Pork and Noodle Stir Fry

 
Pork and Noodle Stir Fry

An easy way for me to have a good night is by hosting a small dinner party for friends. It's often that Riley and I will make food for ourselves, but have so many leftovers, we always end up throwing away something. It is not only a pleasure to have friends over and eat our food, but it's a pleasure having all the food get eaten, knowing that I didn't waste anything I bought.

The most recent Jan/Feb Food Network Magazine is out of control. I want to make every single recipe in it, except the ones with mushrooms and salmon (gross). I came across this pork and noodle stir-fry, and it stood out to me. Riley and I were just in LA, and ate so much Asian food. Our friend Ryan doesn't eat anything but, so we spent most of our meals at some kind of Asian restaurant. Maybe I'm catching on subconsciously.

Our friends Teddy and Adrianne like to cook as well, and we had Teddy over for dinner the other night. We made our butternut squash enchiladas, and filled them with chicken, cheese, and black beans. Then it came out that Teddy was completely allergic to all legumes, so black beans were out. He couldn't eat the dinner we had just spent two hours making! We felt incredibly guilty, and horrible, so we invited them again for dinner tonight, and promised to leave beans out of it!

This recipe is 415 calories per serving, which is fairly low for a whole dinner, so that's a plus, especially because you still get to sneak in some noodles. I don't like to use cornstarch, buuuuuut I had a hiccup in that process. I bought almond meal as a cornstarch substitute, but apparently I was supposed to buy almond flour, so I ended up sticking with cornstarch for the recipe's sake.  I also doubled the recipe, but will post the normal recipe below. The normal recipe calls for 3 cups precut stir-fry vegetables, but I bought my own vegetables so will mend that a bit in this recipe.

Ingredients:

8 ounces rice noodles
1 pork tenderloin (about 1.5 pounds), cut into 1/4 inch thick strips
3 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups fat free low sodium chicken broth
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 scallions, sliced (white and green parts separated)
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 heads broccoli, cut into smaller pieces
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the noodles as the label directs, then drain and rinse under cold water. Meanwhile, toss the pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste and 2 tablespoons cornstarch in a bowl.

Whisk the chicken broth and the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch in another bowl.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, then add the pork and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 5 minutes; transfer to a bowl.

Add the remaining 3 teaspoons vegetable oil to the pan, then add the scallion whites, ginger, and garlic.

 

Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the vegetables and 3 tablespoons water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.

4. Add the broth mixture to the pan and bring to a boil; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

5. Return the pork to the skillet along with the noodles, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and stir to heat through. Stir in the scallion greens. Divide among bowls and serve with lime wedges.