Our Favorite Fried Noodles with Vegetables (and shrimp or chicken)

This is a dish I experimented with many times until I came up with a version I was really happy with.   You can use white or brown rice vermicelli noodles (although the white noodles tend to hold together better during frying).  We always loved getting fried noodles at the farmer's market, but I wanted a way to make them gluten-free and with more vegetables.  You can throw in any sort of meat you like, but I tend to use either shrimp or chicken when I whip this up.  The fried noodles have gotten rave reviews (and requests) since I first served them up.  It's a great summer dish when a wide variety of fresh vegetables are in season.  Enjoy!

Fried Noodles with Veggies - you can serve as-is or add shrimp or chicken! 

Fried Noodles with Vegetables (and Shrimp)

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.
Add:
1/2 - 1 package white or brown rice vermicelli noodles (depending on how many you want to serve. I make 1/2 package to serve ~4)
Let noodles boil for 1 minute at a rolling boil.  Remove from heat.  Drain and rinse well with water to remove starch.

Place noodles in a large bowl and mix with:
4 Tbsp avocado oil (or similar oil good for high-heat cooking)
4 Tbsp GF soy sauce (liquid Bragg's soy seasoning)

Set noodles aside while you cook the vegetables.

In a wok or similar large frying pan, saute over medium-high to high heat for 2-3 minutes:
2-3 Tbsp avocado oil (or similar oil good for high-heat cooking)
1/2 - 1 onion, sliced
1-2 carrots, thinly sliced

Add, and saute an additional 2-3 minutes:
1/2 celery root, thinly sliced & chopped to bite size pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 - 1 cup mushrooms, finely diced

Add and cook 1 minute:
1 cup broccoli, chopped to bite-sized pieces.

Place vegetables in a large serving dish.

In small batches, fry noodles in additional oil 2-3 minutes.  Once fried, place noodles on top of hot vegetables.

Once all noodles are fried, in pan heat 1-2 minutes:
1 Tbsp oil
1-2 Tbsp GF soy sauce
1-2 cups cooked chicken, diced 
OR
1-2 cups cooked shrimp (thawed, deveined, no shell)

Put shrimp or chicken on top of noodles.  Toss together.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!!!

Szechuan-style Stir-Fry over Rice

This recipe is a fun and allergy-friendly dish that uses large amounts of delicious vegetables.  You can add in a handful of cooked chicken or shrimp, if desired.  The light sauce has a bit of a kick, thanks to the addition of Sriracha sauce.  We found it was a great way to use the piles of delicious fresh bok choy and kohlrabi from our vegetable CSA.  If you don't have kohlrabi, you can easily substitute in other crispy vegetables, like snap peas or sweet peppers.  Even vegetables like zucchini or delicata squash would work.  Enjoy!

Szechuan-style Stir-Fry over Rice made with bok choy and kohlrabi! Yum! 

Szechuan-style Stir-Fry over Rice
Serves 4

Cook 1 1/2 cups of your favorite rice.  Start this first, and then prepare all your vegetables and sauce.  If using a white basmati or white jasmine, these typically cook in 15-20 minutes, so everything will end up being ready about the same time, allowing 5-10 minutes for the rice to rest after cooking.  Give yourself some time if using brown or wild rices, as they take closer to 40-50 minutes to cook.

Mix sauce together in a small bowl:
1 tsp Sriracha chili sauce (this controls the level of spice in your dish - use less if you want it more mild)
2 tsp rice vinegar
3 tsp Bragg soy seasoning (GF soy sauce)
2 tsp grated ginger (frozen cubes work great)
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sugar or agave or honey
1/4 cup water

Over medium-high heat cook 1 minute:
2 Tbsp avocado oil (or another oil good for high-heat cooking)
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup finely chopped celery

Add and cook 2-3 minutes:
3-4 cups sliced bok choy (it shrinks a lot during cooking)
1/2 - 1 kohlrabi, peeled, thinly sliced, then sliced in 1/2" pieces
1 minced hot pepper (optional, only add if you like it hot)

Add and cook 1-2 minutes, until just thickening:
Sauce, from above
1/2 cup cooked chicken or shrimp (optional)

Serve hot over rice.  Enjoy! 

Fried Rice with Vegetables and Chicken

This fried rice recipe has become a great favorite with everyone around here.  There's a few things I find that really have helped make this work for me -- 1. using white jasmine rice - not wet, or your stir-fried rice will stick together a bit; 2. Have all items prepared in bowls beforehand, since cooking time is quick; 3. Don't stir too much, since you want things to cook at the high heat before you rotate ingredients in the pan; 4. I really prefer using a can of green chilies instead of fresh red or green pepper in my stir-fry - I find the taste is less overwhelming and blends nicely with the other ingredients.  I started with a recipe from a kids cookbook, "Around the World" by Abigail Dodge, and found it worked really well if I used canned chilies instead of fresh ones.  However, the recipe didn't make quite enough for our family of 4 (counting little girls as 1 adult), so I tweaked it, also discovering that I needed to make sure the rice was properly cooked and then dried out a bit in order to get the right texture.  I also found that using the avocado oil for frying worked wonderfully.

Gluten Free Fried Rice - Freshly cooked chicken and vegetable fried rice! 

Fried Rice with Vegetables and Chicken
Serves 4

Make 1 cup white jasmine rice (or rice of your choice) - this yields about 3 cups.  If you're making it fresh, let it cook a few minutes longer than normal and sit with the lid cracked after cooking so it dries out a bit.  Or, you can use day-old rice so it's a bit more dried out.

