Much of my time is spent in the kitchen, slicing, dicing, cooking, baking, creating. It’s one of the things I love doing. My collection of cookbooks is vast! I’m afraid to count, but most of them were acquired second hand. There are also plenty of great food blogs I regularly get lost in. Rarely do I follow a recipe exactly.

I adapt according to the ingredients I have at hand, and take it from there. I love the quickness and nutrition we get in one pot, like this noodle dish.

Everything ready to go.

A while back, I took a big bowl noodles over to my friend Misty’s house. She too loves noodles! Next morning I noticed a text on my phone:

“Damn good noodles”!

I’ve made them with fresh udon (my favorite), fresh yakisoba and dried soba. All are good. Just remember to avoid over cooking them. Rice noodles would be good too I imagine.

The veggies

1 1/2 cups each:  sliced carrots, sliced napa cabbage, sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced bok choi, sliced onions, sliced red bell

1 1/2 cups each:  romanesco or regular cauliflower cut into small florets, or broccoli

1 package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed dry, then cut into bite size cubes

about 1 1/2 cups shelled edamame, defrosted.

For the stir fry sauce you’ll need

1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, 1/2 cup soy sauce, a littleSriracha (adjust to our liking of spiciness), 1/4 cup rice wine or regular white wine, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic and 2-3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger.

Mix it all together, taste and see if it needs a little adjusting. Set aside.

The noodles

1 pound of fresh or dried Asian style noodles. Dried ones should be cooked before you start the veggies. Drain them while still a little undercooked and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Fresh noodles I usually just take out of the package and add them later.

The Stir-fry

Heat your wok or big pan over high heat. When it’s hot, add a little oil (any kind works). Add the onions and stir-fry until they start to get a little colored. Add the tofu and fry for a few minutes. Then add the garlic, ginger, mushrooms and carrots. Cook for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the edamame, romanesco and bell pepper. Cook another 2 minutes. Then add the noodles and pour the stir-fry sauce evenly over everything. Keep stirring and when the noodles are done to your liking, add the cabbage and boo choi. Stir for another minute until the cabbage just begins to wilt. Turn off the heat and serve with extra hot sauce, soy sauce and chopped peanuts if you like.

Damn Good Noodles!

This dish is never quite the same, as I change ingredients and vary the amounts of the different vegetables depending on what’s in season and/or in the fridge. However, I always use at least twice as many veggies as noodles.

If you don’t like tofu, you can add whatever you like in terms of meat. I don’t add extra salt because of the soy sauce, because there is lots of sodium in it already. The nice thing about this dish is how easily it can be customized. Play around with the basics, and let me know how your noodles turned out.

Leftovers are great for lunch the next day. Just heat them in the microwave.

Enjoy!