BEEF VEGETABLE RAMEN

A simple ramen soup choc full of vegetables with a salty soup. Dashi is a type of soup and cooking stock used in Japanese cuisine. It is made from large dried, smoked and cured bonito flakes; bonito being a type of tuna. I used bonito flavoured seasoning, which can be found at all Asian supermarkets, however if you do have time to buy this, beef stock will work just fine. 

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons dashi (bonito flavoured seasoning) or 1 litre beef stock
• water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons miso paste
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 star anise
• 1 spring onion, plus extra to serve
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets and stalk chopped
• 2 medium carrots, cut into rounds
• 1 bunch buk choy, end removed and roughly chopped
• 100g ramen / soba / somen / rice vermicelli noodles
• 225-250g eye fillet beef, thinly sliced

Cooking 

1. Combine the dashi with 4 cups of water and pour this or the beef stock into a large saucepan. Add the garlic cloves, star anise, miso paste, spring onion, sesame oil and 2 more cups of water to the pan and bring to the boil, covered. 

2. Once boiled, reduce the heat to medium, add 2 more cups of water as well as the broccoli, carrot and buk choy. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes or until the carrot is just tender. Turn off the heat, add the beef strips and noodles and leave, covered, for 5 minutes. 

Remove the star anise from the broth. Divide into 4 soup bowls and serve warm, garnished with extra spring onion, if desired. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / around 20 minutes 

x Emily 

CHICKEN & NOODLE ASIAN SOUP

This recipe is adapted from Annabel Langbein's recipe 'Mushroom & Chicken Tom Yum'.  Langbein is a free-range cook and makes the most delicious meals using fresh and sustainable ingredients. What I love about this soup is that the broth is created without using any stock, so no sneaky salt is added. I love poaching chicken, as it is also much more tender than pan-fried chicken. A very simple soup loaded with protein and lots of vegetables. 

Ingredients

• 400g chicken breast, preferably free range, thinly sliced evenly
• 1 star anise 
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• the juice & zest of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 200g whole mushrooms, quartered
• 3 medium tomatoes (around 400g), diced
• 1 bunch pak choy, chopped
• 1 broccoli head, cut into even-sized florets and stalk chopped
• 90g soba noodles or 100g rice vermicelli noodles
• Optional - 1 spring onion, finely chopped, to serve 

Cooking 

1. Place the chicken breast in a large saucepan and cover completely with water (you will need around 9-10 cups to achieve this). Add the star anise, chilli, juice & zest of the lime, soy sauce, fish sauce, oil garlic and tomato paste and stir to combine. Bring to the boil over high heat, covered. Once boiled, simmer for 5 minutes, covered, then remove the chicken breast from the pan and leave to rest for at least 5 minutes. Discard the star anise. 

2. Change the stove to medium-high heat and add the mushrooms, tomatoes, pak choy and broccoli to the broth. Cook, covered, for 4 minutes, then add the noodles to the pan and stir well for 1-2 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Remove from the heat and add a generous amount of ground black pepper. Thinly slice the cooked chicken breast and add it to the broth. 

Divide the soup into 4 bowls and add spring onion, if desired. 

Serves / 4 
Total Preparation time / max 15 minutes 
Total Cooking time / max 25 minutes 

x Emily 

PRAWN & VEGETABLE RICE NOODLES

I love eating prawn vermicelli salads when I go out to Vietnamese restaurants. Making your own is actually very easy and cheaper! I like to buy ready made prawns, that is, prawns that have already been peeled and deveined themselves, if I am time poor. Otherwise super fresh prawns will do, they will just require a little more prep time to remove their shells, tails and faeces track. I love the thicker rice noodles, but you could substitute for vermicelli. As there are only 50g cooked noodles per serving, the carbs are relatively low and the meal is light. Add whatever vegetables you have on hand that can be eaten raw. 

