Vegan lo mein

Two recipes in one week! Impressive, aren’t I? I adapted this recipe from Eating Well magazine too—it’s my favorite cooking magazine out there. It’s omni, but they include lots of vegetarian dishes, and most of the rest are easily veganizable. I’ve never made a recipe from that magazine that I didn’t love. This one is a great alternative to take-out – it’s non-greasy, healthy, veggie-packed, and vegan – and if you have a well-stocked kitchen, you’ll likely have many of these ingredients on hand already.

8 oz. whole-wheat spaghetti (udon noodles are great here too)
2 cups frozen edamame
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
4 scallions, minced
1/4 cup vegetarian "oyster" sauce
3T rice vinegar
3T reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1-3 tsp sriracha
1T canola oil
2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks (or 1 cup pre-cut shredded carrots)
1 red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks



Boil water and add the spaghetti. Cook according to package directions, adding an extra 2 minutes. Put the edamame in the pot with the spaghetti when there’s 5 minutes left. Drain it all and set it aside.



Whisk together scallions, garlic, “oyster” sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and sriracha (I tend to put in gobs of that) until combined.



Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and red pepper and cook about 4 minutes, till softened.



Add the drained spaghetti and edamame. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes.



Add the sauce, stir it in throughly, and remove from the heat.



And that’s it! In roughly 20 minutes, you have a restaurant-quality meal that’s as perfect for a weeknight as it is for a date night.



Yield: 4 servings. Per serving: 415 calories, 10.3g fat (trace sat), 65.2g carbs, 13.8g fiber, 19.4g protein.