DRIVE BY udon soup for one for lunch, better than instant and if you have broth from a pressure cooked chicken, you're even healthier... so delicious too!

I haven't been the happiest lately.  I'm feeling pretty lonely and thinking about what I need to do to change all that.  Well, I know what to do but it's actually doing it.  That being said, I needed to find something comforting to eat.  I had the broth from a chicken I pressure cooked so that's a good start.  I searched in the pantry and found some 'fresh' udon noodles I'd bought as an experiment.  .50/each can't go wrong there! This is the package.  They're soft and mostly vacuum packed.  The instructions say boil 3 minutes, how hard can that be?  But, I thought, I can do better that.

**IF you don't have these fresh udon noodles, use leftover spaghetti if you have it, 
cook some udon noodles and use those, use dry rice noodles, there's a million options.
don't NOT make this for want of this one packet of udon noodles 

I decided that a big hot steaming rich bowl of udon soup is exactly what I needed to make me feel the love.

DRIVE BY RECIPE:  TRACY'S UDON SOUP

INGREDIENTS

1 packet udon noodles, check out the ones that I buy now, they'e .50/each and easily enough for two for lunch
1 spring/green onion, chopped and split into whites and greens
2-3 inches of the tops of celery stalk
Small handful of greens or shredded cabbage or slaw, whatever you have in the fridge
1 tsp grated ginger
2 1/2 cups stock or water or combination
plain oil
light soy sauce
oyster sauce
sesame oil
hot chili oil (optional)

METHOD AND PLAY BY PLAY PICS 

 In a saucepan, over medium high heat, add some oil to heat up, add the grated ginger and white part of the spring onion, add a small handful of greens or slaw and shush around a bit.  The veggies will look a little softer but not limp, no one wants limp vegetables.  Total time so far? about a minute.

    

Add the packet of fresh udon.  I dump them in and stir them around in the hot oil and veggies for just a moment.  When they're all combined in the veggies, add the chicken stock, about 2+ cups.  This is my 'jelly' stock from the pressure cooked chicken.  So rich, man I love this stuff.  You can use stock from a can or a bottle or jar.  

    

Stir the noodles into the broth, add about a tablespoon of oyster sauce and a little bit of light soy. Bring to a boil pretty quickly, I set a mental timer for 3 minutes. After about 3 minutes, take it off the heat and add the onion greens and a few DROPS of sesame oil.

    

Stir, oh look at this saucepan of love.  I scoop out some noodles to each bowl (or just into mine!) and then pour the soup over.  You can eat the noodles with chopsticks or a fork or use a spoon for both. Oh and slurp, you must slurp loudly.

    

NOW, in the spirit of full disclosure, I do have a ice cream sundae glass that I keep filled with hot chili oil.  I take some Sambal (or garlic chili paste) and put it in the bottom, I then cover with plain oil and stir, every day or so or every time I walk by, I stir it and then, in a day or so you get this brilliant, neon red oil that packs a loving punch of chili without the tear causing sambal straight from the jar.  So, I added a drizzle, oh look at those little neon oil floaters of delight.   

 

I'd love to wax poetic but I'm going to sit and eat this now, all of it. x 

/enjoy

QUICK hacked Ramen Tom Kha soup lunch, crazy fast, crazy easy, crazy cheap and absolutely super delicious.

HI THERE! 

OK, welcome back.  Hello 2014! 

I had to start the year with a ridiculous, quick, kitchen alchemy moment I had this week.  I am not a fan of prepared food of any kind.  I don't like Ramen noodles (the fake ones that my husband buys by the case and adores!)  

I DO, however, like a quick, easy, hack of something I'm not a fan of.  THIS recipe fits the bill! 

Do not blink, this goes FAST.  It's not a recipe, it's an idea, use it to leap off!  I'd love to hear how you like it and what you did with your version. 

IN a saucepan, put 2-3 cups of water and one (large) garlic clove sliced thin.  Bring it to a boil

While it's coming to a boil, assemble the pantry ingredients, the Ramen and the coconut milk, sriracha and chili garlic sauce. 

