Noodles with Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce

Noodles with Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce
(serves 2, adapted from Simply Reem)

It's a very simple and time efficient recipe that only requires one pot - little cleaning up afterwards.

Ingredients:

for the sauce:
3/4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon neutral tasting oil
1/2 red chilli, cleaned of seeds and chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
salt, pepper to taste, optional sugar

2 servings spaghetti - or soba noodles if you happen to have them, or any noodles
handful cashew nuts, or peanuts, chopped.
bean sprouts, original recipe suggests cucumber, optional.

to garnish:
a few reserved nuts
parsley leaf


Directions:

1. In a jar, place all the ingredients for the sauce. Shake vigorously until combined. Let stand for 15 minutes or more, so that the flavors blend.

2. Cook the pasta/noodles according to instruction on the packaging. Drain.

3. Sprinkle the pasta with the chopped nuts, add bean sprouts if using. Stir until combined. Add the sauce on top, stir for 2-3 minutes to fully coat the pasta - the sauce will be rather thick.

4. Serve, sprinkling with remaining nuts and a parsley leaf.

spicy red salad

          

Only recently did I start to discover a variety of leafy greens that nature offers. Rich in calcium, iron and a variety of vitamins, available at this dull season, with countless methods of preparing, be it cooked, sauteed or raw, even, they make a really great addition to my menu. But on my last trip to the groceries, drawn by the vivid color, I picked up radicchio, which I've never had before. It has a really surprising, intense, slightly pepper-y taste.

If you want to replace it with some other leafy veggie, like spinach or iceberg salad, you may want to add a generous pitch of pepper to the dressing, and maybe increase the amount of onions added, to keep the warming-up sensation this salad gives.

It seems to be an excellent choice for a day like today: snowy, grey, with hardly any sunlight. Even the colors cheer you up.

Spicy Red Salad:

(serves 1, can be easily multiplied)

Ingredients:

for the salad:

4 leaves radicchio

1/3 red bell pepper

handful cherry tomatoes 

1 slice white onion

3-4 slices hot peperoncino, optional

a couple slices shallot, white part, optional 

+ for dressing

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3-4 fresh sage leaves

splash lemon juice, salt to taste

Directions:

Wash all the veggies, cut radicchio and pepper in thin strips, half tomatoes, separate onion rings. Place the leaves in a bowl, top with pepper and tomatoes. 

Mix olive oil with the vinegar, add chopped sage and salt. Drizzle the salad. 

Chop shallot and peperoncino - or leave them in thin slices, which will give a spicier taste. Put on top of the salad. 

Finish with a splash of lemon juice or additional pitch of salt, according to taste preferences. 

milano centro

Milano Centro, 14.02.2013