Included in my list of favorite things:
- Dishes that can be made in under half an hour
- Dishes that are vegetarian
- Chinese food, on occasion
- Pasta
- The Pioneer Woman
- Recipes that turn out better than I expect
All that to say that, once again, The Pioneer Woman has outdone herself. Her Sesame Noodles are all of the above and I can hardly wait to make them again.
From time to time I make “stir-fry”. My stir-fry generally consists of frozen vegetables cooked in soy sauce and served over rice. Impressive, I know. But it was always missing something.
Thanks to the Pioneer Woman, I now know what that something was: sesame oil. Get some, it smells like Chinese food. No joke. I did have to shell out a little money for it, but it was totally worth it.
Vegetable “Lo Mein”
(Adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Simple Sesame Noodles)
You’ll Need:
- 12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (or whatever thin pasta or rice noodles you have on hand)
- ¼ cups soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- Several drops of Tabasco sauce
- 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons hot tap water
- 1 lb. frozen mixed vegetables
- Optional: 4 green onions, sliced
1. Cook the pasta/noodles according to package directions. Drain.
2. While the pasta cooks, whisk the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Tabasco sauce, vegetable oil and water together in a bowl. Adjust to taste. Smell the Chinese food-y smell. Get excited.
3. In a skillet, heat the mixed vegetables until defrosted and cooked through.
4. In a large bowl, or the pasta cooking pot, combine the pasta and mixed vegetables. Mix. Add the sauce and mix until combined. Serve warm. Enjoy your fake, fast Chinese food.
Disclaimer: Vegetarian it may be, but this dish, sadly, isn’t exactly good for you. The sesame oil is very high (14 g in just 1 tablespoon!) and the soy sauce has 920 mg of sodium per tablespoon. So, as with everything, this dish should only be consumed in moderation–but it’s really really good! And, clearly, restaurant Chinese food probably isn’t great for you either
[…] in an effort to avoid turning on the oven. Instead I made my version of The Pioneer Woman’s sesame noodles with fresh CSA vegetables (turnips, carrots, summer squash, etc.); it was very well received. […]