Recipe: Dragon Noodles

My second favorite food in the world happens to be Thai food. Specifically, anything made with rice noodles. So when I found a recipe for spicy noodles made with the oh-so-delicious sriracha sauce, well, I knew I'd found a great Thai potential!

 

I found this recipe on Beth M's amazing site called Budget Bytes. She makes some great food, and she also breaks down how much each recipe costs. Her ingredients are all simple and cost-effective, making her recipes things I really like.

Her recipe for Dragon Noodles, as she calls them, caught my eye, what with the noodles and the reddish sauce and all. YUM. I decided to make my own!

What follows is my take on the recipe with a few notes and "oops" moments as well. If you want to see her original recipe, check it out right here. Or, just check out her entire site!


Dragons Noodles

Ingredients
8 oz. rice noodles
2 tbs. oil
1/2 tbs. red pepper flakes
1/4 c. diced onion
2 eggs
1/3 c. bean sprouts
2 green onions, sliced
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. sriracha

Directions

1. Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions. Set aside for later. As the noodles are cooking, mix up your sauce. Beat the eggs in a bowl and have them ready to cook.

2. Heat up the oil in large saute pan. Add the red pepper flakes as the oil heats up.

3. Once the oil is hot, add the onion. After the onion has sauteed for about 2 minutes, add in the beaten eggs. Gently stir the eggs. When the eggs are halfway done, add in the bean sprouts. Cook until the eggs are done, continuing to stir gently.

4. Add the noodles and green onions, and then add the sauce. Mix the sauce and the noodles into the eggs gently. Press the noodles down into the pan for 1 minute, allowing a gentle brown to collect on the underside. Flip the noodles and press again. Remove from heat. Garnish with sprouts and crushed peanuts if you choose.

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Now for some pictures and thoughts from my process!

Boil the water.

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. Set aside once cooked.

Put the sauce together while the noodles are cooking. The sriracha sauce is super hot, so add a little less if you don't want it to burn your mouth off! We found the hotness to be pleasant, however.

Heat up the oil with the red pepper flakes. Use some peanut oil for some great Thai flavor if you want!

Add the onions to the hot oil and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add the beaten eggs to the onion and stir gently.

Add the sprouts to the half-cooked eggs. We used lentil sprout, which we made ourselves. Super easy, super nutritious, and great as an addition to foods that you want to have a "green" flavor.

Add the noodles to the cooked eggs. This is the point where you would also add the green onion, but unfortunately I began making this before I realized we were out! Don't forget yours because green onions? Yum.

Add the sauce to the noodles and stir it in thoroughly.

Press the noodles into the pan to allow a light brown to collect on the underside. This is my favorite part of most dishes. Remember, it's hard to leave it alone while you hear that sizzling sound. Don't touch them!

Plate up your dish! I added some more lentil sprouts to the top. Next time, I'll add some crushed peanutes for an extra Thai feel.

How pretty does that look?! It was also pretty delicious in our mouths. Yum. Definitely making this again.

Recipe: Chicken and Rice

Yesterday was just one of those rainy days. Not a literal rainy day, but a metaphorical one. Sorry for the confusion, dear reader.

You know what I mean, though? One of those days where you're just down, and all you want to do is forget about the world that exists outside of the walls of your home? Or perhaps those days for you look more like all you want to do is escape the four walls of your home. Hard for us to imagine in this household since we're such boring little homebodies. And we like it that way.

Either way, yesterday was it. Not as much for me, but definitely for Levi. In the first five seconds he walked in the door I knew. The tell-tale signs were all there. The slumped shoulders. The slow walk in the front door. The smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes. My hero needed some rescuing. OK, more like he needed soothing, but you know what I mean.

Thankfully, I had made that amazing Cinnabon cake just before he got home, so after some moments to rest and debrief I was able to pull it out and brighten his spirits a bit. Then I encouraged him to do whatever he wanted, which last night included a computer game and playing his bass (which I find crazy sexy).

Then it was time for me to devise a dinner plan, except we're down to the end of the month and the end of our food budget, so we're trying not to buy any more groceries. This usually turns into some pretty inventive meals. And last night not only did I need to be inventive, but I also needed to create some good comfort food.

Enter, homemade chicken broth and the leftover chicken from making it two weeks ago. We didn't have proper noodles, nor did I feel like making them, but rice made a handy substitute. Sorry to say I didn't take any pictures, but this recipe was so completely thrown together that I can't imagine how you could go wrong.

Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 c. cooked, shredded chicken
1 c. uncooked rice
1 small onion
2 carrots
1 garlic clove
2 tbs. olive oil
Herbs of your choice (I used rosemary, basil, thyme, and marjoram)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Using the oil, saute the onions for a few minutes in a pot. Then add the garlic and the carrots. Saute about three minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Add the chicken stock. Add your herbs and bring the stock to a boil. When the stock is boiling, add the rice. Boil for about ten minutes and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

3. Add the chicken to the pot and cook until the whole mixture becomes thick, like stew, and the rice is tender. Serve with bread or some warm rolls. Tasty!

*For something extra, I added about 3/4 c. of our leftover lentils. That was really nice!

That was definitely a nice, warm dinner that comforted both of our tummies. I'm sure most of you have made chicken and rice before, but if not, it's super easy and quick to make from the staples most of us have in our homes at all times. And all stomachs will rejoice!

Recipe: Lentil Loaf

Ok, show of hands. How many of you have heard of lentils? How many of you know what they are? How many of you have actually had lentils? And, finally, how many of you have had them and enjoyed them?

If there aren't that many people left raising their hands, I understand. I must admit, I would have been one of the ones whose hand would have gone down at the "enjoyed" question. But then a few weeks ago a friend posted a picture of her lentil loaf dinner, and my brain went "!!!".

Levi and I have really been working on making lentils a staple of our diet because of their crazy awesome benefits--and the list I'm about to post comes from the Holy Grail of information sites: Wikipedia, but never, ever, tell my former students that!

Lentils are:

1. Chock-full of protein (30% of their calories are from protein)

2. Inexpensive

3. High in iron

4. Low in sodium

5. High in dietary fiber

6. Listed as one of the five healthiest foods

7. Crazy tasty!

Now that I've convinced you about the Wonder Food, the Lentil, using my scholarly research, let's get to the recipe for lentil loaf, which is now our favorite dish.

Well, top three at least!

Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

Loaf:

1 c. dry lentils

3 c. chicken or vegetable stock

1 tbs. rosemary

1 egg or 1 flax egg (3 tbs. ground flax seed mixed with 1/2 c. warm water)

1 tbs. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 onions, diced

1/2 c. green onion, diced

2 carrots, finely grated

1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1/4 c. raisins

1 c. bread crumbs

Glaze:

2 tbs. ketchup

1 tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 tbs. maple syrup

*Don't skip the glaze! It's well worth it!

Directions:

1. Cook the lentils. Rinse the lentils under cold water thoroughly. Pick out any small pebbles or gritty items that might be in them. Add the chicken or vegetable stock to a medium pot and bring to a boil. Add the dry lentils and the rosemary. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring those to a boil and then simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, stirring frequently. This takes about 40 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the burner and set aside to cool.

*Side note: These cooked lentils were so good that we'd eat them plain like this! So if you don't want to go all the way to lentil loaf, just cook these, scoop them on top of some brown rice, and you've got an incredibly healthy and savory (and cheap!) meal.

2. Preheat the oil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3. Prepare the veggie mix. While your lentils are cooking, dice and grate your vegetables and apple. Once these are ready, in a large skillet over medium heat, saute onion and minced garlic for about 5 minutes. Once the onions are tender, add the carrot and saute for 2-3 more minutes. Add the apple and raisins and saute for another 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, remove from the heat, and set aside.

4. Process 75% of lentils (optional). If you want a loaf with a smoother texture which holds its shape, you can do this step. Once the lentils are cooled, take 75% of the lentils and place in the food processor. Process them until they are mostly smooth and then add them back to the rest of the lentils. Personally, Levi and I like the chunky texture when we leave the lentils whole, and we don't mind if it crumbles a little bit!

5. Mix it up! To the lentils, add the egg, breadcrumbs, and veggie mixture. Stir well with a spoon. Mash it together with your fingers if you want! I, personally, love doing this. Taste and adjust the seasons as necessary, but I wouldn't recommend this if you're using a real egg!

6. Press into a loaf pan. Dump the mixture into a loaf pan (spray with cooking spray or coat with parchment paper) and press it firmly down. My tool of choice? A rinsed shopping bag! Using this, I can push as firmly as I want without any of the delicious mixture sticking to my hands, and I can smooth it down to remove fingerprints.

7. Prepare glaze. In a small bowl whisk together all glaze ingredients. Spread evenly over the top of the loaf.

8. Bake. Bake the loaf, uncovered, for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Cool for about 10 minutes, serve, and enjoy!

*Adapted from the recipe found at Oh, She Glows.