Buckwheat noodles and broccoli

It's shaping up to be a real and truly animal-free food weekend.  Friday night I made red lentil dal and brown rice (from here, a lovely place) which I served with broccoli and some more orange squash.  Saturday dinner was buckwheat noodles with broccoli from Bittman, Food Matters.  These noodles were so, so easy and so good, and were just inhaled by the small one.  (They are teriyaki noodles and asparagus in the cook book.)  I adapted the recipe a little, which is to say, I left out the ingredients I didn't have around.

8-10 ounces buckwheat soba noodles
4 cups cut up broccoli
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon each garlic and ginger, minced
2 tablespoons or less oil (I used canola, I think)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey mixed with 2 tablespoons water (this is a mirin substitute)

1. Mix the soy sauce and honey/water 
2. Bring some water to boil for the noodles.
3.  In a large pan suitable for stir-frying cook the broccoli with the oil, ginger, garlic and green onions.  I added the oil and when it was hot added the broccoli and green onions, cooked until it was starting to turn bright, then added the ginger and garlic, cooked a minute or so more, then added some water and covered to steam until the broccoli was all bright green but still crunchy.  Take off the cover, turn off the heat.
4.  Cook the noodles; mine took 3 minutes after the water returned to a boil.  Don't overcook them.
5.  Turn the heat to medium-ish under the broccoli.  Add the cooked noodles, about 1/2 cup of cooking water, and the soy sauce mixture.  Stir around and cook until everything is mixed well and heated through and the sauce has reduced slightly; this worked out to be about another 5-6 minutes.  That's it, you're done.

Next time I would add lots more vegetables, at least red pepper and onion, and maybe carrots too.  Bittman calls for adding some shelled edamame at the end with the noodles and I'm sure that would be good.  I didn't have any edamame in the freezer this week for some reason. 

Liam ate salmon and veg. last night (he's not a big lentil fan) and a little more salmon with his broccoli and noodles tonight.  Loved it all, especially the noodles.

It's raining, raining, raining this weekend and predicted to continue. The front fence collapsed because the new retaining wall in the front has been so delayed by weather.  So, now I guess we'll be getting a new fence too.  Great.

Happy Birthday to Auntie Chris today.  What is to say about Auntie Chris? She is simply the best sister, auntie, naval officer, a person could ever encounter.  We are so blessed and lucky to have her in our lives.