Ginger Miso Poached Noodles with Mint

I'm a loyal follower of Heidi of 101Cookbooks, it's true, but often find myself grappling with the healthy substitutions of meatless products (ie., tofu, seitan, etc.)

Every six months of so, I like to challenge my distastes ... often to just realize why in fact I do not like them in the first place. Can't hurt to try, right?

Well, this is the tale of one of those nights, my friends. With extra-firm tofu in hand, I went about slicing and marinating with some soy sauce and other random seasonings, suggestions from one of my vegetarian friends, Steph. I'm sorry Steph, not even the delicious mix of flavors and grilling masked the texture. I tried though, I really did.

Anyways, chalking it up to a tofu loss, the rest of this dish was pretty damn fantastic and comforting, I must say. Rice noodles steeped in a ginger miso broth, dressed with some shelled edamame and mint. Summery, light, with a hint of a burn from the ginger and a shot of sriracha and a broth to slurp. Oh, and tofu that I quickly tossed. Can't win 'em all.



Ginger Miso Poached Noodles with Mint
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients:
Rice noodles
Shelled edamame
2 TB miso paste
Thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
Handful of mint
1/2 a lime

Heat water to cover the rice noodles on the stove, slowly incorporating the miso paste until well dissolved. Add the ginger slices to flavor the broth. When about to boil, add the noodles, take off the heat and leave covered for 7-10 minutes, until the noodles are cooked.

Meanwhile, cook and lightly salt the edamame. Shell if need be.

When noodles are cooked, drain a portion of the broth, leaving about a cup or two left. Add the edamame and the mint. Add a squeeze of lime. Stir and serve. I added a dash of sriracha, but that's just personal taste. Enjoy!

Operation pantry/fridge/freezer cleanout - Day 1 - Miso Ramen

OK, news alert for those of you following Tales of a Test Kitchen (which may just be Steph ;) ) -- I'm moving. I'll soon be leaving my Back Bay kitchen to move essentially down the road, mayyyyybe a mile and a half away. Likely less.

Due to the pending move, I've restricted myself to basic ingredients bought at the market this weekend and what i only have in stock here. And after a month of very very heavy travel ... the pickins are SLIM. But, I like a challenge ... and this one forces me to do some research and be creative. The results ... delicious. Who'da known?

On to Day 1 of the challenge -- what to make for the week? I made walnut miso noodles over the weekend, have a ton of miso (does Super 88 sell small packs of miso? or just lifetime supplies. meezcha.)

So, on to cooking for the week. After a month of indulging in Brazilian and Asian delicacies, Tales of a Test Kitchen could use a little detox, and with the move, wallet-friendly dishes are added bonuses.

The result for Sunday's cooking... miso ramen with leftover walnut miso noodles from the potluck @ albert's, bok choy, ground pork and slightly spiced with thai chilis. So incredibly easy to do, yet so satisfying. This soup is up to interpretation, so feel free to alter. Here's what I used.

Miso Ramen

Ingredients:
1.25 lb ground pork
roughly 2 cups chicken stock
entire bag of bok choy
3 Thai bird chilis - finely diced
Leftover walnut miso noodles (including chard and asparagus)
soy sauce
spring onions
miso
water
garlic

To start, brown the ground pork with a little oil, diced garlic, and some soy sauce in a medium-deep pan, enough to cook down the bok choy in. Once that's browned, add the bok choy (rinsed, be very careful ... often carries some dirt) and about a cup of chicken stock. Eyeball it, you need enough to cook down the bok choy.

Meanwhile, head a pot of water until it's warm, but not boiling. Mix in 1/4 cup or so (to taste) of miso, whisking in until nicely combined. You want the broth to be flavorful, and everyone has a different taste for miso. Use accordingly.

Once bok choy is cooked down, add to miso broth.




Let these all combine, then add the leftover noodles. I diced up some spring onions to top the ramen, and grabbed my set of chop sticks. Dinner, finisimo -- with enough to last me through the week. :) And really, what's more comforting than a big bowl of miso ramen?

Walnut Miso Noodles with Spring Vegetables

I spotted this recipe over at 101Cookbooks and had to try. This past weekend brought just the occasion -- a potluck with the theme "Winter is over (hopefully)". The noodles seemed like a fitting dish, featuring some spring vegetables and also continuing my Asian kick a week after my travels. (What can I say, it's a touch eating habit to kick ;) )

The noodles were a hit, and a wallet-friendly dish. You can top the noodles with anything your little heart desires. I followed Heidi's lead on this and lightly sauteed some red chard stems that were absolutely beautiful, some spring onions, asparagus and toasted walnuts. And I have a bit of the dressing to spare, making it easy to whip up a batch during the week. Since you can top with anything you'd like, it's a fantastic way to feature certain vegetables or toppings.

The key to these noodles is the dressing. Mine came out like a slightly saltier version of a peanut sauce ... similar in texture. Absolutely delicious though, and seemingly healthy.

My only subs to Heidi's recipe were a) tripling the recipe b) adding a few thai bird chilis to the sauce and c) using Japanese vermicelli - a purplish brown noodle that really stood out. Other than that, recipe's pretty straightforward, and quick to make with a little multi-tasking with the food processor.







Have other ideas for toppings or variations? I'd love to hear them. Leave your recipe tweak in the comments :)