Merah Hati Cintaku: Spring Roll Noodle Bowl

This noodle bowl is a spring roll—in bowl form! This irresistible vegan dinner recipe is an explosion of flavor: tangy lime, herbal mint, and crisp veggies.

When we say explosion of flavor, we mean it! This noodle bowl is everything that’s great about a spring roll, in bowl form. There’s the contrast of crisp veggies, tender noodles, and crunchy crushed peanuts, and an herbaceous punch from the trio of basil, cilantro and mint. And a zingy Sweet Garlic Lime Sauce infuses a gingery, citrusy goodness throughout. Honestly, we’re a little speechless with this one. It’s our adaptation of our favorite item at Duos, an Indianapolis restaurant run by our friend chef Becky Hostetter. We asked if we could feature her recipe and a little about her; she’s been pioneering plant-based real food since before it was cool.

Oh and we’ll say it now: this noodle bowl is even better at over at Duos! Ready to get started?

Featured chef: Becky Hostetter of Duos

This recipe comes courtesy of Becky Hostetter, the pioneering woman chef behind Duos. Becky has been serving plant-based, veggie forward food to Indianapolis since way before it was cool. As in, back in the 1970’s! Since then, Becky started Duos, which serves fresh, veggie-forward breakfasts and lunches with the motto “Slow food fast”. (If you’re in Indy, here’s where you can check them out.)

Back in the day, I tasted Becky’s vegan biscuits and gravy at our local farmer’s market and I was blown away. I had just started eating more vegetables and I had no idea it could taste that good. Her inventive concepts and spot on flavors make her one of the best chefs in our city. And her mission to bring good-for-you food to all eaters and show how delicious vegetables can be when prepared well: well, we’re 100% behind that message!

Not to mention, Becky is one of the kindest, most generous people I know. If you follow up on Instagram, you’ll remember she welcomes local non-profit Exodus Refugee to the Duos kitchen to host a “women’s friendship dinner” cooked by refugees from different countries. She’s truly a gem. Thank you, Becky, for your years of service in our city, and for letting us all taste your genius through this noodle bowl recipe!

Tips on how to make a noodle bowl

This noodle bowl is truly special. Since it takes about 45 minutes to make, we love serving it for company. Especially because it’s such a fun concept! However, you can make almost all of the components ahead. This can drastically cut down on the prep time and makes it into a weeknight meal or even a lunch. Here are a few notes on this noodle bowl!

Use our Marinated Tofu, your favorite baked recipe, or your fave protein.

To make this noodle bowl a filling main dish, you’ll need some protein. The original recipe served at Duos is vegan and uses their incredible baked tofu. Because we had just created our Marinated Tofu and it’s so easy, we decided to use it in this recipe! Marinated tofu doesn’t even require cooking: you can easily marinate it while you’re preparing the rest of the meal. You can easily make the marinaded tofu ahead and refrigerate until serving.

If you prefer using cooked tofu, use your favorite baked method (we hear this one by Cookie & Kate is good).

If you’re not a tofu person, no worries! Really any protein that you’d find in a spring roll works: cooked chicken would be natural. If you eat plant based but don’t love tofu, you could try tempeh or any other favorite plant-based protein sub.

Find your favorite rice noodles…or just favorite noodles!

There are lots of styles and shapes of rice noodles. For this noodle bowl we used a large, flat shaped rice noodle like you’d see in a pad Thai. (Some rice noodles are vermicelli, which are very very thin: we stayed away from that for this recipe.) There’s lots of variations even between brands of rice noodles, so you may need to experiment with a few brands before you find your favorite.

Are rice noodles gluten-free? Yes, most of them are! They are made with rice flour and water. Most of the dried rice noodles are gluten-free. However, some fresh rice noodles can contain wheat flour, so make sure to check the package.

Can I use other noodles here? Of course! This recipe works with any type of noodle you’d like: even spaghetti! Or if you’d like, go with zucchini noodles or squash noodles. The sauce brings such big flavor here that anything can work.

The veggies & sauce can be made in advance.

It can take quite a while to cut all the veggies and make up a sauce, no matter how simple it is. If you make this noodle bowl all at once, you’ll do these steps while the tofu is marinading. However if you want to simplify weeknight prep, here’s what you can do:

Make the sauce and refrigerate it. You can refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Cut the veggies and store refrigerated in an airtight container. You can chop all the vegetables in advance and store them in an airtight container, refrigerated. We’d do this no more than 1 to 2 days in advance, because the vegetables can dry out. Bring them to room temperature before serving.

This noodle bowl recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.

Spring Roll Noodle Bowl

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Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 3 to 4

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Description

This noodle bowl is a spring roll—in bowl form! This irresistible vegan dinner recipe is an explosion of flavor: tangy lime, herbal mint, and crisp veggies.

Ingredients

For the noodle bowl

1 recipe Marinated Tofu (or your favorite baked tofu recipe)
7 ounces rice noodles (or your favorite noodles; we used large, flat noodles)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 English cucumber, diced
2 medium carrots, shredded (using a handheld julienne shredder is helpful)
1 cup chopped fresh basil, mint, and cilantro (for best results, use all three!)
Crushed peanuts, for garnish

For the Sweet Garlic Lime Sauce (makes 1 1/4 cups)

1/4 cup grated carrot (1 medium)
1/2 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 small clove garlic, grated
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sambal olek

Instructions

Make the Easy Marinated Tofu. (To keep the ingredients minimal, omit the sesame seeds and green onion, and use sambal olek instead of gochujang.) Or, you can use your favorite baked tofu method. While the tofu marinates, make the rest of the recipe.
Make the sauce: Grate the carrot. Peel and grate the ginger and garlic. In a medium bowl, combine the carrot, ginger and garlic with the rice vinegar, lime juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and sambal olek.
Cook the rice noodles according to the package instructions (you’ll likely pour boiling water over them and wait until they’re tender!). Rinse them under cool water when cooked.
Prepare the vegetables: Dice the pepper. Dice the English cucumber. (If you use a normal cucumber, you may want to peel it first.) Shred the carrot.
Serve: Toss the noodles with the tofu, veggies and the desired amount of sauce: we used about 1/4 cup per serving. You can put the entire recipe in a large bowl, or make little individual servings and toss with the desired amount of sauce and veggies. Garnish with chopped peanuts on top.

Notes

*Make ahead instructions: Make the tofu in advance and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Make the sauce in advance and refrigerate up to 1 week. Cut the veggies in advance and refrigerate 1 to 2 days (they can dry out if you go any longer).

Category: Main Dish
Method: Raw
Cuisine: Southeast Asian