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
Maggie says
Ha, I love this! The greener the better. I’m experienced enough that I’m quite confident in my ability to follow even slightly difficult recipes, but I usually follow them to a T once before I start experimenting. Sometimes I come up with new stuff by necessity, like that time I was halfway into a brownie recipe before I realized I was out of cocoa powder! Whoops… wound up with some really tasty blondies instead!
The deep dish cookie pie, for example, is one I tweak regularly based on what I have around. I bring it and the cookie dough/brownie batter dips to parties and potlucks and bible study so often that I once turned up with a regular cake and my friend Katie, by default, asked, “Maggie, are there beans in this cake? Be honest.” 😀
George Lin says
To the QOTD, it depends on how motivated I am. Generally I do have some ready made things that I can combine in less than 5 minutes, but I do make things as well.
That said, the recipe looks fabulous and fascinating.
Lisa Ernst says
This looks unbelievably good. You keep outdoing yourself with delicious recipes, both sweet and savory! Can’t go wrong with this combo, this is another one of your recipes I must try soon.
Carla says
Love the recipe but 1/4 cup of garlic? Is that a misprint?
Cck says
Nope…I love garlic 🙂
Theresa says
Yeah – that’s way too much garlic. I know for a fact that all you would be tasting is garlic because it will overpower every other flavor in this recipe. One large clove is good enough.
nuts4knits says
Yowsa! I love every ingredient listed! I love greens. I cannot wait to have this in my thermos at lunch next week. Thanks for the occasional non-dessert recipe. I’m also going to try the pumpkin no-bakes as well. Good stuff.
Laura says
Looks great…however…any subsitutions for the cilantro?
Cck says
Sorry I haven’t tried any. I know where you’re coming from though…I hated cilantro all my life until a few months ago. Not sure what happened, but suddenly I don’t mind it anymore!
Susan says
The problem with cilantro is that if you are introduced to it raw, it can be overwhelming. It is much less so when it is cooked. Perhaps a combination of cilantro and parsley would work?
Carol J says
I used to be repulsed by cilantro, then about 8 years ago I started to change little by little (less and less repulsed.) This year I find I love it. Same here, I don’t know what happened — but I love having this kind of special flavor in my life now. I buy it a bunch at a time at the farmer’s market. If you don’t like it, just leave it out. Maybe a little fresh peppermint would be nice instead. Lots of Thai foods use fresh peppermint and it’s quite wonderful. If that’s too weird for you, how about fresh basil?
Anna says
Maybe parsley?
Laura says
Parsley could work…hmmm…maybe basil? That may be a little strong though…
[email protected] OmNom Love says
Yum! This looks great! I have some broccoli and kale in the fridge that would love to be used up in this recipe. Not to mention a spaghetti squash that’s just sitting there waiting to be eaten. 😉 I’ll definitely have to work this into my meal plan this coming week!
Lulu says
I am someone who LOVES my foods to touch, and my favorite meals or snacks are mushes of everything! When I only cook for myself, I either stirfry everything together, dump a crapload of spices (no salt cuz I hate salty foods) or I throw everything in the fridge and blend! When none is available, I get a bowl and mush everything
Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes says
I usually somewhat follow a recipe when making dinner for myself…then I end up just doing my own thing with it. This looks good!
Steffany says
Could you put a little grilled chicken in with this for those who like to eat meat with each meal? I have a meat loving family who I think would stroke out if they were told nope, no meat tonight! No “pushing boundaries” for them haha. It’s a good thing they don’t know what I sneak into some of their other meals 😀
bob says
I put some chicken with the leftovers I ate of this today – it worked really well in my opinion.
amanda says
Wow you really do add sweetner to everything.
bee says
It fits with the Thai flavours here. All the Thai dishes I’ve cooked have called for a sweetner to be added for a balanced flavour.
Amanda says
This looks awesome. Lunches for next week! In general, I follow recipes exactly. The only thing I’ll ever do is cut down on oil IF the recipe calls for a ton. Other than that, I leave it up to the experts 🙂 Katie being one of them!
Sadye says
I’m not a natural in the kitchen AT ALL. I much prefer to follow recipes; any improvising I do will likely be swapping out veggies in a grain dish, while keeping the spices the same.
Tammela says
Your green noodles look incredible. Green things + soba noodles — hard to beat. I’m a big fan of looking at recipe for inspiration, then often taking them in a totally different direction.
Lisa says
I’m all over green foods. I swear when anything is green I’m just drawn in. It makes me feel a lot healthier maybe.
Usually, I’m more of a make something up as I go kind of girl. Unless there’s something I really want to make from a blog or cookbook – but even then I never follow the recipe to a tee.
jdoye @ whole pure recipes says
These noodles look great, Katie! I love adding coconut milk to my meals. It always adds such a satisfying richness to a dish. I’m loving all the green!
Miranda says
When I am cooking for my family I tend to browse recipe sites for inspiration and then make my own recipes. When I am cooking for myself, I just eat the dessert instead. 😉
This looks super tasty, by the way. And, I am in love with how much garlic is in this recipe.