  

Slice up a green onion and grab a handful of parsley or cilantro.  Chop and slice while you wait for the water to boil so you feel as though you're actually cooking something.  

 

Cook the noodles in the boiling garlic water for 3 minutes and drain them. 

Pour half the can of coconut milk into the saucepan and bring to a hard boil.  Add half the flavor packet, for the sodium and some additional background flavor. Add a squirt of sriracha and a little of the chili garlic sauce.  Stir it in and add the green onion.  Add the noodles back to the pan and stir it around so the noodles absorb some of the liquid and the flavor.  This whole process took 3 minutes.
  

  

Pour into a bowl (or two) add the parsley/cilantro, a few drops of sesame oil and a squirt of lime. 

EAT!  We ate the noodles with a fork (or chop sticks) and slurped the "soup" from the side of the bowl. 

It's absolutely ridiculously good.  It's 5 minutes and it's worth the .33 investment in those fake ramen noodles.  I am absolutely DELIGHTED with how it turned out and there's not much I'd change.  

We made another packet immediately to split.  Connor is thrilled he can make it himself and any of his buddies who come to hang out ... yet another recipe for my son in high school.

Go make it, it's a quickie, it's easy and it's yummy!  Add cooked chicken or add some fish while the coconut milk boils, there are a million variations, this is my base version.  I will be absolutely playing with this for a while and I'll let you know what I add! 

/enjoy

BY THE WAY, you can ABSOLUTELY make this in the NESCO pressure cooker!!  The only change is you break up the noodles and put them in the cooker, cover them with water to 1/2 inch and add the garlic, lock and load for 4 minutes, open and continue the rest of the instructions.  ELIMINATING the need to drain the noodles.

/enjoy again!!  

LOCAL BOX, Sausage and Greens Pasta

This is part of my new LOCAL FARM BOX section of the blog.

This is some of what I cooked from the Greenling Local Farm Box I received today.

Sausage, greens, garlic and roast beets with Egg Noodles

There's probably not going to be formal measurement recipes in this section.  There will be play by plays of what I did with the food that got delivered to me that day.  

I WILL write a formal recipe upon request.

From today's basket: Mustard greens, beets

Skin your favorite sort of sausage.  These are medium Italian sausages.  Use your favorite
    

Ahh, here's the naked sausages the their casings... toss the casing. Heat a little bacon fat in your large fry pan, yeah, I'm a bacon fat sort of girl.  Break up the sausage as you drop it into the hot pan... shush it around and try to break it up even more as it cooks.

   

wow,s 5 sausages broken up makes a lot of sausage!  Fry it until it's beautiful, brown and with little crispy bits. yeah, you love this!
  
When it's cooked through and yummy looking, drop your handful of chopped greens on top. This is a mixture of mustard greens and beet greens.  Washed and dropped straight in, the water helps steam everything.  I just lifted it with fingers out of the water and straight onto the sausage.  Add a little salt and LOADS of fresh cracked pepper. I also grated some fresh nutmeg over it.  Greens love Nutmeg.
  
Fry it a moment and toss it around, look how fast it shrinks!!  Slice 2 large cloves of garlic into it, using my new favorite kitchen toy the Garlic Slicer from Pampered Chef.  Keep tossing over a few times. Then cover it.
   
After a minute or so, LOOK!  it's cooked down to nothing, the garlic, since it's paper thin is cooked and the liquid has made a VERY light broth/sauce.  Drop your cooked noodles onto the mixture and toss around.
 
After a few tosses, the pasta soaks up the liquid and becomes infused with the sausage and greens and garlic.  Seriously, how tasty does THIS look??
 
Serve it in BIG bowls, it's light and tasty and a lovely change from thick tomato or cream based sauces.  I sliced the roasted beets over it.  Then I grated some good, sharp, nutty, Parmesan over that!  OH, lovely!!
  
Here's just a couple, oooh la la shots

 
Box 1, meal 1, YES!

/get fresh veggies... make this...