Vegetarian Whole Wheat Lo Mein

Veggie lo mein (right) served with spinach tofu in ginger-lime sauce

This is a great middle-of-the-week meal because it's fast and healthy, and you can substitute vegetable ingredients according to what you have in your fridge.  This is also a great one-dish meal.  You don't need anything else except maybe a glass of Tsingtao.

You can buy lo mein or chow mein noodles at speciality or Asian grocery stores, but I find it just as good to use whole wheat spaghetti noodles.  For a little over a buck, you can buy one pound of organic 100% whole wheat spaghetti from Trader Joe's.

The recipe below is the vegetarian version, but I've made this dish with shrimp or pre-cooked chicken for my meat-eating friends.  Just substitute in the meat for the tofu. With pre-cooked meat, just sauté in with the vegetables until warmed through.  With uncooked shrimp, just add the shrimp right after the last vegetable and sauté for a few minutes until the shrimp just loses its transparency, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Although Asian vegetables like bok choy, bean sprouts and snow peas go well with the sauce, I use whatever vegetables I have in the refrigerator, including broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, asparagus and cauliflower.  Make your own combination!

Cook 1 pound of whole wheat spaghetti noodles according to package, reserve at least 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil.
1 tub (about 14 oz) of extra firm organic tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes.
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 small onion, sliced from pole to pole into 8 sections
About 1 pound or 3 loose cups of vegetables, cut into bite-sized pieces.
2 garlic cloves, minced.
1 generous teaspoon ginger root, minced.

Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup reserved cooled pasta water or regular water
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey or sugar
1 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes (optional)

In a large cast iron skillet or other large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil on medium, sauté the tofu for about a minute, then add the soy sauce.  Sauté and occasionally flip the tofu until golden brown, about 10 minutes.  While cooking the tofu, prepare the sauce.  When tofu is done, put in a medium bowl.

Combine sauce ingredients and whisk until sugar or honey is completely dissolved.  Set aside.

In the same pan used for the tofu, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil on medium-high.  When oil is hot, saute the onions until brown and tender.  Then add vegetables and sauté until the vegetables are cooked to your liking (I like mine a little crunchy).   Set aside cooked vegetables with the tofu.

Put the remaining 1 Tablespoon of oil in the pan on medium heat.  When the oil is heated, add the cooked spaghetti and garlic and ginger.  Cook for about a minute, then add the vegetables and tofu and the sauce.  Combine until heated through.  Feel free to top the noodles with sesame seeds and/or chopped green onions.  Serve immediately.