Deliciously Natural Recipes (1) - Chicken Lo Mein

As the title suggests, in this feature I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes.  Now bear in mind: these won't all necessarily be considered health food *gasp*  ...but all the ingredients I use are 100% natural, no additives, nothing artificial.  In learning to live with food sensitivities & migraines I've come to realize that making my own food or even simple things like vinaigrette, sauces and seasonings MY WAY without additives, chemicals, harmful preservatives (like MSG), artificial colours & flavors.   In sharing recipes, I hope I can show my readers & clients how simple steps can improve your overall health & well-being. Just because additives like MSG, artificial sweeteners and food colouring don't make you feel sick (like me) doesn't mean they are any better for you.    Avoiding processed foods foods with added chemicals can be quite simple and is worth the little extra effort! :)

Now I absolutely love Chinese Cuisine, but local restaurants tend to be heavy on MSG usage.  The best I've seen is "No MSG-added" which pretty much means they don't add extra MSG, but it's more than likely to be found in already prepared items like soya sauce. And for someone with food sensitivities even trace amounts of additives of MSG can be painful.   After giving up on finding even one restaurant in my area that wouldn't make me feel sick, I started researching how to make my favorite Chinese dish: Chinese noodles or 'Lo-Mein' from scratch.  The recipe below is my own personalized version that saw the light of day in 2011.  When I first made a batch, I was so happy it was not only edible but yummy I wanted to have it at least once a week!  I'm already getting hungry just typing about it. *wipes drool*

Holistic Chick's Lo-Mein Recipe 

 

What you'll need:

•  1 box of the smallest speghetti noodles you can find (Capelli d'Angelo or Angel Hair Pasta work best but you can use Vermicelli as well)
• 3/4 cupChicken Broth- I like to use fresh broth after baking a chicken.
•  1/4-1/2 cup of oil- Grape-seed or Sunflower are good choices.
• 3-4 tbpsChicken Bouillon Powder or roughly 2 cubes (my favorite brand Harvest Sun Organic Chicken Bouillon Powder)
• 3-4 tsp of Turmeric
• 1/2Cabbage, diced.
• 1/2 cup-1 cup of Shredded Carrots
• Salt & Pepper
•  3 tbsp of soy sauce (Braggs Liquid Aminos is by far the yummiest kind with no MSG, artificial flavors or additives but you can use your favorite organic soy sauce as well.)
•  *optional- you can add paprika, chives, onions or garlic to taste (I've done it with about 1-2 tbsp of chives and sometimes I skip this step all-together for a milder flavor.
• *optional- you can play around with the veggies as well, I've occasionally added broccoli and red peppers into the mix. Feel free to experiment!

Here's how to put it all together:

1. In a large pan or wok, mix chicken broth, oil, diced cabbage, chicken bouillon powder, turmeric, salt & pepper to taste (if you're using broccoli, red peppers, chives,onions, garlic or paprika add them in now as well) and heat to medium until it starts to simmer then lower. Cooking time is usually 2-3 minutes or until cabbage/veggies are the desired texture.
2. Add the shredded carrots.  I like to add the carrots right at the end so they stay a bit crunchy but you can add them in step 1 if you like.
3. *Optional - if you eat meat, you can also add cooked, diced chicken into your wok at this time.
4. While the mix is simmering, fill a pot with water & bring to a boil to cook your noodles in.  Tip:You can even cook your pasta in any leftover chicken bouillon as well, it enhances the flavor and texture.  When dealing with Lo-Mein: the oilier the better.
5. Remove wok from heat after 2-3 minutes.
6. Strain noodles once cooked. (smaller pasta noodles usually cook in under 5 minutes.)
7.  Add noodles into your wok with your sautéed veggies.
8.  MIX WELL!
9.   Add your Braggs or Org. Soy Sauce and let stand for about 5 minutes.  
10. Serve & enjoy!

As you can see this is a pretty flexible recipe, you can personalize this as much or as little as you want.  It can be vegetarian if you get vegetarian chicken bouillon and broth, and it can be gluten-free if you choose gluten-free noodles (rice noodles or your favorite gluten-free pasta).  You can also easily double the recipe if you're serving a group or if you want leftovers. This is a perfect recipe to accompany any Chinese dish (egg rolls, chow-mein...) or can be served as a main course, especially if you've added chicken into the mix.  It's usually served like a stir-fry or instead of rice.  At my house, we like to have it with homemade shish-kabob:


 If we're feeling especially bad, my hubby Brian will whip us up a batch of homemade popcorn chicken...but that's another recipe post altogether ;)

 Enjoy, I hope you''ll try out Holistic Chick's take on Chinese Noodles and if you do, don't forget to comment back and let me know how you made your version & how it turned out!