Wholesome Stef

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Quick 'n' Easy Veggie Noodle Bowl with Teriyaki Sauce

Now that I'm working while sending out job applications for a new position and studying at IIN at the same time, I find myself relying on quick and easy recipes more than ever. People will often say they don't have the time to eat healthy because the cooking takes so long, but I think that's just a lame excuse. Healthy dishes can be some of the easiest to throw together, you just need a bit of practice to get into a rhythm.

For example, for a smoothie literally all you have to do is throw all the fruits and veggies into the mixer, press the start button, wait 5 seconds and voila. Now that's what I call fast food!

I know we don't all live off smoothies all day long, so that's where this warming veggie noodle bowl with a homemade Teriyaki sauce comes in handy. Noodle bowls are awesome because you can customize them any way you like – a total clean out the fridge kind of meal. Take whatever veggie looks like it's best days are over (brownish kale, I'm looking at you), throw it into a noodle bowl and see it come back to life. So go ahead and customize this noodle bowl with whatever you have left in the fridge.

And since it's a veggie noodle bowl and not a noodle veggie bowl, there are more vegetables in the dish than noodles. This way a normally carb-heavy meal is transformed into a satiating  fibre-packed healthy alternative. The carrots are cut up julienne-style and almost get a pasta-like texture when heated, so it adds to the i'm-eating-a-pasta-dish-feel.

Edamama Pasta

Not that you would have to restrict the type of pasta I propose for this dish, because they are freakin' awesome. I used Edamama's black bean spaghetti, which are gluten free, wheat free, low in calories and have a lower GI than normal pasta. Edamama is a gluten free pasta brand from Switzerland which makes their pasta out of soy beans. They:

  • Contain 5x less carbs and 4x more fibre than normal wheat pasta

  • Contain lots of healthy protein (the black bean pasta has 45.1g of protein and only 16.2g of carbs per 100g of pasta). And the best part is: it's a complete protein source, which is a rare bread under the plant-based protein options

  • Don't contain any eggs, lactose, conservatives or colorants. Win!

Quick 'n' Easy Veggie Noodle Bowl with Teriyaki Sauce (Serves 2)

Ingredients

Teriyaki sauce:

5 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

5 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

4 tsp coconut sugar

1 ½ small cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tsp fresh ginger, minced

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Dish:

80g gluten-free black bean pasta from Edamama

2 tablespoon coconut

3 cups broccoli florets, white cauliflower and romanesco cauliflower (in total)

3/4 cup shelled frozen edamame

2-3 medium carrots, julienned

1 tbsp sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

Prepare the sauce by whisking all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil. Add the broccoli and cauliflower and 3 tablespoons of Teriyaki sauce and sauté for about 9 minutes. Stir well.

Once the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook as instructed on the package directions (6-8 min.). Drain well.

Add the frozen edamame and carrots to the skillet and sauté until the edamame is hot and ready to be eaten (takes around 5 min.)

Stir the drained noodles into the stir-fry mixture along with the rest of the teriyaki sauce. Cook for a couple minutes and then serve with the sesame seeds as garnish.

Don't forget to tag your picture with #wholesometribe on Instagram if you give this recipe a go. I'd love to see your creations!

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