Udon Noodles with Black Bean Sauce.

My schedule has changes a lot lately and I now have to take some classes after all day at work. The classes are 2 - 2 1/2 hours long 3 times a week for eight weeks. This has cut drastically into my blog time, and sorry to say, my cooking time. So when I get a chance I will surely post any chance I get. It is hard to come up with something new when you have to prepare a meal in such little time. So I thought I would share just something I threw together with what I have on hand. Which seems to happen often even if I'm not super busy!

I had some fresh udon noodles in the fridge, which are always nice to have because you can have them ready in a short time. I also had some arugula and fresh baby spinach, (I would of used red bell peppers for color if my husband liked peppers)

This is what I used, you can adjust any of the ingredients and amounts to your liking!

2 packages of fresh udon noodles
1 pound ground chicken (use any minced meat that you want)
2 shallots minced
1 tsp garlic ginger paste
2 tsp tahini (optional)
2 tbsp black bean sauce
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp chili sauce
1/2 cup broth
1/2 tsp sesame oil
any veggies that you have on hand.

If you don't have the sweet soy sauce you can use what you have, then you can use sweet chili sauce instead.

In a heat resistant bowl or in a pan pour boiling water to cover the fresh noodles for around 5 minutes, then drain.
Meanwhile in a large skillet or wok brown the minced meat, use a little oil if needed, then add the shallots, ginger garlic paste, chili sauce, and black bean paste. Add the stock and cook vegetable that needs to be cooked at this time (like snap peas or red peppers if that's what you are using). Add the noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil and tahini and mix it together well. I like to add the spinach and arugula near the end because it doesn't need much cooking time. I also added some black Chinese vinegar near the end to cut the bitterness of the spinach and arugula.


So there you go another quick meal on the table!

Here is by bird of paradise that is in blossom. I know in other countries it's sometimes called something else. My friend from South Africa told me it is called a name that means burning ship, I forget the name, I'll have to call her and ask. I just wanted to add a little color...

Edited to add: I just spoke with my friend and she said it was an Afrikaans name, "skip wat brandt" translates as "ship that is burning"

..you still have to take some time to stop and enjoy the flowers! Can't say "smell the roses" I don't have any roses anymore in my yard, but I have Jasmine and that is always nice to smell.

Hope you all have a great weekend!