Making dinner for myself often goes something like this:
Scout out the produce section of the grocery store, throw at least three impulse buys into my cart, and arrive home with absolutely no clue how to use it all. So I randomly add things together and hope for the best! Even on the rare occasion I actually do have a recipe to follow, I pretty much ignore the recipe anyway. With today’s green noodles, I’d initially planned to follow a recipe from Vegetarian Times. However, by the time I’d finished substituting and adding ingredients, the results were something completely new… and really delicious!
Green Noodles
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, loosely packed
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vegetable or coconut oil
- 15oz canned coconut milk, lite or regular (If allergic, you can use cashew cream)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp sweetener of choice, or 20 NuNaturals stevia drops
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 5oz raw baby kale or spinach (or 1 box)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp soy sauce (or gluten-free)
- 2 tbsp water
- 6 cups broccoli, cut small (480g)
- 2 servings soba noodles (80g uncooked)
- avocado, optional for garnish
In a blender, puree the first 10 ingredients until completely smooth, then transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower and simmer 15 minutes. In a sauté pan, sauté the kale and 2 tbsp garlic in a little oil or oil spray until kale begins to wilt. Add the soy sauce, 2 tbsp water, and the broccoli. Cover and cook on medium 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put a pot of salted water on to boil for the noodles. When the three minutes are up, turn off the heat on the kale/broccoli but keep covered until the noodles are ready. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain fully, and pat dry. Now combine everything together. Stir well. Serve with sliced avocado if you want even more green! (Technically you can leave the 1 tsp oil out, but it helps to coat the pasta with sauce so I recommend leaving it in.) I cannot vouch for the recipe with carton coconut milk or any other type of milk, so try that substitution at your own risk. Makes 3 large servings, each the size of the servings in the photos.
Question of the Day:
When making dinner for yourself, do you more often follow a recipe or just make something up?
Link of the Day: No Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Katie-Thank you for this fantastic green recipe!! I made it last night, & I actually had the leftovers this morning for breakfast, it was that good. This was my first time using cilantro, & I’m hooked. I hope you will post more green recipes in the future. I love broccoli & spinach, but I normally get bored with them, so this is just what I needed. I’m not super creative with my own cooked veggie recipes. I plan to make this once a week. (I enjoy your dessert recipes too).
I am envious of your obvious ability to enhance a written recipe. Although I often prepare meals without a recipe, I often follow written recipes exactly as written. I am actually a white knuckle recipe follower. But these green noodles look yummy!
Another awesome recipe! I just started following and have tried several of your recipes already!
Do I follow recipes exactly? Not really. Baking it is harder to improvise to a point, since there is more science behind what you make (although I would love to experiment and try a carrot cake boatmeal…i’m a little nervous to try it! ) but cooking is a whole different story. I love to tweak and experiment – sometimes a small change can make things very different and very good!
Just made this for dinner. MMMM 😀 SOOOO delicious 🙂 Will most def be making again and again. It tastes cheesy, but it’s not! I made it with cashew cream too 🙂 [Well, I had no cashews, so I used peanuts instead]. I used OJ instead of lime juice and a mix of basil, parsley, and cilantro 🙂 Thanks!
serve with crazy good ranch on the side…,mmmm There are quite a few good meal ideas on this site that you have posted over time. You could start a “savorykatie” blog and probably be successful with that too! After the cookbook, of course.
Just made this tonight and loved it! My husband isn’t always too excited about the healthy recipes that I try, but he enjoyed this. My 17-month-old ate some, too, and asked for more broccoli!
Hey Katie, I made this lady night and loved it. Thanks for sharing! I am definitely passing this one on.
This came out crazy good! I used 120 g of buckwheat noodles and it made 3 servings. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. Yummy!!
I laughed when I read your opening paragraph, that sounds much like how I grocery shop, and choose what dinner I make [based on what vegetables I saw at the market, or which ones are left in the fridge =) ]
I tried this recipe, but in the true spirit of my not being able to follow a recipe, I made a few changes due to intolerances, pantry stocks and my mood [skipping the coriander, turmeric and lime, and adding extra soy sauce, lemon juice, sesame oil, dried parsley, carrots and yellow squash. And I used dry powdered ginger, as I forgot to buy fresh ginger[!], and brown rice spaghetti instead of the soba noodles] – and that was when I was sort of trying to follow the recipe!
I also made it in the slow cooker, as I wasn’t organised enough to make it before church yesterday evening. It was delicious last night, and also as reheated leftovers today. I’m thinking of adding some tofu cubes to my next batch [which will inevitably end up different again!]
Thanks for another delicious and simple meal recipe, Katie. I am always excited when I see you’ve posted another one!!
LOVE your web site!! Trying to go dairy and gluten-free for our whole family – and your website has been SO helpful!! Thank you!!!!
This looks so good! I cannot wait to try this! I love your recipes and am excited for your book!
I just tried this again, but substituted almond milk (original flavor, 2.5 grams of fat) for the coconut milk. I enjoyed it just as much. I also vary the amount of garlic. It always turns out great!! I also add 8 to 16 ounces of baby bella mushrooms sometimes, as I love those as well. Thanks for the recipes.
Thank you so much for trying it, Lori!
So yummy. Loved the cilantro, one of my favorite flavors. This was my first time time eating soba noodles. This dish great!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! It was so so delicious. I was surprised since I wasn’t sure how it would taste. Thanks for putting out this recipe!
We’ve made this countless times, love it. We use quinoa noodles, and parsley over cilantro. Thanks for your brilliance Katie. Take care
This is your first non-dessert recipe that I’ve tried and I really like it! I’m eating these noodles for lunch right now. Very tasty!