In a large frying pan or wok over medium-high to high heat, heat up:
3 Tbsp avocado oil (or another oil with a high smoke point, good for stir-frying)

Cook the following for 3 minutes:
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can (4 oz/127 g) green chilies

Cook onions, garlic and chilies for 3 minutes.

Add and cook 4 minutes:
3 cups cooked white jasmine rice (or another cooked rice)
1/2 - 1 cup frozen peas
1 carrot, peeled and shredded

Add rice, peas and shredded carrots and cook 4 minutes.

Push everything to the edge of the wok/pan.
Add, and then scramble:
1 Tbsp avocado oil
2-3 eggs, whisked

Cooking quickly, I missed getting a picture of all the rice at the edge and egg in the middle - but here is after it's all scrambled and mixed together.

Mix everything together and add, cooking 1-2 minutes:
4 Tbsp GF soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Soy Sauce)
1 cup finely diced cooked chicken (optional)

Serve hot!  Enjoy!

Add the GF soy sauce and chicken and let cook one more minute before serving.  Enjoy! 

Beef, Vegetable & Noodle Stir-Fry

A fun and easy dish to whip up.  It may look like there are a lot of steps, but the hardest thing about making a stir-fry is just getting all the ingredients together and chopped so you can whip it up in a hot wok or frying pan.   This is a fun version with rice vermicelli noodles that was a big hit here.  Enjoy!

Stir-Fry Beef, Veggies & Rice Noodles

Serves 4

 

Mix together marinade:

¾ cup water

4 Tbsp GF soy sauce (I like Bragg’s Liquid Soy Seasoning)

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or white vinegar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

Pinch of salt

½ tsp pepper

 

Pour marinade in a plastic container. Then add and marinate in refrigerator at least 30 minutes (no longer than 24 hrs):

¾ lb/.35kg sirloin-tipped beef, sliced thinly for stir-fry.

 

Prep the following (or you can use an Asian stir-fry veggie mix, which some grocery stores have ready-to-cook):

2-3 mushrooms

¼ - ½ red bell pepper, sliced

snow peas, a handful

1 small carrot, grated

¼ - ½ cup bean sprouts

 

Also prepare:

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ red onion, sliced thinly

 

When your meat has marinated for 30 minutes, set a pot of water on the stove to boil.  Once boiling, put in the boiling water and let cook 2 minutes:

½ pkg (125g) rice vermicelli noodles (spinach or regular)

You will want aim to put your noodles in to boil about the time you’ve finished the beef and mixed in the marinade and let it thicken a few minutes. I put another note below.

 

Heat wok/frying pan over high heat and add, cooking 2 minutes:

2 Tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ red onion, sliced thinly

 

Add prepared veggies to pan and cook 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly, until just beginning to soften.  Remove veggies and set aside.

 

Add and heat up:

1 Tbsp oil

 

Remove beef from marinade and cook, 2-3 minutes, until done.  Give the marinade a quick stir (cornstarch tends to settle). Then, add the marinade to the pan (with cooked meat) and mix, stirring constantly & scraping the bottom of the pan, until mixture begins to thicken and bubble, 3-4 minutes. 

 

Now would be a good time to pop your vermicelli noodles into your boiling water.

 

Add your cooked veggies to the beef and cook all together 2-3 minutes.

 

Add in cooked vermicelli noodles, mixing gently.  Serve immediately. 

Ready to serve!

Sprinkle with red pepper flakes overtop, if desired.

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry

This yummy stir-fry packs a lot of veggies, protein, and a bit of spice.  This stir-fry is nice because it ends up cooking in the marinade, which thickens up and gives it a bit of sustenance.  Even my little one liked it, although it was on the spicy side for her, so go easy on the red pepper flakes if you're making for little ones. Served with rice, it's a fabulous meal! Enjoy!

Beef & Veggie Stir-Fry

Makes 4 servings

 

Mix up the Marinade/Sauce in a 1 cup measuring cup:

1 tsp ginger, grated

2-3 tsp garlic, minced

¼ cup GF soy sauce (I like Bragg’s Liquid Soy Seasoning)

¼ cup honey

2 Tbsp lime juice (fresh is best)

2 tsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp tapioca starch

1 tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp crushed red pepper (red pepper flakes)

 

Add water, so the sauce is up to 1 cup total.

Pour marinade in a plastic container. Then add and marinate in refrigerator at least 30 minutes (no longer than 24 hrs):

~ .2 - .4 kg (½ - ¾ lb) sirloin-tipped beef, sliced thinly for stir-fry.

 

Cook 1 cup dried brown basmati rice (or rice of your choice) according to directions on package (although I like to leave out any oil/salt for rice).

 

While rice is cooking, prep the following (or you can use an Asian stir-fry veggie mix, which some grocery stores have ready-to-cook):

2-3 mushrooms

¼ - ½ red bell pepper, sliced

snow peas, a handful

1 small carrot, grated

¼ - ½ cup bean sprouts

 

When rice has about 15-20 minutes left to go, heat in a wok or large frying pan over med-high heat:

1 Tbsp oil (Canola works well)

 

Add veggies to hot oil and cook 4-5 minutes, until just beginning to soften.  Remove veggies from pan and set aside.

 

Take meat out of marinade and place in your wok/frying pan.  The meat will cook quickly, so make sure to turn and get nicely browned. 

 

Give the marinade a mix (the cornstarch/tapioca starch may settle). Then add marinade to the pan (with cooked meat) and mix, stirring constantly & scraping the bottom of the pan, until mixture begins to thicken and bubble, 3-4 minutes.  Add veggies and cook all together 2-3 minutes.

 

I never quite realized how difficult it is to get a clear picture of something sizzling. I think this gets across the idea.

 

Serve over rice.  Sprinkle extra red pepper flakes overtop, if you want a spicier dish.