INGREDIENTS

Noodles 

• 250g uncooked prawns, peeled, deveined & washed
• 2-3cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 2 spring onions, plus extra to serve, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 100g pad thai rice noodles (thicker than vermicelli)
• 150g green beans, trimmed and cut into small pieces 
• 1 large carrot, grated 
• 1 lebanese cucumber or 1/2 a continental cucumber, diced
• Optional - a handful of fresh coriander leaves, washed & roughly chopped 

Dressing 

2 teaspoons fish sauce 

the juice of 1 large lime

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons water 

COOKING 

1. Marinate the prawns with the ginger, garlic, chilli, spring onions and oil in a medium bowl. Place in the fridge until step 4. 

2. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan filled halfway with water to the boil, covered. Once boiled add the noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the noodles are tender but not mushy. Remove from the heat and drain the noodles in a colander under cold running water, separating the noodles with a fork. 

3. Make the dressing by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and stirring to combine. 

4. Heat a small to medium fry pan over medium-low heat. Once warm add the prawns and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic and ginger is cooked and the prawns are pink in colour. Remove from heat. 

5. Place the cooked prawns in a large serving bowl with the cooked noodles. Add the beans, carrot, cucumber, a handful of spring onions and coriander, if using and toss well to combine. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss again. 

Serves / two 
Total Preparation time / max 15 minutes (longer if you need to prepare the prawns yourself) 
Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

x Emily 

RAMEN NOODLES with a PEANUT SAUCE

This recipe was created early last week, when I was desperately craving peanut butter. I've had peanut butter in stir fries before, however I often find it super rich and fatty. After some researching online I created my own with the use of some beautiful Mrs Flannery's all natural peanut butter. I felt like tofu in my dinner, however I knew my fiancee would turn up his nose at the no meat factor, hence the chicken addition. You can make this recipe with either tofu, chicken or half each quantity and combine both. Just a tip for preparing tofu; if you purchase a water based tofu you will need to dry it out and press it- if you have the time. I chose to just dry my tofu out, due to time restrictions yesterday. Here is a great link that explains how to dry and press tofu: http://www.veggiebelly.com/2011/04/how-to-press-tofu.html 

Ingredients

• 270g ramen noodles 
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil 
• 450g free range chicken breast, cut into even strips or 350g firm tofu, cut into even rectangular pieces 
• 2 tablespoons green shallots, plus extra to serve 
• the juice of 1 lime
• 1 x 400g tin light coconut milk
• 1/4 cup organic or all natural peanut butter 
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into even-sized florets and stalk chopped
• 1/4 wombok (chinese cabbage), shredded 
• 250g carrots (3 medium), cut into even rounds 

Cooking 

1. Bring a large saucepan filled with around 10 centimetres of water to the boil. Once boiled, add the ramen noodles to the water and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender. Remove from the stove and drain under cold water. 

2. Meanwhile, heat a large, deep frying pan over medium heat and add the sesame oil, swirling to coat the pan. Cook either the chicken or the tofu pieces or half of each serving for around 6 minutes or until just cooked. Stir the chicken often until it is lightly golden in colour. For the tofu- flip each piece only once, cooking for around 3 minutes on the first side and 2-3 minutes on the second side. Remove the chicken / tofu from the pan and place in a bowl. 

3. Add the shallots to the pan and the lime juice, stirring for a few seconds. Next add the coconut milk and stir for 2 minutes, making sure that the liquid does not boil by continually stirring and keeping the heat at a medium range.

4. Next, add the peanut butter to the pan and stir until the mixture is smooth and not lumpy. This should take a few minutes. Once smooth, add the broccoli to the pan and stir well to cover the broccoli with the sauce before covering the pan. Cook for 4 minutes or until a fork can slide through the broccoli stalks with a little bit of resistance. Add the wombok and carrot to the pan and toss well to combine all ingredients, then cover the pan for another 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 

5. Lastly, add the cooked chicken and /or tofu and the noodles to the pan and stir all ingredients together. 

Serve warm, with extra shallots sprinkled on top, if desired. 

Serves /  6 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 25 minutes

x Emily 

SOBA NOODLES with PORK & BROCCOLI

I'm not a massive fan of pork, however I do like to eat it occasionally, as I find it even more filling than chicken. I am, however, a huge fan of all things noodles and have an immense love of broccoli, which explains how those ingredients found their way into this dish. I've recently started to use apple cider vinegar to tenderise and marinate meat prior to cooking instead of using extra oil. Do not be put off by the smell of apple cider vinegar, as you do not taste it after cooking. This dish was able to spread itself over both lunch and dinner for 2 very hungry people so you know its going to be filling!

