Clean Vegetarian Pancit

I think it is safe to say that Asian food is one of my favorites, but then again, I could go back and forth between Italian and Mexican too!  I just love food!  When my family was stationed in Washington DC, I worked with some of the most amazing people who introduced me to a wide variety of Asian food, which before I would have never tried.  This developed my love for all things noodles!  Asian food isn't particularly "unclean" but for my liking, and for my vegetarian preference, I took one of my favorites, Pancit and cleaned it up a bit to fit it into the requirements of my 5 week challenge (I will write up the details of this challenge after the next one is finished).  Enjoy!

Clean Vegetarian Pancit

Ingredients

1 package of brown rice spaghetti noodles (I use Trader Joe's brand)
1 Tbsp coconut oil
3/4 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup snow peas
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
3/4 cup mixed wild mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce or liquid aminos
1 1/2 cup water
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Cook brown rice noodles according to package directions.  Drain and make sure you rinse, as brown rice noodles tend to be stickier, set aside.

Heat 1/2 Tbsp of coconut oil in a wok over medium/high heat.  Add carrots, snow peas and cabbage, sauté for 5 minutes.  Set aside on plate to be added back to the wok later.  In the same wok, heat additional 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil.  Sauté garlic and onion for 5 minutes or until tender.  Add mushrooms and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.  Add low sodium soy sauce or liquid aminos and water. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and add cooked brown rice pasta and stir fried veggies.  Allow to cook for an additional 5 minutes to incorporate flavors.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

Kung Pao Cauliflower

I'm sure you can tell, I use cauliflower in a lot of my recipes.  It is a vegetable that is so universal and can pretty much take on any flavor it is cooked with.  My Orange Cauliflower recipe was such a hit in my house, I decided to try another Asian chicken dish with cauliflower.  Enjoy!

Kung Pao Cauliflower

Ingredients

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 green onions, chopped and divided in half
1/3 cup raw cashews
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Cooked brown rice for serving






Kung Pao Sauce

2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp organic tomato ketchup
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp cornstarch

In a small bowl, mix all Kung Pau Sauce ingredients, set aside.

In a large wok, heat coconut oil over medium heat.  Add cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove cauliflower from wok and set aside (cauliflower will not be cooked all the way, as it will be added back to the wok to cook more).  Add peppers to the wok, cook for 3 minutes.  Add cauliflower back to the wok and cook with peppers for an additional 5 minutes.  Vegetables will be cooked, but not mushy.  Add ginger, garlic, 1/2 green onions, cashews and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes to incorporate flavors.   Add sauce mix to wok and cook over high heat, until thickened, about 1 minute.  Serve over brown rice, topped with additional green onions.