Recipe of the Month: Vermicelli Stir Fry

Although Brian was raised as a carnivore, he's generally had no problem adjusting to a mostly vegetarian household. But there's one thing that he finds kind of annoying about tofu: It generally comes in packages weighing a pound or more. That's too much for one dinner, at least for just the two of us, so every time he cooks a meal with tofu, he ends up with leftover tofu he needs to use up within a few days.

Last week, he found himself in this situation again, trying to think of a way to turn a leftover half-pound of tofu and some miscellaneous veggies into dinner. His usual go-to recipe for such occasions is stir-fry, but we'd already had it recently and I wasn't that enthusiastic when he proposed making it again. So he decided to try something a little more interesting by tossing in some rice noodles with the veggies to make a variant of Pad Thai.

However, when he went looking for the rice noodles, he discovered we had an unopened package of something called "Vermicelli Hot Pot" noodles tucked in the back of the cupboard. We'd bought these noodles, which are made chiefly from peas, ages ago and never got around to using them. So, rather than use up our one remaining dinner's worth of rice noodles, he decided to try putting some of these mystery noodles to good use.

There were no instructions on the package for how to cook the noodles, so he just measured out an amount that looked about right—roughly two thirds of the package—and boiled them until they seemed reasonably tender, about five minutes. Then he drained them and added them to the wok with all the other ingredients he'd already stir-fried according to his usual protocol: a half-pound of broccoli florets, two grated carrots, four or five chopped scallions, and the half-pound of fried tofu cubes that had started the whole thing. Then he seasoned it with soy sauce, sesame oil, and some toasted sesame seeds, and called it dinner.

For such a seat-of-the-pants recipe, this actually worked remarkably well. The "Hot Pot" noodles turned out to have a light, slightly chewy texture, less starchy than rice or wheat noodles, which definitely made a more interesting contrast with the veggies than the white rice we usually serve with stir-fry. Since I've never had this type of noodle before, I couldn't say whether their age had affected their texture at all, but it certainly wasn't a problem. Altogether, it was interesting enough and tasty enough that I went back for seconds—something I seldom do with stir-fry—and was quite happy to lunch off the leftovers the next day.

This dish seems pretty healthy, too. The main ingredients are fresh veggies, tofu, and the noodles, which contain only 99 calories per cup, about half as much as regular pasta or rice noodles. That makes this an even lighter meal than fried rice or even our usual stir-fry/rice combo. And since the noodles contain nothing but peas, sulfur dioxide, and corn starch, this meal is suitable for gluten-free diets as well.

All in all, this was a healthy, satisfying, economical meal that I'd be quite happy to make again. In fact, it seems close to certain that we will, since we've still got about a third of the packet of vermicelli to use up. But even when that's gone, I would consider going back to the H-Mart for more,  maybe even on a regular basis, so we can have this dish on tap as an alternative to our usual stir-fry. After all, the whole point of this Veggie of the Month experiment, back when I started it in 2013, was to make fruits and vegetables a bigger part of my diet, so any recipe that turns veggies into an appetizing meal is one that definitely deserves a place in the regular rotation.