 
Ingredients

• 270g soba noodles 
• 400-430g lean pork fillet, fat removed and cut into even sized 3cm pieces 
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons salt reduced soy sauce 
• 1 teaspoon rice bran oil 
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed 
• 1 large head of broccoli, cut into small, even sized florets and stalk chopped 
• 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (or if cannot find, add another tablespoon of white sesame seeds)
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves 

Cooking 

1. Combine the pork pieces and apple cider vinegar in a medium bowl and toss well. Place in the fridge to marinate for 10 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and then add the soba noodles for 3 minutes, stirring once or twice to make sure they do not clump. Drain and rinse the noodles in a colander under lukewarm water. 

3. Whilst the pork is marinating, whisk the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and 2 tablespoons water. 

4. Heat the rice bran oil in a large, deep fry pan or wok over medium heat and swirl to coat. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Now add the pork to the pan and toss the pork frequently so that all pork pieces become white in colour. This will take around 5 minutes. (If the pork starts to stick to the pan, add a splash of water at a time). Remove the pork from the pan and place in a medium empty bowl. 

5. Add the broccoli to the pan and continue to stir often. If the broccoli starts to stick to the pan again use a small amount water. Cover the pan for 5 minutes or until the broccoli has become less hard. Return the pork to the pan and pour in the liquid sauce from step 3. Toss the pork and broccoli with the sauce until combined. Add the cooked noodles to the pan and toss well. 

Remove from the stove, add the shallots, fresh coriander and sesame seeds and stir to combine. Divide between four bowls and enjoy! 

Serves / 4

Total Preparation time / 10-12 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 25 minutes 

x Emily 

NOODLES with SESAME SWEET POTATO & SWEET SOY SAUCE

I've made this recipe a few times, using slightly different ingredients each time. You may notice this as the photo above does not exactly match the recipe (no red cabbage is in the picture above and I used soba noodles instead of vermicelli). The point of this was to show you how versatile the recipes featured on Soulful Sandwiches can be. I want you to use the recipes here as a base and then work with what is in your fridge / freezer / pantry. I love brown rice vermicelli or soba noodles in this dish. I adore tofu with noodles but if its not in your fridge don't stress: you could use red cabbage or broccoli to pump up the dish. I love sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) and it goes wonderful with the slightly sticky sesame sweet potato. And lastly, get your hands on some black sesame seeds: they are the bomb! 

Ingredients

Noodles 

• 200g brown rice vermicelli noodles OR 270g soba noodles 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed 
• 1 large sweet potato (450-500g), peeled & chopped into thin even slices
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce 
• 2 cups red cabbage, finely shredded
• 2 generous handfuls of baby spinach 
• 200g firm tofu, sliced into 1cm thin slices 
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped, plus extra to serve 
• Optional: a handful of fresh coriander leaves 

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons gluten-free kecap manis
• 1 tablespoon soy suace
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• a splash or 2 of water to thin 

Cooking 

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Add the noodles (whichever type you are using) and cook, stirring occasionally to break up the noodles, until just tender. Remove from heat and drain under cold water in a colander. Set aside. 

2. Meanwhile, heat and swirl the sesame oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the ginger, chilli and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the sweet potato slices to the wok along with the soy sauce and stir well to coat the potato. Place a lid over the sweet potato and leave covered for 2 minutes at a time. Remove the lid every 2 minutes and toss the sweet potato. After 6 minutes, add the red cabbage to the wok and cover for 2-3 minutes or until the cabbage is just tender. 

3. Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients and stirring well. Add more water if you would like the consistency of the sauce to be thinner. 

4. Add the baby spinach to the wok, toss and cover for 1 minute or until wilted. Add the cooked noodles, the tofu, sesame seeds and spring onions and toss well to combine for a few minutes or until the tofu is just cooked. Remove from heat. 

