Showing posts with label noodles. Show all posts

The Pursuit of Happiness : 2.204

Today is cereal day! But I ate the rest of my cereal yesterday, and I had a hankering for ramen today. So, I made this amazing ramen noodle bowl, inspired by Baker By Nature's 20-minute Sriracha Ramen Soup and customized to my pantry and tastes. I had my doubts, but omg, it was amazing. I will probably be eating this for the rest of the week. It is definitely my new go to when the craving strikes. There was the perfect amount of spice mixed with sweetness, and nuttiness with creaminess. Heaven in a bowl. Look below for my adaptation.



SPICY RAMEN NOODLE BOWL
recipe adapted from bakerbynature.com, 20 Minute Spicy Sriracha Ramen Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1.5 Tbsp sriracha hot sauce
  • .5 Tbsp chipotle Tabasco sauce
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp dried ginger
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups vegetable broth, divided
  • 3 cups beef broth, divided
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 1 cup kale
  • As much as desired: Your favorite noodles (I used one package of ramen noodles [throwing away the seasoning a packet] and one package of udon noodles [throwing away the seasoning a packet] and a handful of edamame pasta)
As desired for topping: soft boiled eggs, avocado, sesame seasoned (or plain) nori, creamed or regular corn

DIRECTIONS
  1. Add the sesame oil, sriracha, and tabasco sauce to a large stockpot and bring to a simmer over medium-heat.
  2. Add the onion and tomato paste and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the ginger, garlic, garlic powder and salt; cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
  4. Add half of the broth. Using an immersion blender (or transferring to a stand blender) blend until the broth is almost smooth with only a few onion dices left, or to desired constancy until smooth.
  5. Return mixture to the pot and add the remaining broth. Bring the broth to a simmer; add soy sauce and vinegar, and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
  6. Add the kale and ramen noodles to the broth and simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the noodles have softened.
  7. Once the noodles are cooked, remove pan from heat, and serve, topped with eggs, avocado, creamed corn, and nori. 
  8. Enjoy amazingness in a bowl.
Note: If storing the soup for any length, separate the noodles from the broth after cooking, so that the noodles don't soak up all of the broth.
asian cuisine cooking dinner
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Date Night Dinners - Swoodles and Butter

First there was the noodle, then came the zoodle, and now we have the swoodle. I have been wanting to make spiralized vegetable noodles for, well, forever. I had the recipes; I had the vegetables; I had the inspiration and motivation. What was the problem then, you ask? I didn't have a spiralizer. Without a way to spiralize the vegetables, you can't really make a spiralized vegetable based dish. Instead, you tend to just have a giant whole vegetable with sauce smeared about - not quite as cool or tasty.
Date Night Dinner noodles recipe
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Date Night Dinners - Don't Try This At Home!

This week has been quite a doozy; I don't even know where to begin. In fact, I had an entirely different beginning to this blog post planned - that is until this week became more and more ridiculous. It began with my first power outage in my new "on my own" place that resulted in a nonstop beeping from the alarm system at 12:30 am, ended with a mouse eating through the wonderfully, gigantic three pound bag of popcorn I won at a silent auction, and somewhere in the middle of all that mess was a tuna melt for lunch that had no tuna on it and a phone charging (or not charging) debacle that is still being inquired upon. Let me just say, I am on the lookout for what will come next.

Now, as I said, I had a whole other intro in store for you. It went something like this:
asian crab Date Night Dinner
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Date Night Dinners - Udon Noodles

This week we tried something a little different for us (in terms of preparing ourselves), Asian inspired cuisine. I love asian food - noodles, seafood, rice - I'll eat it all. I am even preparing myself for a sushi eating contest, whenever that comes back to town. But as I stated, making Asian inspired food is new territory for me. I haven't done much in terms of trying to make any dishes along these lines outside of 'pinning' numerous pad thai, drunken noodles, fried rice, sushi, etc. recipes. Each week I bring up a few of my top 'to try' recipes but quickly get intimidated by the ingredient list and turn to an easy pasta dish or a comforting casserole. The rare times I have attempted sushi rice, or rice at all for that matter, I have burnt it to the saucepan, ruining the rice for the evening and usually the saucepan as well. No one wants black rice. Lucky for more, I get my rice fix from my friend Miki's mom, who introduced me to 3-minute microwavable sticky rice. Amazing, right?!


As Brenden and I were pondering what to make this week, we explored the idea of soups, meats, and pastas. I was interested in soup, but it was hot so I didn't want anything creamy or overwhelmingly heavy. And I am always up for pasta, but had to admit I was getting a bit tired of our go to pasta with meat sauce. And then it hit me. Udon noodles! I almost always have experienced the amazing noodle in soups so it just kind of clicked in my mind. I would get my noodles, but it would be a treat because I rarely eat udon noodles (they are amazing) and I would get my light soup, because they are usually served in a clear broth with lots of veggies.


So I started looking for udon noodle recipes and found a few. Again, the ingredient list or length of time steered me away from a bunch (I will get more adventurous...sometime...soon, I promise). But then I came across a stir fry type meal. Not soup, but it had my noodles and veggies and that is really all I cared about at this point. Brenden looked it over and was excited too.


We gathered all of our ingredients and started chopping, mixing, and sautéing. It was actually quite simple to put together. I don't know why I have postponed dishes like this for so long! Next up on the asian inspired rotation will be pad thai, it will just take me a while to grab all the ingredients. But back to our udon stir fry. We cooked everything up in a large skillet (Brenden and I already decided we need a wok, one Asian meal and we are hooked), added the sauce, combined everything and served it. It was a hit for sure. Everything mixed well together, the sauce complimented everything without overwhelming the subtle flavors of the different veggies and noodles. We cleaned our plates and were exciting to have a delicious meal for lunch the next day.

Udon Noodle Stir Fry
Recipe adapted from emilylevenson.com, Simple Udon Noodles

 Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup snap peas, chopped
  • 2-8oz cans water chestnuts
  • 1-14oz packages of KA•ME Udon Noodles
  • 1/4-1/2 cup water
  • 1 lb chicken breasts (if vegetarian, substitute tofu or skip this ingredient), cubed
Directions
  • In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, cornstarch, ginger, and garlic, whisking until thoroughly mixed.
  • Set sauce aside.
  • In a medium skillet, over medium heat cook the chicken through (note: if vegetarian, use tofu or skip this step).
  • As the chicken is cooking, spray a large skillet with cooking oil and heat over medium-high
  • Add onions and carrot and sauté for 5-7 minutes.
  • Add in snow peas and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add water chestnuts and stir.
  • Add udon noodles.
  • Pour in the sauce mixture (from step two).
  • Stir until the sauce thickens, the noodles break up and everything is fully coated. Slowly add small amounts of water to help with this process, but do not overwhelm it.
  • Add the chicken or tofu on top (if using).
  • Plate, serve, and enjoy.
asian Date Night Dinner noodles
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