Do you remember the cups of noodles that you probably ate shamelessly as a teenager? The ones that are full of fried noodles, less than a half dozen pieces of vegetables that are so out of place they stand out and allow you to brainwash yourself into believing that perhaps you’re actually eating something that might be healthy; the ones that only require that you plug in the kettle and pour boiling water and wait? Though the waiting is truly a challenge and I would often burn my tongue slurping it too soon. I loved these noodles. Okay, I still love these noodles or at least I love the memory of them. I always had the spicy version, spicy chicken, spicy beef, but who are we kidding there wasn’t actually any meat in these styrofoam cups. It was the spicy broth and the noodles that always appealed to me as well as the ease and portability of them. You could throw the shrink-wrapped cup in a bag and as long as you could get some hot water you were good to go.
Maybe you’re still eating them but I for one have long past the age where my internal system is able to manage all the salt and MSG that lurks inside and I have been avoiding them for years. That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss them and wish I could still eat them. Yes, it seems I’m still doing some ‘lamenting’ as I was in my last post. Maybe I need to go out and buy myself a convertible, or maybe I just need to get over it. Though I suppose that’s the challenge for many of us and would be why so many people my age are driving some pretty expensive sports cars. You know who you are.
We’ve seemingly been immobilized by the winter weather lately, hunkered down watching as many of the Oscar nominated movies as we can and the list is amazing this year to be sure. My experience of watching these movies so far has evoked my mother’s voice. “You have to taste it before you decide you don’t like it.” These words also ring true of the movies. You have to watch them before deciding you don’t like them. Granted that may not be true of ALL movies, I think we need to have some latitude here to dismiss some movies though I’m not going to tell you which of those I think they are, I will say that they are not of the ones on the list of this year’s nominations. These words snapped in my head as I reluctantly watched Birdman. It wasn’t even just that I wasn’t much in the mood for that kind of movie, which by the way was not at all what I had talked myself into thinking it was going to be, I wasn’t even actually in the mood to see if it was something that I would like. But I did. Watch it that is. And love it.
Now I’ve seen most of the nominated movies and Birdman is dark and funny and eerie in a way that is not metaphysical or unrealistic but realistic in a way that will follow you for a few days. But don’t take my word for it, try it and see what you think. It happens to be my favourite so far.
This brings me back to the ‘try it and see before you decide’ comment. I posted Shirataki noodles with Chicken soup before and after moving out butts and getting out on a nicer winter day this soup is pure comfort. The noodles themselves are gelatinous and really pretty flavourless but once you immerse them in a broth that is killer they will bring back memories of your youth though with much less guilty and much less swelling as a result if MSG does that to you as it does me. It’s also pretty simple and just a wee bit more work than boiling water. So simple. So good. So healthy! Also good for Dukan followers everywhere. I’m still going to post the BAM Shrimp but today I needed soup.
Cup of Soup
- package of ground turkey
- 1 small onion
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons (to taste) Emeril’s Essence seasoning*
- 1 litre of beef broth (salt and fat free)
- 2 bunches of baby Bok Choy
- handful or two of chopped cabbage
- 2-3 kale leaves chopped
- 1 package of Shirataki Angle pasta noodles
Fry the onion in a medium sized pot in a small drizzle of oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey and season with Emeril’s Essence mix, fry until the turkey is cooked through. Add the broth and throw in the vegetables. I use the ones as listed above but any ones can be added depending on your affinity towards certain veggies. Rinse the noodles in a strainer and then add to the mix. I cut my noodles up since they’re a challenging to keep on the spoon if they’re too long and warm everything and eat. I will generally top my soup off with some additional chili paste but you don’t have to, it really depends on how hot you like it and Emeril’s seasoning mix packs a bit of a punch if you use a fair bit like I do.
The thing that is nice about these noodles is that they do NOT disintegrate or suck up a whole bunch of the broth. The lousy thing about these noodles is that they do NOT suck up the broth which means that a) they can sit in the soup as long as need be if you’re making this for the week’s lunches and b) they still won’t taste like much but they contain a whole lot of pure fibre.
*Emeril’s Essence Creole Seasoning Mix (I left out the salt in my mix and generally season with salt to taste)
INGREDIENTS
• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme