MONDAY
Soba Noodles with Sweet~Ginger Scallion Sauce | Baked Veggie Egg Rolls
Our weekly meatless meal rarely works out to be on Monday evening. As proponents of the traditional Sunday Supper, we usually enjoy leftovers on Monday, or some variation arising from the remnants of whatever roasted dish was made the evening before. But, this week, our Sunday Supper was devoured in its totality…every last morsel. In place of leftovers, or some reinvention thereof, this evening’s dinner was not only meatless but also, fast, flavorful & fun…the PERFECT Monday meal.
The Monday dinner menu began with simple Soba Noodles in a Sweet Ginger~Scallion Sauce. My family adores Asian noodles and the only “cooking” this dish required was boiling water for the noodles. The sauce was completely chop…mix…marinate. Monday dinner just doesn’t get easier than that.
The sauce for the noodles is a mixture of chopped scallions, cilantro and fresh ginger soaked in a bath of sesame oil, chile oil, liquid aminos {soy sauce}, rice wine vinegar, raw honey, salt & pepper and it does NOT need to be cooked! Simply mix, marinate & then toss with the cooked noodles…
- Scallions – 1 ½ cup finely chopped
- Ginger – 2 tablespoons minced
- Cilantro – ¼ cup chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons, sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons, Chili oil
- 1 tablespoon Liquid Aminos {or soy sauce}
- 2 tablespoons, rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons, raw honey
- Salt + Black pepper – to taste
- Soba noodles – 1 8 ounce package, cooked according to package instructions
- Mix all the ingredients for Sweet Ginger Scallion sauce {first 9 ingredients} in a medium bowl and check for the seasoning. Set the bowl aside for 10 -15 minutes in order for the flavors to develop. If you are making the sauce in advance, cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. Remove the sauce from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to use.
- Boil the soba noodles as per the instruction on the package, If you need them cold drain well with the cold water once they are cooked or just drain the water in which they boiled if you like them hot.
- Add the sauce and toss the noodles well, check for the seasoning one last time. Serve in individual bowls.
My original intention was to just serve simple steamed broccoli with wedges of lemon with this noodle main but, it IS Monday and, well, sometimes on such dark days {like Mondays} you need a little more satisfaction than just steamed broccoli. Mondays beg for a little help when it comes to inspiring us to rise to the occasion of the coming week and what better inspiration than the ultimate “finger food” {oh, how I hate that term…so non-hygenic in my mind} than egg rolls. I had a ton of veggies on hand {broccoli, carrots, baby Bok Choy, red onion} and some egg roll wrappers left over from this dinner so veggie egg rolls totally beat out steamed broccoli tonight…hands down!
Egg rolls…those golden-fried tubes stuffed with {what?}…are a staple on the Chinese food take-out {or eat-in} dinner menu but they can easily be made at home and baked NOT fried. First, gather up your veggies and chop, chop, chop {don’t be shy or particular here, just take what needs to be used up in your crisper and chop away}…
For this evening’s egg rolls, the veggies were first cooked in a sauté with liquid aminos {soy sauce}, cornstarch and sriracha…
And then the veggie mixture was placed into egg roll wrappers…
Placed on a parchment~lined baking sheet, and spritzed with a spray of sesame oil, the egg rolls cook for about 20 minutes until golden. Once out of the oven, the rolls can cool for a few minutes before being served with a side of sweet chili sauce for dipping…
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled + minced
- 1, 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
- 16 ounces finely chopped broccoli stems
- 8 ounces peeled + julienned carrots
- 8 ounces peeled + diced red onion
- 8 ounces chopped baby Bok Choy
- ⅓ cup liquid aminos {or soy sauce}
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 tablespoon sll-purposeflour
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 package egg roll wrappers
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, saute the garlic and ginger together for a minute.
- Add the broccoli, carrots, red onion + baby Bok Choy and stir well, cooking for 4-5 minutes just until the mixture begins to soften – you don’t want to completely cook the filling as it will continue to cook as it cools and will cook again in the oven.
- While the broccoli mixture is cooking, stir together the liquid aminos {soy sauce}, cornstarch and sriracha until fully combined. Pour the sauce over the broccoli mixture and continue to cook while stirring until the sauce thickens and coats the vegetables. Turn off the heat and let the broccoli mixture sit and cool at least 20 minutes.
- Before rolling, taste the mixture and add liquid aminos {soy sauce} and sriracha as needed.
- In a small bowl, stir together the flour and water to make a paste and set aside.
- To roll the egg rolls take one wrapper {covering the rest with a moist paper towel to prevent drying} and place it in front of you, diamond shaped. Dip your finger in the flour paste and put a spot of paste on all corners except the one closest to you. Place a large spoonful of the broccoli mixture in the center of the wrapper. Starting from the bottom roll the wrapper up around the filling and pull tight. Close the sides, folding them so the edges will be straight and continue to roll up to the top. Place on a baking sheet seam side down and cover with a towel to keep the finished rolls from drying out.
- The rolls can be frozen at this point and baked from frozen, just allow for a longer baking time.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Spritz the egg rolls with sesame or olive oil from a misto or oil sprayer.
- When ready, place the egg rolls in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. The edges will darken before the rest of the roll, but continue to bake watching that the edges don’t burn. The rolls can be flipped in the middle if they are cooking unevenly. Rotate the baking sheet to ensure even browning as well. Remove from the oven when done, cool for 4-5 minutes and serve while still hot.
