Veggies play leading role in budget-friendly lo mein
Vegetable lo mein is an inexpensive, delicious and versatile Chinese dish that is quick and easy to prepare. Made with lo mein noodles and a variety of healthful vegetables tossed in a slightly sweet, slightly spicy sauce, this one-pot dish offers a restaurantquality meal that is sure to please.
This homemade veggie lo mein takes less than 15 minutes to cook and makes incredible leftovers. Even better is its versatility — dress it up with chicken, shrimp, pork, etc., or mix up the vegetables by adding broccoli florets, celery or bean sprouts.
Here’s what I used in this recipe
The noodles: I used dried lo mein noodles that I purchased at a local Asian market. Sometimes, you can find lo mein noodles in the Asian section of your supermarket.
The vegetables: This recipe has a lot of nutritious vegetables, including cremini mushrooms, carrots, red bell pepper, green onions, baby spinach, fresh ginger and fresh garlic. It’s super easy to add or substitute other vegetables.
Lo mein sauce: For the sauce, I used chicken broth, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and Sriracha hot sauce, thickened with cornstarch. You can omit the Sriracha sauce or even use your favorite hot sauce.
The rest of the ingredients: I used olive oil to coat the cooked lo mein noodles and vegetable oil to stir fry the vegetables.
Why not give this classic Chinese dish a try? It will likely become a family favorite.
Tips and tricks
The most time-consuming part of this recipe is the ingredient preparation. Sometimes, I’ll prep the vegetables and make the lo mein sauce in the morning. Then, I’ll put them in the refrigerator for later use. This way, there’s minimal effort in actually stir-frying the dish.
Because I used chicken broth in this recipe, it is not vegetarian. However, you can easily substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth. Feel free to substitute spaghetti for the lo mein noodles.
Because carrots take longer than other vegetables to cook, I like to use a peeler to cut the carrots into very thin strips, but a knife will work too.
Sometimes, I will omit the noodles in this recipe and serve the stir-fried vegetables over rice. It’s just as yummy!
Leftovers can be covered and refrigerated for three to four days. Reheat on the stovetop or gently in the microwave.
Vegetable lo mein
Serves 4
4 ounces dried Chinese lo mein noodles 1 tablespoon olive oil or sesame oil
1⁄ cup low-sodium chicken broth
2
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1⁄ teaspoon Sriracha hot chili sauce, optional
2
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
11⁄ teaspoons cornstarch
2
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 ounces cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and cut julienne or into 2-inch match sticks
1 medium to large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2-inch match sticks 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh snow peas
3 green onions, sliced thin with the white and green parts separated
6 ounces of baby spinach
to boil in a large saucepan. Add the lo mein noodles to the boiling water and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, rinse thoroughly with cold water, and then drain again. Toss the cooked noodles with olive or sesame oil; set aside. Whisk together the chicken broth, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Sriracha sauce if desired, ginger, and cornstarch in a bowl; set aside.
Heat vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, carrots and bell pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the snow peas, the white part of the green onions, and spinach. Cook until the spinach has wilted, 2-3 minutes.