Recipe: Stir-Fried Vegetables with Udon Noodles

From the Vitality Food Feature ‘Marvellous Meatless Meals‘.

When thick, chewy udon noodles are mixed with colourful stir-fried vegetables, there’s no need to coax the kids to ‘eat up’! They love this dish. The recipe is versatile enough that it also works well with soba (buckwheat) noodles and/or bean-based pastas (for those needing a gluten-free option). Look for udon noodles in health food stores or where Japanese foods are sold.

Ingredients

• 14 oz package udon noodles
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 large sweet peppers, cut into strips
• 1 jalapeño pepper, cut into thin rings
• 2 carrots, julienne cut
• 1 stick diagonal-cut celery
• 1 cooking onion, quartered and separated into pieces
• 1 cup small button mushrooms, or large ones quartered
• 1 cup small cauliflower florets
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger root
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce (low-salt or regular)
• 2 Tbsp rice wine
• 1 Tsp sesame oil
• Sliced green onions, for garnish

1) Put udon noodles in 4 cups of boiling water, cook 3 minutes, drain and cover.

2) Heat olive oil in wok and swirl garlic until soft. Add prepared vegetables and ginger root. Stir-fry 2 minutes. Sprinkle with soy sauce and rice wine, cook over high heat until vegetables are tender but still firm. Sprinkle in sesame oil.

3) To serve, mix the udon noodles with the vegetables, or place noodles on a platter and scatter vegetables over top. Garnish with green onions, if desired, and serve.