Vegan Stir-Fry Noodles Recipe

This vegan stir-fry noodles recipe is very quick and easy to make.

It's colorful, relatively healthy (you certainly get your 5-a-day) and on top of everything else, it's gluten-free – which will be a plus point for some.

If you're not affected by gluten, you can use soy sauce instead of tamari – in my experience the former is easier to come across, but it normally contains wheat.

Glass noodles were chosen for this recipe because of how quickly they cook, but rice noodles have very similar properties, and both are gluten-free!

Glass noodles are vermicelli and made from pea starch. They make a fantastic base for a stir fry, noodle salad, and spring roll filling.

Try and get your hands on a firm variety of tofu. Deep fried tofu works well because the air pockets created in the process of deep-frying are perfect for soaking up the marinade.

The chili oil gives the dish a bit of a kick, but if you'd rather have a milder stir fry, feel free to leave it out of replace.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

½ red pepper
½ yellow pepper
¼ small cabbage
1 carrot
8-10 florets tender stem broccoli
8-10 green beans (about a handful)
2 baby sweetcorn
1 lemon
100g tofu
65g glass noodles
½ tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp pickled ginger
2 tbsp chili oil
1 small handful coriander

Equipment:

A wok or a large frying pan
Chopping board and sharp knife
A kettle or a pot
Two medium-sized bowls
Wooden spoon or spatula
Fine grate

Method:

1. Cut the tofu into cubes, or if using deep-fried tofu, cut the tofu chunks in half. Use the grate to zest the lemon.

Place the tofu pieces into one of your bowls, add the lemon zest, a tablespoon of chili oil, and tamari or soy sauce.

Squeeze the juice from your lemon into the same bowl, and mix the contents to ensure tofu is thoroughly covered in the resulting marinade.

2. Chop the peppers, cabbage and carrots finely. Cut the baby sweetcorn in half, lengthways.

3. Heat up the remaining oil in the wok, then add the cabbage and peppers. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

4. Add the carrot, broccoli, green beans and sweetcorn and fry for another 3-4 minutes.

5. In the meantime, boil the kettle or bring water to boil in a small pot. Place the glass noodles into the second bowl and pour water over them. Leave for about 5 minutes.

6. Add the tofu mixture into the wok, along with ½ cup of water.

Keep stirring the contents of the pan to mix the ingredients thoroughly, and to avoid burning the vegetables.