Greetings, sweet readers! I'm here to share a savoury recipe, in contrast to the plethora of desserts I normally make. Balance, right? This dish was put together spontaneously and turned out wonderfully... sometimes the best meals are made with random odds and ends around the kitchen. Anybody agree?
As usual, this recipe is quick and easy to make. I've been loving these pre-cooked udon noodles I get at a local grocery store. They're like $1 each and super convenient. I use them for brothy noodle bowls with mushrooms and spinach, veggie stir frys, and now: this noodle/salad mix. I think this recipe would be made even more delicious if you added some roasted peanuts on top for extra crunch. CUZ WE LOVE A CRUNCH. I love that this recipe contains some colour, some raw veg, and some good ole carbs. All these foods serve me in their own special ways. I don't need or want to eat whole foods all the time. I don't need or want to eat more processed foods all the time. I enjoy both. Again: balance! A huge part of my recovery from years of disordered eating and restriction is allowing myself to try foods I refused to eat for too long. What a JOY! Finally, I am free from the cruel lies diet culture tells us about which foods are "good" or "bad" and just eat what I fucking WANT. Turns out, my body knows what it needs to work best. Sometimes it's Oreos or ginger ale. Sometimes it's smoothies and salad. Sometimes it's going for a run, sometimes it's lying around all day. B A L A N C E & S E L F - C O M P A S S I O N ! If these ideas are intriguing for you, I'd recommend listening to Christy Harrison's Food Psych Podcast.
Let's talk about the grub. We have chewy, soft udon noodles coated with hoisin sauce and sesame, with spicy sautéed tofu slices, atop a crispy salad covered in my fave salad sauce, Little Creek Dressing. It's always vegan and ALWAYS PERFECT. Creamy, garlicky, tart, with some umami flavour to round it out. I particularly love their "Okanagan Caesar" flavour. They are sponsoring this post, but rest assured, I was using and loving their dressing before we started working together. I recently went on a trip to Bella Coola (home of the Nuxalk first nation) with a friend, and this friend was smart enough to bring along a giant bottle of Little Creek. We put that shit on everything we ate during the week while we stayed in our lil cabin in the woods.
In other news: I did another podcast interview a few days ago, for the Eat, Capture, Share Podcast, hosted by Kimberly Espinel. Stay tuned for that one, as well as my interview on the Love Your Bod Pod, hosted by Cara Carin Cifelli. :)
P.S. Do listen to Maxwell's album, Now. It's a mood. A sexy, smooth mood.
Serves 1. Print the recipe!
1 package (200 grams) pre-cooked udon noodles
1/4 package (85 grams) cup tofu slices
2-3 tablespoons soy chili paste, as desired*
2-3 tablespoons hoisin sauce, as desired*
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
4 cups your fave salad greens
3-4 tablespoons Little Creek Dressing, as desired
1/4 cup cucumber slices
Heat up and soften the noodles in boiling water for a couple minutes or until they are able to separate. Drain and mix in the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.
Sauté the tofu slices on medium-low heat in the soy chili paste for 2-3 minutes, or until they've absorbed most of the sauce.
Coat the greens in the dressing. Spoon into the bottom of a personal bowl. Add your noodles, then your tofu, then cucumber slices. Sprinkle on extra sesame seeds if desired. Enjoy!
*You can buy yours, or make your own. I used store-bought for this recipe.
This post is sponsored by Little Creek Dressing, whose products I was enjoying long before they got in touch with me to work together. All opinions and words are my own, as always.