Cooking Tip #2 – Move Over Salad!
So many clients arrive at our office after having been on the chronic dieting circuit. Likewise, they endorse being “sick and tired” of salads. While salads
can be incredibly satisfying, delicious, creative and a lot of fun (we’ll talk about this later in the month), veggies don’t live in salads alone.
In fact, there aren’t many dishes you can’t easily add them to for some extra volume and flavor — eggs, tuna or chicken salad, soups, pasta sauces,
rice dishes…
One of our favorite ways to add veggies is to noodle dishes. If you haven’t tried the Vegetable Wonton Noodle dish at Noodle 1 in Newton Centre, I highly
recommend it! Pho, a traditional Vietnamese noodle dish is another dish that welcomes vegetables. Here’s a great recipe from Vegetarian Times. Feel
free to doctor it up to your liking — add cooked meats, chicken or shrimp and whatever veggies you prefer.
Vegetarian Pho Recipe
Adapted from Vegetarian Times (Serves 6)
Broth
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3 large shallots, sliced (1 cup)
½ cup dried shiitake mushrooms
10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
12 ¼-inch-thick coins fresh ginger
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
5–6 fresh basil stems, leaves reserved for soup
5–6 cilantro stems, leaves reserved for soup
Pho
1 8-oz. pkg. rice noodles
1 8-oz. pkg. Asian-flavor baked tofu, thinly sliced
2 cups soybean sprouts
2 cups watercress
4 green onions, sliced (½ cup)
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
1. To make Broth: Place all ingredients in large pot with 8 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 1 hour.
Strain broth, and return to pot. Discard solids.
2. To make Pho: Cook rice noodles according to package directions. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Divide among 6 large soup bowls. Ladle Broth over
noodles, and top with tofu, sprouts, watercress, and green onions. Serve cilantro, basil, and lime wedges on the side to be stirred into soup.
– See more at: http://metrowestnutrition.platformportal.com/_blog/From_Our_Blog/post/cooking-tip-2—move-over-salad/#sthash.Bz7OotbL.dpuf
