Tomato Garlic Noodles

August 6, 2013

I used to love to order Tomato Beef Noodles at a Chinese restaurant. The sweet tanginess is a nice departure from the typical Sweet and Sour dish and the lack of red food coloring is an added bonus! My Mom recently made Tomato Noodles with tofu when we were all at their house for a visit and my kids gobbled it all up. This is my take on her recipe.

This dish is colorful and immensely flavorful. I like to saute the noodles until the bottom layer gets crispy. My kids fight over the crispy parts just like my brother and I did growing up. : ) You can throw in whatever vegetables you’d like but I think the crispy bell peppers, sweet onion and palate-cleansing broccoli make for a nice balance.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• oil for frying
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 white onion, sliced
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1 box braised tofu or tofu nuggets (I use a great brand called Hodo Soy; if you can’t find something similar, then pan fry your own cubed, firm tofu until crispy on all sides)
• 2 small crowns of broccoli, florets only
• 16-oz package of brown rice spaghetti (regular spaghetti is fine, too)
• organic, natural ketchup
• agave
• soy sauce

These five-spice nuggets add great flavor to this dish!

First, boil you water and cook the brown rice spaghetti per package instructions.

Saute your garlic, onion and peppers in oil until glossy and slightly brown on the edges. Be sure to not cook so long that they become mushy or limp. They should like something like this when you add in the other ingredients.

 

Next, slice up the tofu nuggets and add them and the diced tomato to the veggies. Stir-fry until the tofu is heated through. Add the cooked noodles, turn the heat on your burner up to high, and season with the ketchup, agave and soy sauce. You’ll notice I didn’t indicate how much to use. This is really up to you, based on your taste. I basically drizzle all three over the entire dish, continuing to toss and stir-fry, until the noodles are evenly coated and suit my taste. But as a basic rule, the ratio of the three tends to be 3 parts ketchup, 1 part agave and 1/2 part soy sauce.

Once the noodles are perfectly sauced in your opinion, reduce the heat to medium, add in the broccoli and cover until the broccoli is tender. Toss the whole dish once more to evenly mix all the yummy ingredients.

Plate the noodles into a large dish to be served family-style and enjoy!

Happy eating!

 

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