Tag: pasta recipe

Vegetable Ramen Noodles

This week’s recipe was inspired by: Life of Bun’s (Almost) Instant Vegetarian Ramen

As with most creative things I do, cooking is one of those projects where I set out to create one thing and end up with a final product that is just a bit different than the example I started with.  As I was standing in the grocery store, I did a mental inventory of my pantry and thought I had a couple of the ingredients (read: maple syrup and chili paste) that I didn’t actually have.  So this ended up being a little different than the inspiration recipe but it was still quite yummy. Feel free to change it up with your favorite veggies and flavors or give the original recipe a try and let me know how you like it!

Ingredients*:

  • 3 c. vegetable broth
  • 3 c. water
  • 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms
  • 8 oz. mung bean sprouts
  • 7 oz. sugar snap peas
  • 3 carrots, chopped into thin discs
  • 1 tbsp. hoisin sauce (or soy sauce if you prefer)
  • 1-2 tbsp. sesame oil
  • 2.5 oz. curly noodles (chuka soba)
  • salt and pepper

*A note on my vegetable portions: I just bought packages of these veggies and used the whole package so there wasn’t any leftovers, feel free to adjust the amounts to your taste.

In a medium sized pot heat the broth and water until boiling, then add the noodles and allow to cook for 2 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium and add the hoisin sauce.

In a separate pan/skillet heat 1-2 tbsp. sesame oil over medium to medium-high heat.  Add the vegetables and cook until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, I put a scoop of vegetables in a bowl and topped with some of the noodles, then I poured about 1/2 c. of the broth mixture over everything.  It was so delightful!  I’d love to try this again using the maple syrup and chili paste that was originally called for. Let me know if you give it a try and thanks again to Life of Bun for the inspiration!

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Care to learn more about being a vegetarian?  Click here to read my mini-series: When Veggies Come to Dinner

Italian Vegetable Pasta

Today is World Vegetarian Day and I can’t think of a better day than today to launch my new series: Meat-Free Meal of the Week!  You may remember my mini-series: When Veggies Come to Dinner, where I wrote about being a vegetarian.  I also gave some tips for accommodating the vegetarians in your life without feeling like you have to sacrifice something.  I received wonderful feedback from lots of you and I wanted to share some of the simple veggie meals that I eat.  Some of the recipes are from the professionals (of which, I am not) and some are just made-up using leftovers from my fridge.  They will all be easy to make and aren’t just for vegetarians, even if you do eat meat, these are tasty meals that happen to not have meat in them.  I hope you’ll give one or two of these a try!

This week’s Meat-Free Meal of the Week is easy to make, very filling and tastes fresh and simple.

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz. button or baby bella mushrooms, cut into 3/4″ pieces (if you don’t like mushrooms, you can substitute eggplant)
  • 7-8 small round tomatoes, quartered or 12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1-2 tbsp. fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped (about 1 tbsp.)
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 8 oz. spinach pasta

Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and onion and cook for 2 minutes.  Then add the mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes and finally add the tomatoes and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and toss with 1 tbsp. olive oil and the cooked vegetables. Add additional olive oil if you prefer and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle the tossed pasta with the sliced basil leaves.  You can keep it vegan or add a scoop of ricotta cheese for a creamier dish.  Enjoy!