Rainbow Soba Noodle Bowls

You would think, with the full day spent at home, I would feel like I have plenty of time to spare now. But somehow, that’s not the case. When I think about my time two months ago, I find myself wondering how I did it all—schlepping from one place to the next. We have been staying busy, mostly with house projects, which has likely benefited my sanity.

Stir fry is a go-to for me when I need dinner fast, and stir fry doesn’t have to be served over rice. This dish is essentially a stir fry, but soba noodles transform it into something different. Quick and easy—but also full of colorful veggies—this has been a regular lately. Like most stir fries I make, this one is cooked with soy sauce, rice wine, and sambal oelek (that chili garlic paste you’ll find in the ethnic food isle in the grocery store). It’s a salty-acidic-spicy sauce combination that isn’t just limited to this recipe: use it any time you’re sautéing veggies and want a little extra punch.

Rainbow Soba Noodle Bowls

Published April 30, 2020 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

1/2 package soba noodles

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 zucchini, roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips

2 large carrots, sliced into matchsticks

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, minced

1 1/2 cup shelled fresh or frozen shelled soy beans (mukimame)

4-5 leaves dino (or lacinato) kale, roughly chopped

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon cooking rice wine

2 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon sambal oelek (chili garlic sauce)

1 green onion, sliced for garnish

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions:

1. Cook soba noodles according to instructions on package. When noodles are al dente, strain through a colander and set aside.
2. While noodles cook, sauté vegetables: heat coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or wok. When oil glistens, add zucchini, bell pepper, carrots, ginger, and garlic, and sauté until zucchini just starts to turn become tender. Add soy beans.
3. In a jar, combine soy sauce, cooking rice wine, cornstarch, and samba olek. Shake or whisk to combine.
4. Pour half of sauce into skillet, and allow sauce to bubble for a few minutes. Sauce will begin to thicken.
5. Add cooked noodles to the pan, along with chopped kale. Using tongs, mix everything to incorporate the vegetables into the noodles.
6. Add remaining sauce to pan, and cook for 3-5 more minutes, staring occasionally to ensure everything is coated in sauce. Remove from heat, and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve.

Broccolini & Tofu in Chili Garlic Sauce

Here is a recipe I’ve been cooking a lot lately, because it’s quite easy and also checks all the boxes (veggies, protein, lots of flavor). Though, I’ve learned some lessons along the way:

• Broccoli rabe and broccolini are not interchangeable. While they seem similar at first glance, broccoli rabe is more like mustard greens—spicy and leafy, and the flavor overwhelms this dish. Opt for broccolini, and if you can’t find it, go for regular broccoli.

• A clean towel from your pantry is just fine for drying your tofu. I’ve never gotten my tofu very dry before, because we don’t keep paper towels in the house and I always hesitated to use a kitchen towel. But in the January edition of Bon Appetit the suggested a clean towel in their tofu recipe, so I went for it, and now I’m not really sure what my previous hesitation was all about. (And yes, dry your tofu! It’s how you’ll get those nice edges!)

• Add the garlic to the pan (not the marinade) for maximum roasted garlic flavor. Add the marinade to the pan at the end of cooking for that sauciness that’s so delicious. While we’re talking about sauce, here’s something else: broccolini is ideal for sauce, because it has all these nooks and crannies that soak up sauce (in other words: bites of broccolini are extra flavorful).

Broccolini & Tofu in Chili Garlic Sauce

Published January 21, 2020 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4 with rice   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the marinade/sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons sambal olek (chili-garlic sauce)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For the stir fry:

1 fourteen ounce block extra-firm tofu

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bunch broccolini or 1 head broccoli, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces (note: I do not recommend broccoli rabe for this dish, which has a much stronger flavor that broccolini, and overwhelms the dish)

1 teaspoon coconut oil

2 green onions, sliced, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons minced cilantro, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

For serving: cooked brown rice

Directions:

1. Drain water from tofu, and wrap in a clean kitchen towel to remove excess liquid. Cube tofu into bite-sized pieces.
2. Combine all ingredients for sauce in a medium-sized bowl or pyrex, and stir. Add tofu to sauce, cover, and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes (or all day, until ready to cook).
3. When ready to make stir fry: heat coconut oil in a large skillet or wok or medium heat. Add minced garlic, and cook until it just begins to brown.
4. Using a fork or slotted spoon, remove tofu from sauce, allowing excess to drip off. Place in pan (there may be some splattering). Cook tofu for 5 minutes, until tofu begins to brown on one side. Use a spatula to turn tofu over, and cook 3-4 more minutes.
5. Add chopped broccolini to pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Drizzle remaining marinade over stir fry, along with sliced green onions. Stir briefly, and continue to cook for a few more minutes until broccolini is bright green and tender.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and sesame seeds.
7. Serve: Scoop prepared brown rice into bowls, and top with stir fry. Add additional green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds as garnish.

