My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
Gazpacho is such a delicious way to take advantage of your summer garden harvest and (bonus) it’s easy to throw together. Look up gazpacho recipes and you’ll find a ton of them, each unique in their own way, but there are basically two gazpacho camps: …
I had the pleasure last summer of growing rattlesnake beans for the first time. I had never heard of them and was intrigued because they can be eaten just like green beans when they’re young or eaten as dried beans when left to grow and …
Sometimes the stress of the holidays or just daily life can be overwhelming and drag down your defenses. This often leads us to eat the wrong things, which can weaken our immune system even more.
A great way to recharge your system is a bowl of my ramen-style udon noodle bowl recipe. It’s packed full of veggies and protein and can be customized a lot of different ways, to suit your personal taste. If you’re ever looking for a clean-out-your-fridge recipe, this is a good one. You can even make this vegetarian by adding tofu instead of shrimp.
The key to this dish is to really pack it full of a big variety of your favorite veggies and use a good-quality broth. I typically have homemade broth on hand, but you can certainly use store-bought instead.
Also, feel free to change up the noodles. I’ve used soba noodles in this dish and they’re also very good. Soba noodles can be a great gluten-free option, but you have to check the ingredient lists because some of them still contain wheat. Rice noodles or vermicelli are also options.
Also, I add white miso paste and wakame to my bowls when I have them on hand, as they both add great, healthy benefits. They’re not necessary though, so if you don’t have them, don’t sweat it. There’s really no hard and fast rules to my Asian-inspired bowls, I just like to have fun with them and see how deliciously healthy I can make them.
Of course, if you like things hot, this is a great dish for adding a little fire. You can add some hot peppers in the veggie mix or just drizzle a little of my hot chili oil over the top of it before serving.
Cook the noodles, drain, rinse with cool water (to stop the cooking process) and set aside.
Grill the shrimp in a hot grill pan or under the broiler just until they’re pink, turning once halfway through cooking time. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat, Add garlic and regular onions and cook just until they start to soften, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, add the rest of the fresh vegetables and cook just until they all start to soften a bit, about 5 minutes. Stir the veggies often, so they don’t burn.
Add broth and water. Bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat to medium and simmer about 20 minutes. The veggies should be tender but not mushy.
Add cooked shrimp, wakame, miso pasted and sesame oil, bring back to simmer and remove from heat.
Scoop a cup and 1/2 of noodles into each bowl. Ladle hot shrimp and veggie mixture over noodles, being sure to include some of the broth.
Top each bowl with 2 egg halves and a generous sprinkling of fresh cilantro and sliced scallions. Drizzle a teaspoon or so of hot chili oil (if using) over everything and serve.
I love my veggie broth bowls and think you will, too! I have to emphasize that you can customize this to your tastes and/or what you have on hand.
All kinds of proteins work well in these bowls – think beef, turkey, chicken, shredded pork, tofu, tempeh, firm white fish, scallops, salmon, etc…play around with it and see what combo you like best. Try adding beans, if you love them. I especially love this dish with a poached egg in it, so be sure and give it a try if you enjoy poached eggs. And don’t ever be afraid to use leftovers in this recipe; in fact, it’s a perfect vehicle for your leftover proteins and veggies.
The types of veggies you use are limited only by your imagination, so load up on your favorites.
This recipe may sound like a lot of ingredients and it is, because of all the veggies, but trust me, it’s all prep time. This is a great example of mise en place, meaning you have everything in its place and ready to go. Once the veggie prep is done, this noodle bowl dish comes together pretty quickly.
These udon noodle bowls are calling your name..do not ever, ever be afraid to play with your food.
Some days I just need to hit the restart button. Typically this means looking inward for some peace and eating something that fills my stomach and soul with goodness. This past weekend, it was some much needed quiet time and miso soup. Miso soup is …
It’s been a long time since I looked up a lobster bisque recipe because I’ve always made it (and shrimp bisque) the same way. So what I discovered is that I’ve (apparently) been making it wrong all these years. Every recipe I came across called …
There is really nothing so darkly primitive and luscious as roasted beef marrow bones. Add in some vegetables and cloves of garlic and the beauty and fragrance is simply divine.
I’ve made homemade stock for many, many moons because I don’t like things to go to waste and I really like knowing that the stock I use is full of a bunch of good stuff. I use roasted chicken or turkey carcasses, ham bones, beef and lamb shanks, tough asparagus or broccoli bottoms, onion skins and roots, carrot tops, celery bases, herb stems, you name it. When I make stock, I try and use just about everything I can.
I prefer to use roasted bones and carcasses, as they have a much richer, more intense flavor. There’s nothing like the caramelization that happens when something is roasted…the layers of flavor truly intensify. So, if you have them and are wondering what to do with beef marrow bones, my answer to you is to make bone broth.
This isn’t to say I don’t keep the canned or boxed stuff around because I do, just in case I run out of my homemade stock. I always need to have stock on hand, as it’s a necessity in a lot of dishes. I just highly prefer my own homemade stock over the store-bought variety.
Behold, roasted beef marrow bones with vegetables:
That, my non-vegetarian friends, is a beautiful sight.
Preheat oven to 425°
For the stockpot:
Place beef bones in a large roasting pan, sprinkle everything with salt, and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, turn bones over, add veggies and garlic. Return to oven and roast for 30 minutes more. The beef bones and vegetables should just be caramelized, without being burnt.
Place the bones and veggies in a large pot and add enough water to cover everything, plus a few more inches. Add your bay leaves, thyme, and parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low heat, with the lid only partially on, for about 4 hours.
Let cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day, scrape off most of the solidified fat and discard. Strain through a colander and discard all solids. Strain stock again through a cheesecloth-lined colander.
You now have beautiful, clear, flavorful homemade beef stock. This freezes really well for a few months, and I like to divvy mine up into cup-sized containers before freezing, so I can use just what I need. You can also freeze some of your stock in ice cube trays, for even smaller amounts.
Depending on how you use your stock, you can add a variety of herbs and veggies to this, to amp up the flavor and vitamin content. Don’t be afraid to play with your food; I’ll bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Enjoy!
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This is a born-from-necessity soup that I made a few weeks back. Necessary because I needed to use up a couple of packs of frozen clams that I had purchased over the holidays, for an entirely different recipe that never got made. Our spring, so far, …