Vegetable Lo Mein with Edamame and Mustard Greens

Charlie and I made this for dinner last week and it was a big hit! Healthy, yummy, and not too hard. You can substitute other veggies for the edamame and mustard greens if you want, and add chicken if you're looking for more protein.

Ingredients:
2 quarts water
3 cups chopped mustard greens (or other dark leafy greens)
1 (14-ounce) package fresh Chinese egg noodles (or fresh angel hair pasta)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 T dark sesame oil
2 T canola oil
1 T grated peeled fresh ginger
1 container shiitake or other fancy mushrooms, sliced
1 1/4 cups (1/4-inch-thick) red bell pepper strips (about 1 medium)
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed (you could also try asparagus or broccoli)
3 T hoisin sauce

Preparation:
1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add greens, and cook for 1 minute or until greens wilt. Remove greens from water with a slotted spoon. Plunge the greens into ice water; drain and squeeze dry. Set greens aside.
2. Return water in pan to a boil. Add egg noodles, and cook for 2 minutes or until done. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain and rinse with cold water, and drain well. Place noodles in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and sesame oil, tossing to coat, and set aside.
3. Heat canola oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger; stir-fry 5 seconds. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, onions, and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes or until bell pepper is crisp-tender. Stir in greens and edamame; stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir in reserved noodle-cooking liquid, noodle mixture, remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce, and hoisin sauce; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Adapted from a Cookling Light recipe.

Pad Thai noodles

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings [Note: Making > 3 servings at a time will cause the noodles to stick and clump because the pan can't hold that many noodles and allow them to be stirred properly.]

6 oz dried narrow rice noodles
3 T siew (dark sweet soy sauce or 2 T dark soy & 1 T molasses or brown sugar)
2 T fish sauce (zero for NL)
1/4 cup ground roasted peanuts (don't grind too much)
1 T sugar
8 jumbo frozen uncooked shrimp (or equivalent)
1 egg scrambled with 1/4 t salt
2 cubic inches firm tofu, diced
2 t (only, no more) tamarind paste or tamarind concentrate
3 sprigs cilantro, without stems, chopped coarsely
1 c bean sprouts (in a pinch use 1 c cabbage, sliced 1/4" wide)
2" section of daikon (huah chai bpoh) peeled & sliced to 1/4" x 1/4" x 2" or 1 cup of another vegetable
2 t chili & garlic paste
2 scallions finely sliced
4 T shallot chopped (or 1 red small onion)
8 cloves garlic, chopped (not minced)
1/2 t salt
cooking oil (flavorless, like canola)

Prep:
Set tofu in flat bottomed bowl just big enough to accomodate cubes, add siew & spoon liquid on top every few minutes
Hydrate noodles - see Pad Si-ew recipe
Cook the egg until slightly browned, slice into strips 1/4" x 2" & set aside
Remove seeds from tamarind, chopped well, and mix with 2 T hot water to form a paste, then mix with sugar and set aside

Stir fry:
Saute shallot/onion/garlic over medium heat until fragrant
Turn up heat all the way & grab a handful of noodles, add to saute and stir
Continue adding handfuls of noodles and stirring
When well mixed add sugar/tamarind & chili paste & stir well
If no tofu used, add 1 T of siew
When hot, dump noodle mixture on a plate, heat wok high and add a little oil
Put tofu in a colander to drain, then saute
When browned, add shrimp and daikon & any other long cooking vegetables
When shrimp are almost done dump noodle mixture back in wok
Toss in fish sauce (unless NL is eating, in which case do it at the table)
Toss in & bean spouts (or cabbage) & cook for 15 sec, then turn off heat
Add eggs and scallions and mix well
Taste for salt, fish sauce, sugar, and chili paste
Pour onto a serving plate & sprinkle peanuts & cilantro on top as garnish

Pad Si-ew or See Ew (Thai Sweet Soy Sauce Noodles)

Notes: The key is high heat, quick cooking, & charring the meat, noodles, & garlic.
For 3 T dark sweet soy sauce substitute 2 T dark soy sauce & 1 T molasses (brown or white sugar won't taste right).
If using frozen shrimp, don't defrost to marinade as that will cause shrimp to be overcooked when dish is served. Instead, for step 7) below, put frozen shrimp in along with the marinade contents, but no salt.

Prep time: 1 hr
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings [Note: Making > 3 servings at a time will cause the noodles to stick and clump because the pan can't hold that many noodles and allow them to be stirred properly.]

Marinade:
5 cloves garlic, minced (not squeezed thru garlic press)
1 T white wine (could use rice cooking wine)
1 T fish sauce
2 T dark sweet soy sauce ("si-ew")
1 T oyster sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt

Marinade 6 oz (1 C) thinly-sliced beef, shrimp, chicken, or tofu. If beef cut against the grain to make it less chewy. If chicken cut with the grain so it looses less water. If tofu, fry first in very hot pan and with a little oil.
Marinade for 1/2 hr or longer.

Other ingredients:
6 oz wide rice noodles
4 cloves garlic, minced (not squeezed thru press)
1 T sweet dark soy sauce
3 C broccoli florets & stems (or cabbage or Chinese broccoli)
1 T fish sauce
1 T oyster sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten
2/3 C onion, chopped finely

1) Hydrate noodles (see below), then drain, add small amount of oil & coat by hand.
2) Mix garlic and onions in bowl.
3) Mix rest of ingredients except protein, noodles, broccoli, & egg in another bowl.
4) Cook the scrambled egg, then break or cut up.
5) Heat pan to highest setting, add small amount of sesame oil. Throw in the broccoli & cook but broccoli needs to remain chrunchy. Transfer to plate & set aside.
6) Keep high high, add a little more oil, & saute onion/garlic mixture, stirring constantly so garlic doesn't burn. Add noodles and stir constantly to keep from sticking & to get the charred bits of onion/garlic onto the noodles. Now add the sweet soy sauce mixture, and mix well. Transfer to the broccoli plate.
7) Set the pan back on the high heat, and dump in the protein & marinade. Spread the protein around the pan to cook & (if possible) char, then flip to the other side.
8) Throw the broccoli/noodle mixture back in the pan and stir quickly to mix.
9) Taste. If needed add fish sauce, sweet soy, salt, Thai black pepper, or vinegar.
10)Serve with prik dong (chili & vinegar).

Rice Noodle preparation:
Methods of softening noodles (all methods require enough water to cover noodles):
a) soak at room temperature for an hour or more
b) soak at body temp for 25 minutes
c) boil water & pour over noodles in a large bowl and soak for 3-7 minutes
Note: While hotter water rehydrates faster it also produces noodles that are more likely to break when stir fried.
Immediately after covering with water, use fork to shake noodles to make sure water surrounds each noodle.
While soaking, give noodles an occasional stir & check firmness frequently
Noodles are done when soft on the outside but stiff inside
When done, drain and rinse in cold water, then soak in cold water which will significantly slow the hydration process.
When ready to use, drain well & coat with tiny bit of oil to keep noodles from sticking while cooking.
When frying, Wok must be very hot to prevent noodles from sticking. If they do stick, then add a little bit of oil at a time until they don't stick any more.