Here comes this time of the year when summer is over and big amounts of money has been spent on vacations and tuition fees and little money is left for my grocery budget. TIME TO CLEAN UP MY PANTRY!

What’s in here? Huge quantities of sauces that I never use, a stock of noodles that I forgot about and some canned vegetables expiring soon.

Concentrating on the noodles, I kind of created the following dish, it’s not one of those secret recipes that have been running in the family from one generation to other, nor a recipe I learned from some celebrity chef I worked with, it’s just a kind of inspired-by-the-moment recipes that turned out to be delicious and got the cheer of the audience*.

A true simple recipe that came together quickly like a magic meal. Hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we did.

*Audience as in Serge, Kaia and Axel

Ingredients

• 1 pack of soba noodles
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbsp fresh root ginger, grated
• 2 sprigs green onions, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 can whole sweet corn, drained
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 cup baby asparagus, each sprig cut in 3
• Juice of 1 lemon

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup castor sugar
• ¼ cup tahini paste
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

• ¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
• ¼ fresh coriander, chopped
• ½ cup toasted peanuts
• ¼ cup cabbage, shredded

Preparation

1. Cook the noodles according to directions on package. Drain and set aside.
2. In a wok or a large frying pan, stir-fry the ginger and garlic on a medium heat, for 2-3 minutes then add the green onions.
3. Increase the heat to high and stir-fry the bell pepper, for 3 minutes.
4. Add the carrots, the baby corn, and cook for a further 3 minutes.
5. Finish with the asparagus and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes.
6. Drizzle with lemon juice and transfer to a large saucepan.
7. In a measurement jug or a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sugar, tahini paste and rice vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables and add the noodles.
8.  Toss all together to mix and add the coriander then sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and peanuts and garnish with cabbage. Serve immediately.