Spiced Vegetable Somen Recipe

Spiced Vegetable Somen

My adaptation of the Japanese noodle salads. The Redergize salad from the food truck garage changed the way I saw salads. I have concluded that salads, rather than a cooked meal, can outplay the taste buds. I have, now, stocked up on quinoa and somen noodles, amongst other items, to make quick weekday lunches and dinners. This is a quick weekday lunch which can be had cold as well.

Recipe by Joey

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients

• 1 bundle Somen noodles
• 1 cup shredded vegetables like carrots, cabbage, red cabbage
• 2 spring onions chopped
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 dry red chillies (adjust as per spice level desired)
• 2.5 tbsp soya sauce
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves for garnish

How I made the Somen Noodle Salad

1. Cook the somen noodles as per the instructions on the pack.
2. Blitz together the garlic, soya sauce, red chillies and oil.
3. Mix in the maple syrup into the above blitzed mixture.
4. Mix in the vegetables and the noodles.
5. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and garnish with coriander leaves. 

Best had cold. 

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Eggplant/Aubergine Pizza

As part of the cooking course assignment I had to get into the nutritional information of "prepared eggplant". I assumed there would be a recipe too and had bought this big chinese eggplant from the grocery store. There was no assignment but I had some leftover pasta sauce and hence decided to put that together with the eggplants to clean out the fridge. I had seen a similar dish in a colleague's lunchbox and decided to have a go at it. It was yummy and gone in minutes.

I made the aubergine two ways this time. 2 slices as below and the remaining I pan fried with Indian spices after seeing this recipe on a friend's blog. Both were delicious.

This recipe boasts of meeting almost all of one's dietary fibre intake for a day while being low on the calorie intake.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 40 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1) :

1. 1 large Aubergine/Eggplant
2. 4-5 button mushrooms
3. 1 small sized onion finely chopped
4. 2 cloves of garlic crushed
5. 4 tbsp chopped bell peppers - I did not use this as my pasta sauce was a roasted bell pepper sauce
6. 1/4 cup pasta sauce/tomato sauce - I used Roasted Peppers Dolmio Pasta Sauce
7. A handful of grated cheese
8. Salt to taste
9. Pepper
10. Olive oil - a drizzle

How I made it :

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree C.
2. Slice the eggplants lengthwise with the slices being about a cm thick.
3. Slice the button mushrooms and mix with onions, garlic, pasta sauce.
4. Adjust salt and pepper.
5. Spread atop eggplant slices.
6. Sprinkle with cheese.
7. Place eggplant slices in ovenproof plate/pan.
8. Drizzle olive oil on top of slices.
9. Bake the eggplant slices for 30 minutes.
10. Serve hot

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