Chow Mein

So while fried rice is great, sometimes I'm more in the mood for Chinese noodles! That's where this great Pioneer Woman recipe comes in. It's super simple and quick and tastes great. We ate it with egg rolls and an Asian salad to make a full meal. I'd consider this a side dish, but if you added chicken it could become a main dish. I made a few changes to the original recipe, as you can see by my notes.

CHOW MEIN
from the Pioneer Woman Dinnertime cookbook
Makes 6 servings

1 T. peanut oil (or another oil like canola)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 cup julienned carrots (can find these sometimes at the store already cut)
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 head napa cabbage, thinly sliced (if can't find napa cabbage, then use a normal green cabbage)
8 oz. thin Chinese noodles, cooked according to package (or use refrigerated YakiSoba noodles)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (I used 12 oz of noodles and 1/2 cup soy sauce)
1-2 t. sesame oil
Couple splashes of fish sauce (optional)

1. Heat oil in large skillet or wok over med-high heat. Add onion and cook for a couple minutes, until it starts to soften.

2. Add the carrots and half the green onions and stir and let the veggies cook for 2 min.

3. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a few more minutes.

4. Add noodles, soy sauce and sesame oil.

5. Toss everything together , add rest of green onions. Serve hot.

*If you use refrigerated noodles, you can just toss them in during step 4 and let the heat soften them up until they break apart. If you use dry noodles, then cook them or soften them according to package instructions before adding them to the stir fry. I used 2 (6 oz) packets of refrigerated noodles and then added a little more soy sauce and sesame oil to make up for the difference.

**I couldn't find julienned carrots the day I needed them, but I found carrot "chips" (just carrots cut into ruffle chip shape) and those were a lot easier to cut into the julienned strips then a normal carrot.

***Sometimes cabbage can be a little bitter. If yours turns out to taste that way, there are ways to try to balance out that flavor. Just google it! :)

Nice Asian Salad to eat on the side:

Sliced half a cabbage (other half used in the stir fry)
Handful of julienned carrots (or use coleslaw mix for both of these)
Couple chopped green onions
Almond Slices
Broken up ramen noodles
a couple tsp. Sesame seeds

Toast almonds, ramen noodles and sesame seeds in oven for a few minutes (or on stovetop). Mix together with cabbage, carrots, green onions and dressing.

Dressing (from here):
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar

Mix together and add sugar/salt to taste. Toss with salad.