Hello everyone,
…” How good one feels when one is full – how satisfied with ourselves and with the world! People who have tried it tell me that a clear conscience makes you very happy and contented; but a stomach does the business quite as well, and is cheaper, and more easily obtained. One feels so forgiving and generous after a substantial and well-digested meal – so noble-minded, so kindly-hearted. It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot unless our stomach will so. It dictates to us our emotions, our …”
I hope this little piece of humor by Jerome K. Jerome “Three Men in a Boat” made you laugh. True indeed! When we are hungry the only things that occupy our mind are a platter of this or a bowl of that…
How about hearty Butternut squash and mushroom noodle bowl? The perfect meal for the stomach that absorbs all your attention 😉 Delicious pungent sauce veils noodles with an Asian character, meaty mushrooms fill you up, and butternut squash serves as a gentle tasty bridge between meaty mushrooms and refreshing spring onions.
Hearty Lenten meal on a cold winter day, after-work-out-day, need-a-mood-booster-day, tired-of-salads-day, I-wish-I-was-a-better-person-day. Sometimes when we find ourselves in the middle of chaos and our ability to manage things goes down, the only thing we need is a tasty hearty meal that will send us in a contentment zone that we can enjoy for a while and then go and fix things up. Butternut squash and mushroom noodle bowl is that kind of meal if the bad day to be on a lent or fast day.
“…We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. Reach not after morality and righteousness my friends; watch vigilantly your stomach, and diet it with care and judgment. Then virtue and contentment will come and reign within your heart, unsought by any effort of your own; and you will be a good citizen, a loving husband, and a tender father – a noble, pious man.
Before our supper, Harris and George and I were quarrelsome and snappy and ill-tempered, after our supper, we sat and beamed at one another. We loved each other, we loved everybody. Harris, in moving about, trod on George’s corn. Had this happened before supper, George would have expressed wishes and desires concerning Harris’s fate in this world and the next that would have made a thoughtful man shudder. As it was, he said: “Steady, old man; ‘ware wheat.” (“Three in a Boat” Chapter 9)
After eating this incredible meal, you will become a pinch happier, I promise!
Bon Appétit!
Asian noodle bowl with veg
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash
- 8 oz dried udon or soba noodles
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 8 oz shiitake mushrooms
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves (optional)
- 4 spring onions
- 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp. sriracha sauce
- 1 tbsp. honey
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients
- Put a pot with water to boil. Preheat oven to 425F. Deseed, peel and cut butternut squash into 1-inch cubes. Wash and cut mushrooms into the same size as butternut squash. Cook noodles to package instructions, set aside. Add butternut squash to a tray, drizzle with olive oil, bake for 15 min. Add mushrooms, spring onions (cut into 3iinch sticks) and bake 5 more min.
- In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, honey, sriracha, water, and ginger. Mix baked veggies in a bowl with sauce and (spinach leaves if using). Serve over noodles. Bon Appétit!
