Tofu Noodles and Diced Veggies

Last night, I had some fun with my food. A friend of mine recommended using tofu noodles in place of traditional pasta in order to eliminate eggs as an ingredient. She told me that I should make sure to rinse the noodles REALLY WELL. I have to say that I didn't appreciate her advice as much as I should have until I opened the bag of tofu noodles. It smelled very...briny/fishy. So, here's what I did... I ran those suckers under cold water in a strainer for at least 2 minutes until I could barely smell that briny smell. I let it sit in the strainer while I sauteed the veggies. I diced up whatever I had on hand. I don't think it matters what vegetables you use. In this instance, I used yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, green, red, and yellow bell peppers, garlic, jalapeno, and red onion. I find myself using these particular veggies in a lot of dishes, mostly because I like them.

Once I was happy with the veggies (about 5 minutes because I like them still a bit crunchy), I mixed in the noodles. The only seasoning that I added at this point were sea salt and black pepper. I also added fresh cilantro and fresh parsley, but these fresh herbs didn't go in until I put the noodles in. I didn't want them getting wilted and gross. The potatoes on the plate were seasoned with salt, pepper, and parsley, drizzled with olive oil, and baked on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I mixed the potatoes around once about half way through the half hour. My oldest son LOVED this noodle-veggie recipe.

 

As I look at this picture, I realize that this is the ugliest and most uncomfortable plate I own. The sides come up on two sides only where the pink flowers are, so if you're not careful food falls off the flat side. I hate it, but it's one of the most used plates in my house. I cut stuff on it, I serve food on it, I throw it in the sink, and I run it through the dishwasher...often.

Part of me is simply waiting for the day that it finally gives out and cracks so I can throw it away, but another part of me likes to hang on to it. It was one of the plates that my in-laws left behind when they retired and moved away...it's a little piece of them that they left here for us to hang on to. As a matter of fact, they left several little things here...and in a way it represents the love they left behind for us. Maybe I'll be nicer to the plate after all.