Zoodle Chicken Chow Mein

I was having a really bad case of writers block for this post. I love the recipe, but wasn't sure how to put words to it. The post that follows is only slightly connected (Chow mein, Chinese food, Beijing... you'll get it in a few more sentences. I hope. 😬), but once I started writing it the words flowed. Despite being almost unrelated to Chow Mein, I hope you'll like it! And the recipe is below, of course. 

The Beijing Olympics opened the fall of my Senior year of high school. I was in the thick of my gymnastics obsession, and could name every competitor that was going to compete in the event on the women's side. Honestly I probably knew their age, floor music, and home town at the time too. 

My entire high school gymnastics team crowded into a single living room to watch the all-around event. As I remember it, the competition was no easy win--the Chinese team had a load of talented athletes. My own team, piled on the couch, yelled at the TV as if the athletes in China could hear us. "Stick it!!!!!" and we'd cross our fingers as if we had as much riding on this competition as the athletes themselves.

Even though I don't keep track of the US National team anymore, I cherish those memories because they mark a time in my life where I had truly found my passion. It wasn't until I started gymnastics that I had any desire to participate in sports at all, so when I think back on the sport I see it as transformative. 

I had no interest in athletics at a younger age--I remember my dad lecturing me in fourth grade that I had to do something. But I disliked most of the sports that were available, and found that when I ran track in gym class I usually wound up coughing until my lungs bled. Soccer and running were the two big sports at my school, and I didn't want a slice of either of them, not even in gym class. 

When I took up gymnastics (late for a gymnast--at the age of 9 or 10), I don't think I even thought of it as a sport. It felt like play time. Being upside down became my favorite thing in the world. Our living room became my jungle gym, much to my mother's chagrin. I was sold. 

The 2008 Olympics felt especially important because they happened to take place during my last year as a competitive gymnast. I had no plans to go on to NCAA. While I wasn't in the Games (or even close to them,) it felt like this was it. And what a competition it was! Team USA took Silver (women's) and my favorite two athletes went 1 and 2 in the all-around (Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin). 

When I stopped competing, I found that gymnastics had given me a launching point (a trampoline, if you will 😉) to actual enjoy other sports. I took up running--something I had despised previously, and eventually trained for a marathon. I was never going to be an Olympic athlete but that's not what I was meant to get out of gymnastics. Instead I learned that if you simply do the things you enjoy, exercise doesn't feel like a chore. Sometimes I hear people refer to it like this, and I hope that they will just find the one thing they are passionate about, because that is life changing. Do what you love. 

Three years after the Beijing Olympics, watching gymnastics competitions was far from my mind. I had shoved it in a corner, along with other things I "used to do." Some how the headline made it to me--perhaps on Facebook, or maybe a magazine: Nastia Liukin announces retirement. I think I broke out into tears. While I did very little gymnastics any more, this was a sort of final page on the gymnastics chapter in my life. It was silly. The emotional piece of it is almost impossible to explain. It felt like good bye, but a good bye I couldn't articulate. I started reading gymnastics articles again for a short stint, and then I remembered: just do what you love. 

Following that passion led me to Acro Yoga, climbing, and biking--while I probably wouldn't have loved them years ago, gymnastics had taught me how to make exercise feel like playtime. And that's still how I think of it. 

P.S., I just learned that crossing chop sticks and leaving chopsticks in a bowl are both big no-nos. Of course I would learn this after shooting these images 🙄 Will have to remember for next time! 

Zoodle Chicken Chow Mein

Paleo, Primal, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    |    Print This Recipe

Chicken and veggies are sautéd with a savory sauce and tossed with zucchini noodles for a lighter, more nutritious take on the classic take out dish. And while this recipe does call for chicken, you could mix things up by swapping in shrimp or pork instead.

Serves: 2   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 4 chicken cutlets (about a 1/2 pound), chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 4 cups zucchini noodles (I use this Spiralizer)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup green beans, stems removed
• 1/4 head napa cabbage, sliced thin
• For serving: Sliced green onions, Sriracha or red pepper flakes

For the Sauce:
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon tapioca starch (or corn starch)

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in a skillet or wok over medium heat until it glistens. Add diced chicken to skillet, and brown on each side.
2. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, and green beans to the skillet. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the green beans are bright green. Add cabbage, and stir.
3. Make the sauce: in a small bowl, whisk all of the sauce ingredients together. Pour sauce into pan, and toss with vegetables to coat. Allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes.
4. Add zucchini noodles last, cooking just until tender.
5. Serve in bowls and top with slices green onion and Sriracha or red pepper flakes as desired.