Vegetarian Easter...

Well we aren't having our big family easter dinner until tomorrow (monday) so today we are just hanging out together as a family...Just me, Brent, and the kids. Decorating eggs (while Jonah is napping of course), and washing the truck (Daddy/Daughter time!), etc. We did a little egg hunt this morning that we had to pretty much force Brooklyn out of bed for - she was "too tired" and wanted to do it "in a little bit" - LOL. But we coaxed her out and she was in great spirits and super excited to see the bunny's footprints through the house (thanks Maria for the fabulous idea at like 11pm last night. LOL - use a bunny foot template and baby powder!) and find the eggs filled with money (not candy) to help her save for Disneyland. This is turning into a perfect little Sunday! I imagine tonight will be filled with playing games - and if the wind is kind enough to die down perhaps a walk!
The only down side to this otherwise perfect little Sunday: The horrible stir fry lunch dish I tried! *bummer* I was sooo excited to try it - the photo in the recipe book looks awesome! I only needed a few ingredients that I don't normally have or purchase so I picked those up when I got groceries. It was Sesame Oil (because we had run out), Dried Egg Noodles, and Chinese 5 spice powder.

This Recipe - Five-spice Vegetable Noodles came from our Step-by-Step 15 minute Vegetarian cookbook (i tried to locate a photo off the internet but no such luck....perhaps I should take one myself, after all i am such a stellar photographer. HAHA). It really does look great and has everything we normally like in it. I usually have a pretty good idea of what to expect taste wise when i try a new recipe, but this one had me stumped. I've never even heard of Chinese 5 spice powder, let alone tried it. So this was a new one....but the photo....

Ingredients: 225 g/8oz dried egg noodles
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 carrots, julienned
1 celery stick, julienned
1 small fennel bulb, julienned (remember to cut the core out) - I did not use this
2 courgettes (zucchini) - half-moon slices
1 red chili, seeded and chopped (I did not use this)
I also added 4 sliced mushrooms, and a handful of sliced snap peas
1" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 1/2 tsp chinese five-spice powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 spring onions, sliced (scallions, green onions)
1/4 cup warm water

Add noodles to boiling salted water (I do not salt my water). Cook for 2-3 minutes until just tender and drain. Return to pot and toss with a little bit of sesame oil. Set aside. Put remainder of oil in wok or large frying pan. Add all the vegetables (including the chili if you use it) and stir-fry for about 7-8 minutes. Add Ginger and garlic (I just chop them both up together in the handy chopper) and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add spices and cook for 1 minute. Add spring onions and stir fry for another minute before adding the warm water. Cook for another minute and add noodles. Toss well (I used tongs) and serve sprinkled with sliced red chili if liked.

The verdict - needed more sauce. I added some soy sauce to my dish and it was waaaay better, although still not scrumptious. Brent said the same - but also that it needed chicken. (Not sure how that keeps with the vegetarian theme, but oh well). In all honesty I'm pretty happy I didn't waste a chicken breast on this - we threw it all out. If you know my husband, you know that just doesn't happen. I'm sure there would be a way to perfect this and make it really delicious - I just don't know that I'll attempt in the near future. I would definitely add soy sauce in the cooking process though - and perhaps even just go for the easy option and buy a pre-made sauce. LOL That would be pretty darn delicious I think. So I *might* actually do it again (I do have half a noodle pack left after all) and go that route. It just needed the right sauce!

As it stands though:

SERIOUSLY SCRUMPTIOUS RATING: 2 STARS