Wednesday 30 March 2011

Rocket and Roses Hot Noodles with Purple veggies and 5-Spice Plum Chutney Dressing

Kitchen Play List: Uh Huh Her ~ Say So
                                 Bowes & Morley ~ You're Drifting Away
                                 Kings of Leon ~ Use Somebody
                                 Melissa Etheridge ~ Secret Agent
                                 Jack Johnson ~ Go On
                                 Gwen Stefani ~ Cool
                                 Thunder ~ Only You Can Make Me Cry

How this recipe got started was inspiration from Vegelicious and the 5-Spice Plum Chutney I found there. I made the chutney and liked it alot. Then my thoughts drifted to a savoury use for it other than a condiment. I've been experimenting with baked or griddled tofu recently and from there the recipe came together quite easily. But please be warned this recipe is quite labour intensive. I made all the indivdual parts over a few days. You will find the dressing on here as 5-Spice Plum Chutney or Vegelicious.org and the Griddled Tofu and Aubergine on here under Griddle Production Line Days.


The name of this recipe caused me some problems because to give an accurate discription I would have had to have a 20 word name!! So I've shortened it alot but I feel the need to say that it does have broccoli in it too so it's not all purple veggies. lol. We ate this for dinner last night and was very happy with it. This will be made regulary. Hope you try it...it really is worth all the hard work! I promise...


Rocket and Roses Hot Noodles with Purple Veggies and 5-Spice Plum Chutney Dressing
(Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen...5-Spice Chutney recipe from Vegelicious.org)


1 tbsp sunflower oil
4 sm red onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 Birdseye Hot chillies, deseeded and minced
1 small head of red/purple cabbage, hard core removed and thinly sliced
1 large head of green broccoli, cut into bite sized florets and stalk roughly chopped
4 slices of dry griddled firm tofu, cut into small strips
7 slices of griddled aubergine, cut into small strips


wholemeal chinese noodles - enough for your preference and number of people eating


1/2 cup of 5-Spice Plum Chutney 


In a large skillet or wok heat the oil and then toss in the red onion and chilli, saute until the onion is soft. 


Add in the red cabbage and stir to combine. Cover and cook until the cabbage has softened a lot. Approx 8 minutes. Stirring often to prevent burning. Allow the moisture from the lid to go into the cabbage when lifting it off to stir. This helps keep it moist. 


Add in the broccoli florets and stalks and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes..as per the instruction above. 


In a small blender or processor add the chutney and blend until it's smooth. Then transfer to a very small saucepan. 


Add the sliced tofu and aubergine to the skillet and toss to combine. (I sometimes use two utensils to toss the veggies at this point...it really does work) Cover again and repeat the previous cooking instructions.


Place the dried noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water and leave to soak as per the package instructions. I usually find 4 minutes is long enough. Drain and set aside. 


Over a very low flame heat the chutney..making sure not to burn..It will only take a couple of minutes. 


Give the veggies a final good stir/toss and then add the noodles to the skillet. Keep the veggies and noodles moving to combine and not to allow the heat to catch them on the bottom. 


When the broccoli is crisp tender. turn off the heat and scoop into bowls and then drizzle the hot chutney dressing over the noodles/veggies. Serve...


Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!