Easy Meals Always Seem Asian Themed These Days...

I think I consume an Asian themed dinner the majority of the week... Stirfry's are so easy to "Slop" together whether they develop in the form of a rice, noodle, or tofu based dish... Seems that I always have the items on hand to throw together some bomb fried rice! Pictured above is fried rice: Room temp (or cold) cooked Calrose rice, ALWAYS seasoned with Bragg's, Sweet Chili Sauce, Rooster Sauce and fried up in some olive oil... The additions to the base recipe this time were some frozen mixed veggies, diced red onion, and diced homemade baked teriyaki tofu.

Above is some fried rice with the same base seasonings. I then added leftover Japanese eggplant that I had sauteed with garlic and sweet chili sauce some julienned carrots and sauteed diced yellow onions.

And next we move to the INFAMOUS RAMEN NOODLE... Maruchan Oriental Flavor BITCHES and they also have a Spicy Flavor (BE A VEGAN & READ DEM INGREDIENTS) that is vegan as well that can be purchased 5/$1 at your local 99 Cents Only Store... I am not saying this is vegan health food that will have you shitting rainbows and flying with unicorns but it tastes GOOD. I always cook the noodles first but not too much, strain and rinse them with cold water and set aside, use some noodle cooking liquid/ broth/ water to cook up the veggies (Here was some sliced red onion and a pre-chopped broccoli carrot mix), then drain extra liquid, add seasoning packets and noodles, mix and eat :) LET'S MOVE RIGHT ALONG...

Tofu Stirfry's... Vegan staple here kids... If you have a Tofu Press (I have the Xpress) your life is that much easier... Or you can be a damn granola-hippie and do the old heavy-pot-on-top-of-tofu-wrapped-in-paper-towels-method (TREE KILLER!!! CALL THE VEGAN POLICE!! TREES FEEL PAIN TOO OMG)... Anyways, take the drained and pressed firm tofu, cut it into cubes and pan fry that bean patty until it's golden on all sides (The best you can), then pair with some special sauce.. The night I made this, Veggie Broth, Bragg's, Agave, Garlic, and Chili Flakes tickled my fancy... Threw in some broccoli florets at the same time and paired my stirfry with some freshly cooked Calrose (aka "sticky") rice.

Pictured above is another tofu stirfry with sauteed Japanese Eggplant, Bamboo Shoots, String Beans, Onions and Boy Choy for the veggies... A spin off from a Thai Green Curry recipe from a cookbook my friend facebook messaged me... The sauce was sugar, coconut milk, green curry paste, Bragg's and veggie broth, thickened with a cornstarch slurry.

Peace.Love.Vegan

Amy

Garlicky Noodles

Ingredients:

1/2 a package of Fettuccine Noodles, cooked al dente (About 8 oz worth)
10 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 to 2 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper
2 cups Seitan, cut into small cubes or strips
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 a White Onion, sliced
4 cups Green Cabbage (Napa Cabbage would be awesome as well), thinly sliced
3/4 Cup Vegetarian Stirfry Sauce + 1/4 cup water, mixed
Oil for frying

Directions:

- Cook pasta and prepare veggies, set aside.
- Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a large hot pan or wok. Add garlic, crushed red pepper, and seitan. Cook a few minutes until seitan is a bit golden.
- Add asparagus and onions and cook until onions begin to turn translucent. Add more oil if needed.
- Add cabbage, cooked fettuccine noodles, and the vegetarian stirfry sauce + water mixture.
- Continue to cook until the liquid from the vegetarian soy sauce + water mixture looks mostly absorbed.

Veggie Chow Mein

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 pounds (32 oz.) precooked chow mein like noodles (I have a picture of the kind I used below and watch out for non-vegan ingredients)
- 1.5 cups cauliflower, cut into small bite sized pieces
- 1.5 cups asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup carrots, julienned
- 1/4 cup cabbage, shredded
* You can add/ substitute whatever vegetables you like... this is what I had on hand*

Sauce:
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
- 1/2 cup Braggs or low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp crushed red peppers (or more to taste)
- 2 tbsp white sugar (make sure it's vegan)
- 3 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare all your veggies, set aside.

Make your sauce. First mix together corn starch and water until smooth, then add the rest of the sauce ingredients and mix, set aside.

Add a half a cup of water to a big pan/pot/wok (I used my huge new wok!) to cook your veggies sans the oil. I cooked the cauliflower for a couple minutes. Next, added the asparagus, bell pepper, and onion and cooked for a few more minutes. Finally, I added the carrots, cabbage, and chow mein like noodles.


*I bought my chow mein like noodles in the refrigerated section of an Asian grocery store, they came in a plastic bag compacted into a big "wad" of noodles. If you cook your own chow mein noodles, make sure to cool them completely before using them in this dish*

Once noodles are in the pan separate them with your spatula/cooking utensil. Once noodles are separated, mix your sauce up again really quickly and add it to the pan. Mix the chow mein around until all your noodles and veggies are coated and heated through.

Makes: 6-ish servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes