Doodle Noodles--An Asian Noodle Concoction

I love Asian noodle dishes because you can dump random veggies in a pan with either chicken, beef or tofu, add some spices and always come out with a fairly healthy, filling, tasty meal. I rarely make the same noodle dish twice because I'm always updating it with different ingredients or spices--adding on or changing an ingredient from a previous dish, but if you use the same base of ingredients you should always come out with a consistently good meal. I must warn you, for the recipe I didn't measure anything out...these are "guesstimates" on the measurements. If you really want exact measurements then leave a comment and I'll figure it out for you!

Some basic ingredients that I almost always use when making noodles are soy sauce, garlic, ginger and grapeseed oil (I cook with this because it has the highest flash point of cooking oils--but vegetable or olive oil works too). If you have a Trader Joe's grocery store near by, pick up these items the next time you stop in. They make Asian dishes a snap!

The Recipe (serves 3-4)

• Grapeseed oil
• Soy Sauce or Trader Joe's Soyaki
• 1/2 -3/4 of a bag of rice noodles
• 1 Firm Tofu block (feel free to use chicken or beef instead)
• 1-2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 lemons
• Big handful of snow peas
• 1/2-1 Tbsp of chopped or grated ginger---I LOVE ginger, so I tend to over do it
• 3 Tbsp of Trader Joe's Peanut Satay or 2 Tbsp of creamy peanut butter
• OPTIONAL dash of chili pepper or more if you like it spicy!
• OPTIONAL Add any of your favorite veggies!

You should be able to find rice noodles in the Ethnic grocery aisle. Or you can find them at Asian markets (the noodles on the left) or at Trader Joe's (the noodles on the right).

Instructions:

First boil noodles according to directions. DO NOT OVERCOOK...you'll come out with a mushy mess.

While noodles are boiling, slice up tofu. Make sure to use FIRM tofu and really pat dry with paper towels to get the excess moisture out. This is the KEY to cooking tofu! Then cube.

Add enough grapeseed oil or other cooking oil to frying pan to thoroughly coat pan. Once heated and add garlic, ginger, salt and pepper to taste and a splash of Soyaki or soy sauce, and tofu. (Make sure your noodles are drained and not overcooked!) Cook until desired consistency (if you like your tofu super fried...just keep em' in there longer!) Add sweet peas and toss for about 2 minutes.

Once cooked, set tofu and veggies aside and add more oil to the pan. Add rice noodles (I suggest adding the noodles in small batches and really trying to spread them across the pan--this helps them from getting mushy.) Sprinkle some chili pepper over if desired, and add a couple of splashes of Soyaki or Soy Sauce and about a Tbsp of peanut sauce (or peanut butter) to each noodle batch. Mix well for about a minute, then repeat on next batch.

Dish noodles onto a plate, add tofu and veggies and squeeze lemon over the dish. YUMMY!