Vegetable Lo Mein

My son's birthday fell on Chinese New Year this year, so our family party went along with the Chinese theme. We purchased sesame chicken (my healthy version was too 'healthy' and not nearly as good as the original deep-fried variety for my husband!) and made everything else. Fried rice, vegetable lo mein, sesame snow peas, spicy green beans, beef and broccoli. The rest of the recipes will follow shortly.

For now, here's the number one recipe of the night. Vegetable Lo Mein.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan in a slow drizzle) vegetable or wok oil
• 1 cup (2 handfuls) snow peas, halved on a diagonal
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into match stick size pieces
• 1/2 pound assorted mushrooms (shiitake, straw, enoki, or oyster), coarsely chopped, if necessary
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal
• 2 inches fresh ginger root, minced or grated with hand grater
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound lo mein noodles or angel hair pasta, cooked to al dente and drained well
• 1/2 cup aged tamari soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, several drops

DIRECTIONS

Heat a wok-shaped skillet or large non-stick skillet over high heat. Cook pasta until al dente.

When pan is very hot, add oil, (it will smoke a bit) then, immediately add the snow peas, pepper, mushrooms, and scallions. Stir fry for 1 minute to flavor the oil, then add the ginger and garlic, and stir-fry 2 minutes.

Add the cooked noodles and toss with to combine. Add the soy sauce and toss the ingredients to coat noodles evenly with sauce. Transfer the lo mein to a serving platter and garnish with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil.

VERDICT

I'm not a fan of mushrooms, so I used peppers and carrots. I'm pretty sure any vegetables would be just as good- this was my favorite recipe of the night!