Quick 'n' Easy Veggie Noodle Bowl with Teriyaki Sauce
Now that I'm working while sending out job applications for a new position and studying at IIN at the same time, I find myself relying on quick and easy recipes more than ever. People will often say they don't have the time to eat healthy because the cooking takes so long, but I think that's just a lame excuse. Healthy dishes can be some of the easiest to throw together, you just need a bit of practice to get into a rhythm.
For example, for a smoothie literally all you have to do is throw all the fruits and veggies into the mixer, press the start button, wait 5 seconds and voila. Now that's what I call fast food!
I know we don't all live off smoothies all day long, so that's where this warming veggie noodle bowl with a homemade Teriyaki sauce comes in handy. Noodle bowls are awesome because you can customize them any way you like – a total clean out the fridge kind of meal. Take whatever veggie looks like it's best days are over (brownish kale, I'm looking at you), throw it into a noodle bowl and see it come back to life. So go ahead and customize this noodle bowl with whatever you have left in the fridge.
And since it's a veggie noodle bowl and not a noodle veggie bowl, there are more vegetables in the dish than noodles. This way a normally carb-heavy meal is transformed into a satiating fibre-packed healthy alternative. The carrots are cut up julienne-style and almost get a pasta-like texture when heated, so it adds to the i'm-eating-a-pasta-dish-feel.
Edamama Pasta
Not that you would have to restrict the type of pasta I propose for this dish, because they are freakin' awesome. I used Edamama's black bean spaghetti, which are gluten free, wheat free, low in calories and have a lower GI than normal pasta. Edamama is a gluten free pasta brand from Switzerland which makes their pasta out of soy beans. They:
Contain 5x less carbs and 4x more fibre than normal wheat pasta
Contain lots of healthy protein (the black bean pasta has 45.1g of protein and only 16.2g of carbs per 100g of pasta). And the best part is: it's a complete protein source, which is a rare bread under the plant-based protein options
Don't contain any eggs, lactose, conservatives or colorants. Win!
Quick 'n' Easy Veggie Noodle Bowl with Teriyaki Sauce (Serves 2)
Ingredients
Teriyaki sauce:
5 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
5 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 tsp coconut sugar
1 ½ small cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ tsp fresh ginger, minced
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Dish:
80g gluten-free black bean pasta from Edamama
2 tablespoon coconut
3 cups broccoli florets, white cauliflower and romanesco cauliflower (in total)
3/4 cup shelled frozen edamame
2-3 medium carrots, julienned
1 tbsp sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
Prepare the sauce by whisking all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil. Add the broccoli and cauliflower and 3 tablespoons of Teriyaki sauce and sauté for about 9 minutes. Stir well.
Once the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook as instructed on the package directions (6-8 min.). Drain well.
Add the frozen edamame and carrots to the skillet and sauté until the edamame is hot and ready to be eaten (takes around 5 min.)
Stir the drained noodles into the stir-fry mixture along with the rest of the teriyaki sauce. Cook for a couple minutes and then serve with the sesame seeds as garnish.
