peanut and ginger noodles

It’s been a busy week so I haven’t had much time in the kitchen. So I have been making recipes that take less than 30 minutes. And this is one of them! You will spend all of your time chopping rather than cooking. So have everything chopped and ready to go before you start to cook the stir fry. Make the noodles while you are chopping and then you will be ready to go. The ginger and garlic are great for reducing inflammation and bok choy contains vitamin C, magnesium, iron, vitamin K and sulforaphane which has been shown to reduce the ability of cancer cells to multiply. Use whatever type of noodles you prefer and feel free to change up the vegetables. I didn’t have any mushrooms in my fridge so I replaced with some snow peas for a little added crunch. Add in your preferred protein source. I pan fried some shrimp in a separate pan and then added them to the noodles right before serving. Delicious! If you like a lot of sauce, you might want to double the dressing recipe. This recipes comes from The Happy Pear’s blog. If you are looking for more plant-based recipes, then check them out!

Ingredients:

5 cups Wholewheat or brown rice noodles (4 nests)

1/2 thumb-sized piece of ginger (15g)

1 red chilli medium heat

1 bunch of scallions/ spring onions

1 carrot

1.74 cups oyster mushrooms or mushroom of choice (150g)

1 head of pak choi or 100g baby spinach

1.5 tbsp oil

For the dressing:

1 cup coconut milk (250ml)

2 tbsp peanut butter

juice of 2 limes

4 tbsp tamari

1 tbsp maple syrup

To garnish:

a small bunch of fresh coriander/basil 10g

3 tbsp salted roasted peanuts

pickled ginger

wedges of lime

Creating the Magic!

Put the noodles in a pot of boiling water and cook as per instructions on the back of the packet (usually takes 4-5 minutes). Remove from heat, drain and rinse with cold water in a colander over the sink.

It’s best to prep all the veg first, as this is a fast cooking dish cooked on a high heat in about 5 minutes. Peel and finely chop the ginger. Remove the end off the chilli and finely slice (leave the seeds in only if you like it hot). Finely slice the scallions / spring onions, remove any limp outer leaves and finely chop the green parts. Grate the carrot. Finely chop the mushrooms. Remove the nub at the end of the pak choi and finely chop.

Put 1.5 tablespoons of oil into a non-stick large-bottomed pan (ideally a wok) on a high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the ginger and chilli, and cook for 1 minute, stirring regularly.

Add the mushrooms, scallions and the grated carrot with 1 tsp salt .Cook for further 5 minutes, stirring as it cooks.

In a cup, mix together the dressing ingredients, using a fork (do not worry if it stays a bit lumpy and the coconut milk does not break up completely, it will do once it’s added to the pan).

Add the dressing in to the pan and stir through thoroughly, so that it coats all the veg well. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Next, add the cooked noodles and the chopped pak choi and cook for another few minutes.

Remove from the heat. Roughly chop the fresh coriander or basil and use them as garnish for each serving together with sprinkles of roasted peanuts.

It’s nice served with some pickled ginger and a wedge of lime on each serving.