Divide into four bowls, pouring the sauce on top and stirring it in. Garnish with coriander leaves and extra chopped spring onions, if desired. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 15-20 minutes 

x Emily 

GINGER BEEF with VERMICELLI NOODLES

Another vermicelli salad & meat dish; like I said in my last blog post I could eat this type of food for the rest of my life. You can swap the vegetables in the ingredients list around for what you have in your fridge; perhaps carrots, red cabbage, beans and / or radishes could make the list. I cannot eat vermicelli without a dressing of some sort, so here is my simplest, lowest calorie dressing for you. Again, this started out as a Michelle Bridges recipe, however it has been greatly adapted to fit the ingredients available in my kitchen and to lower the calorie intake.

Ingredients

• 60g vermicelli noodles
• 3cm fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice bran oil / sesame oil
• 400g lean beef fillet, cut into even strips
• 1 lebanese cucumber (150g), finely chopped
• 1 tomato (120g), finely chopped
• 70g bean sprouts
• 10g green shallots, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves (10g), finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce 
• 1 lime, juiced 

Cooking 

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add noodles. Cook, breaking apart the noodles with a fork for a few minutes or until just tender. Remove from heat and drain under cold water. Set aside. 

2. Meanwhile, combine the ginger, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon oil in a medium bowl. Add the beef strips and stir well to combine. Leave to marinate for 5 minutes. 

3. Whilst the steak is marinating, toss the cucumber, tomato, sprouts, shallots, coriander and cooked noodles in a large serving bowl. Make the dressing by stirring the 1 tablespoon soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice in a small bowl. 

4. Once the steak has been left for 5 minutes, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add the other teaspoon of oil. Add the steak to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes or until the steak is rare. Turn off the heat and leave the steak to cook for a couple more minutes in the pan. 

5. Add the cooked steak to the noodles and drizzle the dressing on top. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

Total Calories / 459 a serve 

x Emily 

ASIAN CHICKEN PATTIES with VERMICELLI SALAD

If I could eat fresh Asian vermicelli salads all day every day, I would. I doubt I’d miss Western food at all. This Michelle Bridges recipe has been adapted to include red capsicum, which is an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin B6 and magnesium. I removed snow peas from the ingredient list for convenience sake, as they needed to be cooked which added to the cooking time.

I have also replaced Bridge's favourite oil, olive oil, with rice bran oil. I do not like cooking with olive oil, due to its much lower smoking point than other oils. A smoking point is the temperature at which fats begin to break down and become smoke. When olive oil reaches its low smoking point its beneficial compounds are not only damaged but in addition harming compounds potentially form. Bridges loves to use olive oil in her recipes however I prefer to use several other oils for high temperature cooking, such as rice bran oil. Rice bran oil is removed from the germ and inner husk of rice. I love using this oil as it has a very high smoke point and is therefore a great choice for high-temperature cooking. It is a wealth of vitamin E and phytosterols, which are thought to lower cholesterol as well as being largely monounsaturated. But enough of the oil lesson- enjoy this fresh, crisp dish! 

Ingredients

• 75g rice vermicelli noodles
• 400g free range chicken mince
• 4 shallots (24g), finely chopped
• 1/3 cups fresh coriander leaves (13g), finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt reduced soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon rice bran oil (2.5ml/2.5g) 
• 120g red capsicum, thinly sliced
• 80g bean sprouts 
• 1 lime (50g), cut into wedges
• 1 tablespoon salt reduced soy sauce 

Cooking 

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add noodles. Cook, breaking apart the noodles with a fork for a few minutes or until just tender. Remove from heat and drain under cold water. Set aside. 

2. Meanwhile, combine the mince, shallots, half of the coriander and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a medium bowl. Shape into 6 even patties with wet hands. 

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add the oil. Cook the patties for 4 minutes each side or until cooked through. 

4. Toss the cooked noodles, the rest of the coriander, capsicum, bean sprouts and 1 tablespoon soy sauce in a large serving bowl and then divide into 2 smaller bowls. Place three patties on top of the each noodle dish and drizzle the lime juice from the wedges on top. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

Calorie count / 495 per serve 

x Emily