Pad See Ew (Spicy Noodles)

Happy Monday, everyone!

Hope you had a better weekend than I did! My spring allergies came late, and I now consider being able to breathe through your nose a privilege.

Luckily, today's dish has so much flavor that you don't need a sense of smell to taste it!

Since cutting meat and most animal products from my diet, I find that there is so much room for creativity. This is going to make me sound like a hippy, but I have never felt more in tune with spices and flavors than I have since making this change.

I rarely make the same meal twice.

However, today's meal . . . well, I keep coming back to this one because it is too dang good. 

But first, I want to take a moment to share with you all my kitchen essentials--tools, grains, fruits, veggies, etc.--that I always have on hand to make a great meal, starting with spices.

As far as spices and flavors go, I always have these:

• Goes with a wide variety of dishes/ cuisines 
• Salt/pepper, obviously
• Lemon or lemon juice
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Onion powder
• Makes for great Latin American dishes
• Cumin
• Paprika
• I frequently buy fresh cilantro to pair with meals like this
• Good to have around if you're a fan of curry (recipe to come soon)
• Curry paste
• Curry powder
• For some fresh flavors
• Thyme
• Oregano
• I also frequently buy fresh basil. Nothing beats fresh basil! 😍
• Great addition to many soup/ crock pot recipes
• Chili powder
• Excellent flavors for Asian-inspired dishes
• Peanut oil
• Sesame seed oil and/or toasted sesame seeds
• Siracha
• Soy sauce

You'll see that last set of bullets come into play tonight, and just how few ingredients it takes to make such a flavorful and filling dish!

So with no further to-do, here's what you need for some dang good Pad See Ew.

Serves: 2

Time: 30 minutes

What you'll need:

1 crown of broccoli (approx. 3 cups of florets)
1 red pepper
1 packet of rice noodles if vegan (can be found at an international market), or egg noodles
1 lemon slice, or approx. 2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vegetable oil, or other oil
Optional: sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and red chili flakes

For sauce:

1 1/2 tbsp. siracha
5 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Cut broccoli, and toss lightly in oil; squirt lemon juice over the top, and salt to taste
3. Once oven is preheated, bake broccoli for 20 minutes. For best results, toss the broccoli halfway through
4. Start boiling a pot of water
5. Meanwhile, cut red pepper into strips; lightly toss in oil in a large, separate pan (eventually all ingredient will go in this pan)
6. Once water is boiling, cook noodles according to packet instructions, and start cooking the red pepper at a medium to high heat for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Stir both the red pepper and noodles occasionally.
7. While doing so, combine sauce ingredients in a separate bowl and stir well. 
8. Eventually,  lower the heat on the red pepper, strain the noodles, and add the noodles and broccoli to the large pan. Be sure to separate your noodles, as they may try to stick together.
9. Add in the sauce at a low heat and fold the noodles over several times to evenly coat all of the dish. 
10. Sprinkle a bit of toasted sesame seeds, and a pinch of red pepper flakes over the top, and enjoy!