Sesame Ginger Noodles

Several years ago I took a cooking class in Thailand and learned a lot about the fresh local flavors. Thai people love to add cilantro and or basil to their dishes to brighten them up and give them a fresh taste. I choose to use cilantro in this dish and it worked perfectly with the freshly grated ginger, another Thai favorite. The sesame oil is a must with these asian noodles. It is what pulls all the flavors together and makes it taste authentic. This dish is vegan; you can add tofu if you'd like or chicken for the meat eaters.

Ingredients

4 cups cooked noodles about half a box (you can use soba noodles or regular angel hair pasta)
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs canola oil
2 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbs ginger freshly grated
1 cup green onion chopped
1 cup carrot shredded or cut into strips
1 cups celery chopped thin
1 yellow bell pepper chopped thin
1 cup bok choy sliced thin (like the celery)
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup cilantro chopped

In a large pot bring salted water to boil and cook your noodles.

In a large pan heat canola oil and sesame oil on medium low. Add garlic, ginger, brown sugar and crushed red pepper and mix together. Add green onion, carrots, celery and bell pepper. Saute vegetables on low to medium. Drizzle over soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. And continue to saute on low for about 8-10 minutes. Then add most of the cilantro reserving a little for the garnish. Mix together and add cooked pasta to your pan of veggies. Mix everything together and serve with left over cilantro on top.

yields 2-4 servings