Tag: broccoli

Sesame Noodles with Cabbage and Broccoli

My Dad was in the hospital this week. He had a heart attack in July of 2012 and at the time, for various reasons, the doctors thought it would be best to send him home instead of doing surgery. In the months that followed, I watched as my Dad struggled daily with chest pain, headaches, and severe exhaustion. He couldn’t work and sometimes he couldn’t get out of bed until the afternoon. His quality of life was shattered and though I knew he desperately wanted to make positive changes for his health, the odds seemed to be stacked against him.

Fast forward to today, and he’s finally had his bypass surgery. He’s in recovery and doing great! He says it’s the first time in 6 months that he hasn’t felt like someone is squeezing down on his heart. His spirits are high, and I’m really hopeful about the future and his potential to change things up and live the best life possible.

So this week when Monday came around and it was time for my Food Matters Project post, I wasn’t quite feeling up to it. I was pretty exhausted, but the crew of FMP’ers was super supportive and said I should just whip this one up quickly… and I’m glad I listened!

What a great, easy dinner for a tired weeknight. This came together so quickly and tasted so great! The original was a recipe with salmon and spinach, but it’s such a versatile recipe that just about anything would work. I was thinking it would be great with some shiitake mushrooms and red peppers… what do you think?

Check out the Food Matters Project site for all the other fantastic variations on this dish. And wander on over to Sara’s lovely blog for the original recipe. While you’re at it, why not check out our Pinterest board for some awesome meal planning inspiration!

SESAME NOODLES WITH CABBAGE AND BROCCOLI
serves 3-4

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 head red cabbage, sliced thinly
1 large head broccoli, cut into florets
1 small tin of bamboo shoots, drained
2 tbsp Braggs soy seasoning
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 drops stevia or 1 tsp maple syrup or other sweetener
2 tsp dried red chili flakes
8 ounces buckwheat soba noodles (I found ones with 95% buckwheat flour and 5% sweet potato!)

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. When the water boils, add the noodles and cook for about 5 minutes, or according to package directions (stop cooking before they get mushy!). Remove the noodles from heat, strain, and rinse. The rinsing step is necessary so they don’t taste too starchy.

Saute the onion in the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the onion is tender, add the cabbage and cook for a couple minutes, then add the broccoli and cook another couple minutes. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients (except the noodles), until everything is well mixed and then remove from heat. Taste it and adjust the seasoning if you need, maybe a tad more soy sauce, sesame oil, or chili flakes. Now toss the noodles in the mix or just scoop the cabbage mix over top of the noodles and enjoy. So easy!

+ Erin
P 01/16/2013
t Blog, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Vegan
Cbamboo shoots, broccoli, cabbage, coconut oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds, soba
9 4 Comments

Easy Rice Bowl

For The Food Matters Project this week, Gracie has chosen Hippie Rice, see the original recipe here on her blog.

I chose to do a rice bowl with lots of veggies (obviously), and a little bit of an Asian flavour profile. This is an easy dish that I whip up variations of pretty often for weeknight dinners, or when we are crunched for time. There really are endless variations – the original calls for sunflower seeds, raisins, and chili flakes! Anything goes in a rice bowl.

See the rest of the creations here.

EASY RICE BOWL
serves 4

1 cup rice, uncooked (I used 1/2 black rice and 1/2 brown rice)
2 cups water (or broth)
2 tbsp coconut oil (1 tbsp for rice, 1 tbsp for veggies)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch garlic
1 head broccoli (about 1 pound), cored and roughly chopped
1/2 head cauliflower (because it’s all I had, you can add more), cored and roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium-sized carrots, chopped
3 tbsp Braggs soy seasoning
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup sesame seeds as garnish

Put rice on to cook with water or broth and 1 tbsp coconut oil. Cook onions on low-med heat in the other tbsp coconut oil for 3 minutes or until just tender. Add celery and carrots and continue to cook for another few minutes. Add the broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper, and garlic. Add the rice, soy seasoning, and lemon juice, and stir-well. Taste to see if it needs more soy sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!