It’s that time of the week again… when I am in desperate need to go to the grocery store. The fridge is empty of pretty much everything except random vegetables. The pantry however is still full of random cans, dried pasta and nuts. I survey what I have on hand and decide I can make a vegetarian asian dish. A meal like this happens about once a week and it never fails to turn out amazing. I love to get creative and use scraps I find in my kitchen to pull together a meal. I think these “throw together with what I have” meals always turn out to be some of my favorites. I urge everyone to get creative and find a way to make it work with what you have on hand.
Since we eat at home for every meal, I’m constantly going to the grocery store and always have a ton of food in the fridge. I do my best to use everything I bought and not waste anything. A big asian stir fry is the perfect thing to use up those vegetables in the fridge. It’s my saving grace when my produce is on its last good day and we don’t know what to do for dinner. It’s quick, easy and delicious every single time.
This noodle dish is tossed with coconut milk, curry paste, Thai chili paste and some soy for saltiness. A bit of fish sauce is added (can omit), sugar, and sesame oil. Let it cook for a few minutes so the noodles become tender and soak in the sauce… and you have a hot meal in less than 30 minutes. You can add chicken if you’d like to make it a heartier meal. Cook it in oil before the vegetables then go along with the recipe as directed.
STIR FRIED COCONUT CURRY NOODLES WITH MIXED VEGETABLES
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 lb thick rice noodles, dried
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
- 1/2 yellow onion, large dice
- 1 stick celery, small dice
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 2 cloves garlic, small dice
- 1 cup baby corn
- 4 oz. sliced water chestnuts
- 1/4 cup peanuts, chopped and roasted
- 13.5 oz. canned coconut milk
- 2 tbsp Thai chili paste
- 2 tbsp Panama curry paste (May also use red)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp regular soy sauce
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 bunch fresh basil, torn or chopped
DIRECTIONS:
- Put rice noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Soak in water for about 20 minutes. Move noodles around occasionally with tongs to make sure none of them stick together. After 20 minutes, the noodles should be soft yet still firm in the center. The rest of the cooking process will happen in the wok. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the soaking water for later use.
- Heat a large wok to medium high heat. Add in vegetable oil, carrot, onion, celery, broccoli, garlic, baby corn, water chestnuts and peanuts. Sauté in the hot wok for about 5 minutes until vegetables are slightly cooked and tender.
- Push the vegetables to one side of the wok and add in a couple tbsp of the coconut milk, curry paste and chili paste. Mix together and let toast for about 60 seconds.
- In a small bowl combine the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.
- Add the soaked rice noodles to the wok and mix everything together. Pour the sauce from the small bowl over the rice noodles. Mix together and let cook in the sauce while stirring every 30-45 seconds. Cook until noodles are tender (about 5-8 minutes).
- Turn off heat and mix in fresh basil and a few tbsp of the reserved pasta water to loosen up the sauce (if it’s too thick).
- Serve hot with extra basil, sesame seeds and soy sauce.