Good Eats...

We've been in our apartment for over a year now, and in that time of co-habitating, T has kindly eaten more than one dissapointing meal.  (My overcooked meat/undercooked rice night still leads the pack....)

I would say the good thing is that I really only cook nutritious, fresh meals and often attempt to execute recipes that I put together in my own head.  The bad thing is that.... these don't always work out awesomely! 

My two biggest problems are probably that we don't have a dishwasher (so sometimes I cut corners trying to save a dish or pan from becoming dirty), and I probably worry more than I should about food poisoning and will always err on the side of overcooking meat.  

Oh well.

Then again.... I've knocked a lot of dinners out of the park!!!   This recipe is one of them.  

I have searched all over for really wide rice noodles.  These worked really well.  I found them at an awesome local Asian market, which will be a post for another day.

It's kind of a throw-together-what-you-have stir fry.  Rather than let my veggies go bad when we won't get to them (HUGE waste of $ for youngsters like us),  I'll often cook them up and freeze them; then they're all ready to roll when I want to use them.  So this recipe was a mix of stuff from the fridge and stuff I had cooked before and froze.

Asian Wide Noodle Stir-Fry

3/4 cup shredded carrot

3/4 cup mushrooms

1 cup chopped parsnips (Earlier, I had roasted these in the oven at 400º with olive oil, salt and pepper for about 25 mins. Let some get brown)

1 1/2 cups cooked Fennel (I had sautéed this earlier in the week with onion powder, garlic salt, white wine & black pepper)

1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken  (i love this shortcut, esp with the high price of chicken. We can get 2-3 meals from one chicken and they're only $7)

2 1/2  cups rice flakes, or any asian noodle.  Cook per package directions. 

Sauce: Sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, 3 tsp Hoisin sauce, 1 T brown sugar, 1 tsp red wine vinegar. 
I eyeballed all these proportions but in the end figure you'll want about 3/4 cup of saucy goodness

Drizzle saute pan with a teaspoon of sesame oil. (its pricey but packs MAJOR flavor)
Add 3/4 cup of shredded carrot and let sauté until soft.  

Add mushrooms, fennel, chicken, parsnips and rice flakes.

Pour sauce over the top.  Toss and heat through.  I probably added 1/2 a cup of water and just let this bubble/steam covered with foil for about 6 or 7 mins over med heat.  

We sprinkled ours with Togarashi because we're obsessed with it, but hot pepper flakes would work, or cayenne.


I think the reason these ingredients all work so well together is because they are all inherently sweet. Carrots, parsnips and fennel are all sweet veggies and the saltiness of the soy/hoisin/fish sauce are just awesome together.  

Obviously if you don't have all the pre-cooked ingredients, just sauté them in the beginning and when they're the desired texture, add those rice flakes/noodles and the sauce.

Lastly, I didn't even bother taking a picture cause this dish isn't a looker and I take TERRIBLE food pics. BUT, it woulda been AMAZING with some fresh chopped cilantro and chopped peanuts on top.  Ahh, next time. . . :)

YUM! 
P.S. Kale or some type of leafy green would have been AMAZING in this.  Also could easily be a vegetarian dish.