Recipe | Vegetable Lo Mein

I made this dish for Chris and I one of the nights he came to visit for Valentine's Day last weekend, but I didn't get a chance to write it up until now because I've been swamped with schoolwork. It yielded it about 3 servings total. Here we go:

1 9oz packet of Chinese/Lo Mein style noodles
1 package of Gardein Mandarin Crispy Chik'n
1 carrot, julienned
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
Handful of Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Frozen Broccoli pieces (if you're using fresh broccoli, you could just use a small head)
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup soy sauce (preferably low sodium)
1/4 cup Hoi Sin sauce
2 tbsp Raw Blue Agave
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Set a large skillet to medium heat. Add the chik'n pieces and 1 tbsp of olive oil to the pan and start browning on both sides. This should take about 5 minutes on each side. While you're waiting for the chik'n pieces to cook, set a pot of water up to boil for the noodles. When the pieces are nice and brown, remove them from the pan and set aside.

The carrots will take the longest to cook up out of the veggies, so start cooking them in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil first. *Side note: to julienne something simply means to cut them into thin strips... like matchstick size and shape. Add a little bit of salt to the carrots, and after about 7 minutes or so they will begin to soften. Next, add the peppers and onions.

 Sautee for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften as well, and then add the mushrooms and broccoli. If you're using fresh broccoli, you might want to blanch the broccoli first because throwing raw broccoli into the dish will take longer to cook. Either that or you could just throw it in with the pepper and onions with a little bit of water, cover with a lid, and steam it for a few minutes before adding the mushrooms. Combine everything and cook together for about 5 minutes.

While the vegetables are all getting nice and cuddly with each other, mix the vegetable stock, soy sauce, hoi sin sauce, and agave in a separate bowl.

You're going to also want to cut up the chik'n pieces into smaller strips, so you can do that at this point too. Add the sauce mixture to the pan with the chik'n pieces, cover, and set the heat to simmer.

At this point you can add the noodles to the boiling water. It's important to read the cooking directions on the back of the package because they do not cook as long as regular pasta! Mine only took 3 minutes

When they're done cooking, add them to the pan, stir to combine, and enjoy! If you have some sesame seeds, you could toast them up in a dry pan and top the lo mein with them.

*** Refrain from salting after the carrots until the very end of the cooking. The soy sauce could be just enough salt for the dish. I didn't need to add any more salt when I made this, but it's all personal preference, so make sure you taste the finished product before you add more salt. ***