Noodle Bowl With Peanut Dressing

It is mid-March as I write this recipe, and the days seem like an overlap of winter and spring. Red peppers and wild garlic are showing up in our weekly vegetable bag along with purple sprouting broccoli and other brassica flowers. Because the broccoli and brassica flowers can be tough and fibrous, I pan steam them with some onion while keeping the wild garlic and red pepper raw to add some freshness and a nice crisp crunch. 

This recipe works for all vegetables that can be used in a traditional stir fry. The flavour combinations are very similar to the Stirred Not Fried recipe on this blog except that I use a combination of raw and cooked vegetables in this version.

I pan steam the vegetables in bouillon and water, then use the cooking liquid as the base for the dressing. That way any loss of nutrition is minimised, and I can incorporate some (seasonal) winter vegetables. Noodle bowls are a staple at our house.

I usually have broccoli seeds sprouting and I often incorporate them into our meals. Any type of sprout would work in this recipe, for example, mung bean sprouts would be a great addition. I use crunchy peanut butter to thicken the cooking liquid and to add more texture, but it can easily be replaced with almond butter.

I use wholegrain buckwheat soba noodles, but most types of Asian noodles would work, as well as brown, red, or black rice, and/or quinoa.

Ingredients: (serves 2 adults with 250g of noodles)

• 1 X medium onion
• 100g sprouting broccoli
• 1 tbsp bouillon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 X red pepper
• Small bunch of coriander
• Small bunch of wild garlic
• 4 tbsp tamari/soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sriracha (or to tolerance)
• 2 heaped tbsp (1/4 cup) of chunky peanut butter

Method: (see video at the bottom of the post)

Raw vegetables:

• Slice the red pepper and roughly chop the coriander and wild garlic and put into a large mixing bowl.

Cooked vegetables and peanut butter dressing:

• Chop the broccoli and thinly slice the onion.
• Place together with the bouillon and water in a pan, covered, on a medium heat for 3 minutes.
• Add 2 tbsp of tamari/soy sauce, cover and cook for a further 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat and take out the vegetables (or strain and retain the liquid) leaving as much of the cooking liquid in the pan as possible, and add to the raw vegetables. 
• Add the peanut butter, sriracha and 2 tbsp of tamari/soy to the cooking liquid and whisk into a smooth sauce.
• Add more liquid (coconut/nut milk) once the sauce has been whisked for a more liquid consistency, if you prefer a runnier sauce.
• Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix well.
• Garnish with broccoli sprouts and serve with the noodles.

Although we love our rice, quinoa, Italian style pastas and all the different grains, wholegrain buckwheat soba noodles hold a dear place in our hearts. Noodles are easy and quick to cook, can be eaten hot or cold, in soups or dressed and served with raw or cooked veg. 

If you go down the soba noodle route, make sure that you are using a large pot with a lot of boiling water in it. When adding the noodles, try not to drop them in as one bunch, but gently 'brush' them in as the noodles will want to clump together. Once in the pot you should stir them every minute or so to make sure that they do not stick to each other. Once desired texture has been reached (I like them after a 5-minute boil), immediately strain and rinse under very cold water. Once cold the noodles will stick to each other, but this is OK as a little soy sauce will add the moisture needed to pull them apart.