And so, my new journey begins. I'm back in my hometown, living with my sister and her family until I figure out what I'm doing with my life (this may take a while...). But it's great to be home, and I'm having a blast spending tons of quality time with my niece and nephew. I was warned ahead of time that they were "picky eaters," but that didn't stop me from daring to implement Meatless Mondays in this house. My sister thought it was a fabulous idea, in fact, and was more than willing to allow me to cook dinner on Monday. I was not prepared for quite the tough audience, though...
I know that the fam totally digs Asian food, and I tried to go with veggies that the kids might actually eat. My nephew promised me that he likes green beans, but upon tasting these (which I had purchased at the farmer's market two days before), admitted to me that he likes "those vegetables" when they're soft, not crunchy (am I going to have to switch to canned veggies???). He does, however, like mushrooms (WIN!!!) and he liked the noodles. My niece refused to eat any of it, but luckily, I had planned ahead for these shenanigans and prepared a back-up: Gardein chick'n strips and rice pilaf. Hey, it was still meatless, so I've got that going for me.
My bro-in-law ate it with no complaints, but my sister, who had to work late that night, pointed out that the noodles don't re-heat very well (which is too bad because I made a ton. Needless to say, I didn't have to cook again for myself for the rest of the week).
I'm gonna go ahead and say that this recipe was a complete failure. Not in that it tasted bad- on the contrary, it was absolutely delicious!- but it was not "kid-friendly" or even "adult-friendly." I'm going to have to stick with more basic, simple meals for a bit, until their taste buds are ready for the full awesomeness of my recipes. Until then, here's the recipe for the dinner I made. You can take it or leave it.
3 cups vegetable broth
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (I used a garlic-infused vinegar which I really liked)
1 tsp molasses
2 tsp chili garlic paste
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice
15 oz. package stir-fry rice noodles
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 oz. baby corn
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together veg broth, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, molasses, chili garlic paste, cornstarch, and Chinese 5 spice, until well blended. Set aside.
Bring water to boil in a large sauce pan. Cook noodles according to directions on the package.
In a large wok, saute onions and garlic over medium-high heat for 3 min, adding a Tbsp water if veggies begin to stick. Add beans and cook for 5 min. Add mushrooms and baby corn and continue to cook over medium-high heat for 5 more min. Give the sauce a quick whisk and add to the wok. Allow sauce to bubble, then turn heat down to medium-low until noodles are done.
When the noodles have finished cooking, drain and add to the wok. Stir well to completely coat the noodles with the sauce. Serve hot.
