veggies | sucrésalédeluxe

Is there anything better than a soft, chewy, shanghai noodle? Perfectly plump, and full of flavour? Ok, maybe a lot of things, but our trip to the Asian supermarket and purchase of 4 packages of shanghai noodles have been put to delicious use.

I started this post so long ago that unfortunately, I no longer remember exactly what I did with the noodles. I do remember that they were pork and veggie shanghai noodles, made to use up the vegetables I had kicking around the kitchen – mushrooms, carrots, broccoli and onions.

While I did use more oil than usual, sautéeing the veggies, the meat and then the noodles, they were indeed delicious (if I do say so myself!) and I thought the photos showcased them well enough to share with anyone who may be reading this 😉

Veggie and Pork Shanghai Noodles

Tip to make the noodles even more flavourful:

– after the noodles have been initially boiled and drained, drizzle with a little sesame oil. This ensures the noodles don’t stick together when frying, and also imparts a lovely flavour.

Served the Shanghai noodles with a Black Pepper Beef

One of my favourite activities here (and even at home) is trawling the aisles of a grocery store looking at all the different foods … there are so many interesting, exotic and at times odd products here in Europe – boiled hotdogs in a jar anyone? One thing I have noted is that veggies are so much more inexpensive here, and after seeing a 1kg bag of brussels sprouts on the shelves last week, I couldn’t pass up the deal.

I know, not exactly exotic or wild, and maybe even a little corny – during a phone conversation with one of my best friends, she pointed out the irony of blogging about Brussels sprouts in Brussels … ahh well.

At any rate I’m used to having brussel sprouts parboiled or shredded and sauteed, but I wanted something different. After a quick trip to allrecipes.com to check out what people had to offer, I found an extremely simple roasting recipe (more like “tips” because all it called for was a few tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste). It was actually the rave reviews that sold me. Page after page of shared anecdotes of husbands and children (who’d rather go hungry than eat a brussel sprout) actually liking the roasted version of this little, green veggie.

the reviews were so funny that I had to try it …

: Brussel-icious

: 1 kg for less than 1 Euro!

: Peel off the outer leaves

: Wash the inner portions & cut off hard ends

: Toss with olive oil, salt & pepper

Well, they weren’t lying. Roasted brussel sprouts are fantastic. Ok, ok, so they stink when they’re cooking … especially when they’re slow roasting in the oven, but if you can make it through the smell, they’re delicious!

I’ve now made them four times, and except for attempt three, when I forgot they were in the oven and severely over roasted them! … they have been easy, delicious and healthy. To be honest, even the over roasted ones were good.