Courgette Noodles (Zoodles) with Peanut Chicken

This is a simple dish that requires few ingredients and takes well under 10 minutes to make. If you don't have a spiraliser, some supermarkets sell ready spiralised fresh vegetables these days. It's extremely tasty, and could quite easily pass for regular noodles.

Courgette Noodles (Zoodles) with Peanut Chicken - serves 1

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

pinch of chilli flakes

1 tbsp dark soy sauce (use GF if making a GF dish)

handful of cooked chicken breast pieces

1 courgette, spiralised

1 tbsp peanuts, chopped

• heat a large non stick pan
• add the coconut oil, peanut butter, chilli flakes and soy sauce until melted together
• throw in the chicken and courgette noodles, and stir to coat
• cook for 3-4 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally
• serve sprinkled with chopped peanuts

Crunchy Asian Noodle Salad

Whilst browsing Pinterest one evening, I caught sight of a crunchy Ramen noodle salad, and it took me back to living in America, where I first came across such a thing. The ones I tried contained lots of shredded cabbage and carrot, along with crunchy noodles - the kind that you eat straight out of the packet when you're a student as you can't be bothered to leave your room to put the kettle on (allegedly!)

The following morning I was craving the taste of that salad and decided to make a similar version with salad leaves instead of shredded cabbage. I didn't plan to publish the recipe on here, but having been asked for it I thought it was my duty to share the simplicity of this Asian noodle salad. I'm guessing you could call this healthy, as all the fresh veggies kind of counteract the unhealthiness of the instant noodles.

Crispy Noodle Salad

salad leaves
1 spring onion, sliced
1 orange, segmented
1 carrot, peeled
1 pack of instant noodles per person (any flavour as you won't need the flavour sachet)

dressing
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp clear honey
pinch of sesame seeds

• add your salad leaves, spring onion & orange segments to a bowl
• take your carrot & shave thin slices off with your peeler, add these to the bowl
• crumble the instant noodles into the bowl
• mix all the dressing ingredients together
• add approx 1 tbsp of the dressing to the bowl and toss everything to coat, adding more dressing as needed
• scatter a few sesame seeds on top and serve immediately 

Japanese Beef Udon Soup

I don't get too experimental with meals very often, and unless I have any specific challenges to complete for this blog, I often rotate the same, or similar, meals on a weekly basis.

I was quite excited at the prospect of trying out some Japanese cooking when I received a parcel of ingredients from Japan Centre, as other than Miso soup and Udon noodles (which I used when I made healthy pot noodles), I've not eaten Japanese food, as far as I can remember. 

In the package I received the following :

• a bottle of Sake from Gekkeikan, house of the world's finest sake
• a selection of teas from Uji-no-tsuyu 
• Japanese spices from Shichimiya

After a spot of research, I decided that an Udon soup was the way to go, beefed up with slices of fillet steak spiced with Shichimi, a Japanese spice made from a blend of seven ingredients.

After making this amazing dish in under 15 minutes, I'm wondering why I don't make dishes like this more often, as it's the ultimate healthy fast food, and perfect for a lunch on a busy day.

Japanese Beef Udon Soup - serves 2

marinade

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp Sake

1/2 tsp Shichimi 

170g fillet steak

tbsp sesame oil

600ml water

1 dashi bag

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Sake

75g button chestnut mushrooms, sliced

175g dried Udon noodles

bunch of spring onions, sliced

• make the marinade by mixing the soy sauce, sake & Shichimi together in a bowl
• add the fillet steak and toss to coat in the marinade
• refrigerate for a few hours or overnight
• heat the sesame oil in a frying pan over a high heat
• add the steak and fry for a couple minutes on each side
• set aside to rest whilst preparing the udon soup
• bring the water to the boil in a saucepan
• add the dashi bag and simmer for 2-3 minutes
• remove the dashi bag from the pan
• add the soy sauce, sake, mushrooms, noodles and 3/4 of the spring onions
• simmer for 3-4 minutes until the noodles are cooked through
• slice the steak
• divide the soup into two portions and top with the steak and remaining spring onions

left to right : dashi bags, matcha tea, sake, arare, tea selection, shichimi pepper, sansho pepper

For the chance to win a 4 night trip to Japan, with 11 runner up prizes, make sure you pop over to the Visit Japan Facebook page here.

this recipe was commissioned for Visit Japan