into 3-inch pieces, (see here for info on how to work with bok choy)
  
• 1/4 c. (or 8 oz can) canned bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained, and sliced (I like to buy them already sliced.)
• 1/4 c. sliced mushrooms
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• Optional add ins: scallions, bean sprouts

Directions:

1. Stir cornstarch, salt and 1 tsp of sesame oil together in a medium bowl. Add the tofu and stir to coat. Let sit for 10-20 min.
2. Put pasta water on the stove to boil. In the meantime, stir together the water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Set aside. Add noodles to boiling water and cook according to directions on packaging.
   
3. While the noodles cook, chop up your veggies and set aside.
   
4. When the noodles finish, drain and rinse with cold water, and then drain again. Toss the noodles with 1 tsp of sesame oil.
5. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium high heat with 2 Tb. of the olive oil in it. When it is hot add the tofu and stir-fry, cook until the outsides start to get crispy looking.
   
6. Then add last Tb. of oil, along with all the veggies. Stir so all the veggies get coated with the oil (about 45 sec). Then add the water/oyster/soy sauce mix. Stir again and cover to steam the vegetables, about 2-3 minutes. Uncover and add the noodles. Stir, so it all gets mixed together and covered with sauce. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then serve!
   

Notes about the recipe:

1. Make sure you don't overcook your noodles. And serving right away is best. We had a little diaper rash emergency right as I was in the last few stages of this recipe, so my noodles were in the pan for a while, which made them start to fall apart. It was still tasty, but probably could have been better if we had gotten to eat it right away.