When our evening plans fell through last night, we ended up with a surprise evening home.  It was a fantastic night until 9:00 when I suddenly realized I was hungry and needed a quick/ easy fix.  I originally thought about making pasta by hand before eliminating that as not being quick and I needed a plan.  We had lots of veggies and I pledged to make something in 20 minutes or less.

And while these soba noodles aren’t so pretty, they were fantastic:

This is a recipe with a tonne of options.  Feel free to skip any of the ingredients you want – it’s more to inspire than be literal.

Ingredients

• 1-3 bundles of soba noodles (I used 3) of any type – these were buckwheat
• Water to boil them in
• Chopped ginger (I used a tablespoon)
• Chopped garlic (I used to cloves)
• Cooking oil (grapeseed or other neutral oil would be great but I used olive since it’s all I had)
• Sesame oil
• Peanuts (I used 0.5-0.75 cups)
• Salt, pepper to taste
• Chile flakes (I like lots)
• Bean, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 large onion, cut into slices
• 1-2 tomatoes, chopped
• Juice of 0.5-1 lemon
• Sauce (mix the following in advance or measure as you go if needed):
• 3 tablespoons of soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 0.25 cups of ketchup, tomato sauce or salsa (if using either of the last two, you may want to increase the amount to 0.5 cups and double the honey)

Directions

1. Place a large pot of salted water on high to boil the noodles – cook them when it comes to a full boil (they are done when al dente – you’ll be frying them; this should take 4-6 minutes)
2. Optional: place a small pot of salted water to boil and blanch the beans for 30-60 seconds before cooling in an ice bath.
3. Turn a heavy-bottomed pan to medium-high on a burner.
4. Toast chile, pepper and peanuts on burner, stirring often to prevent burning.
5. Chop the onion and beans while toasting the nuts.
6. Add a bit of cooking oil and the garlic, ginger and onions, stir as they cook.
7. By now your noodles should be done; drain them well.
8. Clean a space in the middle of the pan, add 2-4 teaspoons of cooking oil and 2-4 teaspoons of sesame oil and allow it to get hot.
9. Add the noodles to the middle, stir frequently as they cook and take flavors from the pan.
10. Add the rest of your veggies and cook for 1 more minute.
11. Squeeze the juice of the lemon and you’re done.

I find it handy to have a couple of stand-by dishes that are highly adaptable on hand at any given time.  When you’re stuck for inspiration, you can quickly throw something together and move on with your night!  What are recipes that are your go-to’s when time and inspiration are short?