Mad About Udon

I kind of dislike eating pasta, but it’s damn cheap and I’m obsessed with buying it. I routinely find myself perusing the aisles of Herb and Spice, Nicastro’s (Byward Mkt), and Kowloon Market (Chinatown) picking up $2-6 packages of strange-sounding (or looking) pasta. I do love udon though (in fact I’m MAD ABOUT UDON). My next pictures should involve gnocchi (potato pasta) and jasmine rice. MMMMM!

Here are some pics of recent pasta dishes I made:

This is a simple stir-fry. I heated broccoli, carrots, and baby corn, cooked some TVP chunks, and stir-fried everything with a package of udon noodles in Honey Garlic, Orange & Ginger sauce, and sweet-thai chili sauce.

One of my manic-for-pasta purchases from Chinatown. $1.83 got me 600g of corn soba. Soba is a brilliant Japanese noodle. It’s like fettucine but thinner and chewier and cooks more or less instantly.

Cooked in 2 mins.

My FAVOURITE recipe!! I ripped this out of a Women’s Health magazine I was reading at the gym last semester. That’s right, I’m the asshole that rips the pages out of your magazines.

ASIAN NOODLE SALAD W/ PEANUT DRESSING

The best part is the super-tangy peanut butter sauce. Other good parts include the price (about $15 for 8 servings worth) the cooking time (20 mins), and the response from omnivores (delight).

This post has been approved by a seagull eating a starfish:

-Maureen

Maureen’s last post inspired me to make a noodle-based supper this evening! This recipe is based on the curry recipes found in The Ayurvedic Cookbook by Amadea Morningstar and Urmila Desai. It yields enough for two small portions of approximately 205 calories each, or one large portion of about 410 calories.

1 t sunflower oil
½ t black mustard seeds
½ t cumin seeds
½ t cumin powder
½ t fenugreek
½ t turmeric
½ t coriander powder
1 t curry powder
½ a medium potato
¼ c red onion
2 garlic cloves
¼ c coarsely chopped red onion
1 c water
¼ c chickpeas
¼ c frozen green peas
2 finely chopped brussel sprouts
1.5 oz spelt udon

Begin by heating the oil in a pan. Add the black mustard seeds, cumin and fenugreek and wait for the black mustard seeds to pop. Watch the pan to make sure the seeds do not burn! Once the black mustard seeds have begun to pop, add the turmeric, onions and garlic. Add ¼ c water. Let the onions brown, and then add the rest of your vegetables and ½ c of water. Cover your pan and cook on medium for 15 minutes or so. Add the rest of the water as necessary. After the 15 minutes is up, simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes. While the curry is simmering, prepare the udon as indicated on the package. Add the noodles to the curry, stir and enjoy.

The Ayurvedic Cookbook recommends that fruit is eaten alone, or at the beginning of a meal. I decided to make a fruit smoothie of approximately 125 calories to accompany my supper anyway. Here is the recipe:

½ a banana
½ an orange
¼ c unsweetened frozen pineapple
¼ c unsweetened frozen blueberry
½ c water

Add the ingredients to a blender and liquefy.

- Aly