Craving noodles?

So, for a couple weeks in a row, I was craving noodles.  I just wanted to sit down and enjoy a big bowl of hearty, chewy, carby, goodness.  I set out to make some Thai peanut noodles to satisfy my craving.  In the middle of cooking I changed directions into a happy accident!  I had seasoned my ground beef with soy sauce and garlic.  It tasted so good, I had to make a whole dish of those flavors!  

The salty savory richness of the soy sauce, with the spicy bite of garlic combined with the heartiness of beef and noodles is a dish that I now want over and over again!  What I ended up with is super quick, easy, and just a couple of ingredients, but oh so good!  It even has veggies, so you can feel good about eating it!  This is nothing spectacularly fancy, but it may be the recipe I am most proud of, because it is my favorite thing to eat that I make!!   

This makes a lot, but can easily be cut down by half.  It keeps well in the fridge, and can be reheated easily, or eaten cold as a salad.  Or for variety, heat it up and but it in lettuce leaves for lettuce cups!  This is also a recipe that can easily be made gluten free by using your favorite gluten free spaghetti (I recommend not using Asian rice noodles, those are great in a lot of applications, but not for this dish) and gluten free soy sauce. 

Asian Soy Sauce and Garlic Noodles

2 lbs ground beef

4 garlic cloves lightly smashed, not chopped

12 oz bag broccoli slaw

½ lb pasta (spaghetti or linguine)

5 Tb rice wine or mirin*

4 Tb soy sauce

¼ tsp red chili flakes

¼ tsp sesame oil*

Brown the ground beef.   When beef is starting to let out some fat, add smashed whole garlic cloves.  Wait until there is some fat in the pan so you do not burn the garlic. 
After draining the fat from the pan, add 2 Tb each of soy sauce and rice wine and the ¼ tsp chili flakes and stir.  
While beef is cooking, cook the pasta to package directions. 
When pasta is almost finished add veggies to beef and cook for only 1 or 2 minutes.  You want them slightly softened but not limp. 
Drain pasta and add to beef mixture along with remaining rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Combine and top with an extra drizzle of sesame oil and sesame seeds if desired.

*Rice wine can be found at regular grocery stores in the Asian section.  Mirin is a sweetened version.  They are good to keep on hand for any Asian cooking, but do not substitute it for rice vinegar, it won’t have the same taste.  Sesame oil can also be found in the Asian section.  It adds that little extra something that you taste in most any Chinese food.  I little goes a long way!  It is really good, and if you don’t have it, I think it is worth getting and adding to just about any Asian dish.  Keep in it the fridge so it lasts longer.