Catherine @ Chocolate & Vegetables says
Yum, broccoli and kale, two of my favorites! These look really good.
I love to read through cookbooks but I rarely follow a recipe 100%, I’m always modifying to suit our preferences or what’s most readily available. At this point, I’ve been cooking for long enough that my modifications usually work out (though there have been one or two spectacular fails!).
Susan says
Yet another recipe that sounds delicious and like something I should make.
Somehow I ended up with not much ability to create recipes, although I’ve come up with a couple of simple ones. I have done some modifications to other people’s recipes and even been able to figure out how to duplicate a couple that I’ve had in restaurants. I do plan to try my own version of a recipe by another blogger – it’s an idea she had that I will try to flesh out. But mostly I depend on recipes. For that reason I love the existence of food blogs, because that’s where I get most of my recipes these days. I’ve been delighted to find several bloggers whose tastes mesh well with mine, so I get lots of inspiration for cooking. So my poor husband who likes the same stuff over and over has to suffer with my desire for variety… Thank you for enabling me… 😀
Cara @ TheVeganBarbie says
I have to follow a recipe, I’m not the savvy cook that you are!
Tayler says
Awesome! I will be having these leafy nommies tonight!
Carol J says
That looks wonderful, Katie. From the sound of it, I shop and cook like you — making things up as I go. I’m going to try to follow this recipe, though, except I’ll leave out the…
Oh, love all the garlic and ginger!
Beth says
I always end up making something ‘off the cuff’ for dinner
trajayjay says
Please don’t take the following too too personally.
For a healthy dessert blog, I was very surprised at how high in sodium this recipe was. Don’t get me wrong, except for the sodium, this dish seems healthy and delicious, but I find it a bit strange that you allowed that much sodium into a recipe. Is there any way to reduce it, while still preserving the flavor?
kate says
Try low sodium soy sauce and omit the added 1/2 tsp of salt?
trajayjay says
Thanks. I’m not trying to bash Katie, her blog, or her recipes, I’m just trying to resolve an anomaly.
Holly says
Oh Katie this looks delicious! Definitely going to try it. Have you come around to the deliciousness of cilantro? I remember that you never really liked the taste of it!
Am says
I am not very good at cohesive dinners, I usually make it up as I go along and/or it ends up being a collection of snacks :). However, I just started making stir-fry wok dinners which I really enjoy!!
Ashlee Spear says
Always in search of more vegan/vegetarian dinner ideas. Excited to try this one!
Courtney says
I’m a relatively new cook, so I dove in and committed to this recipe blindly. I’m also from a small town with very little variety in selection for groceries. My experience:
1. Carton coconut milk does not work for this at all.
I ended up with a drastically different ratio of broth to everything else. Far too much.
2. A little warning about the garlic would have been nice.
I thought it might mellow out once everything was combined, but it didn’t. My eyes won’t stop burning and watering, and I’m airing out my house now.
Lucy @ Bake Play Smile says
Yum! Your green noodles look delicious! I don’t think I could ever live on my own because when I am home alone for tea I more than often end up having a bowl of cereal or some toast! As much as I love cooking, when it’s just me, I really don’t have the motivation! But I love this recipe so will definitely be giving it a go!
kimmythevegan says
Mmmm this looks really delicious!!!
amanda says
I love your savory recipes, Katie!! Excited to try this 🙂
Aparna says
Those noodles actually look delectable. I love tweaking recipes to fit my taste and ingredient availability, so this kind of recipe is perfect.
Lori says
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).
Debby Sunshine says
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!
Dee says
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!
Rachel says
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!
David says
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.
Ashley says
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!
Karissa says
Hey Katie, I made this lady night and loved it. Thanks for sharing! I am definitely passing this one on.
Amanda says
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!!
bob says
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!!
Leanna says
LOVE your web site!! Trying to go dairy and gluten-free for our whole family – and your website has been SO helpful!! Thank you!!!!
Barbara says
This looks so good! I cannot wait to try this! I love your recipes and am excited for your book!
Lori says
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.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much for trying it, Lori!
sherry says
So yummy. Loved the cilantro, one of my favorite flavors. This was my first time time eating soba noodles. This dish great!
Caroline says
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!
Craig says
We’ve made this countless times, love it. We use quinoa noodles, and parsley over cilantro. Thanks for your brilliance Katie. Take care
Becca says
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!
Colleen says
Hello Katie
I think you are amazing. Your ideas are epic and Im always excited to get new recipes in my email from your mailing list. Its so much easier being a gluten free (I have celiac disease, its not a “trend” for me) vegan with unstoppable chicks like you around. Thanks for all you do.
-Colleen
Dee says
There is no such thing as “optional avocado” in my world! And I’ll be using this recipe (yes, with all the garlic!) as soon as I get home! Garlic = flavor! Avocado = life! I wonder where I can buy broccoli. It’s hard to find in Japan.
Haley says
Made this tonight and it was delicious! My normal kale-averse hubby scarfed it down and my 15-month old ate every bite on her plate! Yum!!!
Anna says
Our family adores this recipe. It’s one of our semi-regulars (too messy to serve as leftover school lunches).