Thing I Eat: Curried Noodles with Cilantro & Tomatoes

I needed some comfort food. If you remember, I had to breakup with Gourmet Garden spice tubes.

‘Cept ginger. Ginger is still vegan and contains no dairy. Why would you put dairy in basil, though? That's weird.

The breakup is going ok - I am trying to learn to love again. It’s hard. So, I will comfort myself with food – which is how people roll, I hear. 

Anyhow, my friend - Melissa from Texts with Melissa - loves these Dragon Noodles from Budget Bytes and I was like, “I also like noodles. And dragons!”

True story, I have five dragons in my apartment and I once started a rumor I was pregnant with dragons.

I do NOT like dragon noodles. Well, I would like them but my body doesn't. I don't like spicy things, either. But I do like noodles.

I decided I would make. . .this thing. Because I was craving curry and cilantro. And noodles. And this idea of making a type of dragon noodles with a curry flare seemed really like a good idea. What would they be called? Tiger noodles? Is there some type of classical animal that best sums up. . .the 10 million places curry is from?

I like tigers. 

What You Need

Love (All you need is love!)

Kidding. You need food. And water. And sunlight. And the Internet. . 

• Rice noodles: A favorite of mine. I don’t make the whole package for me. I used maybe a little under half for myself. I like the Tinkyada brand and my favorite has always been the fettuccine. I like broad, flat things.
• Tomato: I got one big tomato – sure you could use grape or cherry tomatoes. I’m not a big fan of raw tomato, but, today I was. Maybe I need more nightshade in my life - maybe more lycopene. If you didn't know, tomatoes are from the nightshade family (the same family that produces some deadly stuff) and contain lycopene which is good for you.
• Fresh cilantro: There are two kinds of people in the world, those who like cilantro and those who do not. I have no figured out if people are as divided on the issue of other parts of coriander which I believe is delicious. You could also use basil if you don't like or have cilantro.
• Spinach: Why not get some extra greens in there? I like to rip it up to get out my aggression.

Spices!

• Curry: I like Spice Islands because it’s in my cabinet. Curry is a blend of many spices and you can make you own. But, I'm a heart-broken gal with a need for noodles. I'm taking some shortcuts. Curry is normally made up of a blend of cumin, cardamom, coriander, turmeric, dry mustard and cayenne. Even if you use a pre-packaged type, you can blend it with more flavors.
• Garlic powder: Is there ever too much?
• Turmeric: I am a big fan of this flavor - I suggest only using this if you are prepared to have everything you love dyed yellow)
• Paprika: The spice of my people! I like the sweet type but you can use smoked or hot. Also, make sure you KNOW which one you have BEFORE you put it in anything. 
• Coriander: Not to be confused with cilantro which comes from the same plant.
• Salt: I like sea salt. Make sure you get some normal salt, too.

I don’t know what ratio I really use of all of these. I used a lot of curry and garlic. I used a modest amount of turmeric and paprika. Use less coriander. Salt is always to taste.

What You Do

Boil up your noodles and in the pot - also mix in half of the amount of curry, turmeric, garlic and coriander you have. Hell, throw in the paprika. I did. I want to season the noodles - I want the noodles to be the vehicle of hope and restoration in my soul. You could just boil up the noodles in plain water and add the spice mix after. I just like being a mad scientist mixing stuff and having these flavors in the noodles.

You could use a bullion, if you are shy about how I work – use a chicken or veggie bouillon cube and then add in the curry type stuff later. Seriously, play around with it.

Here’s a secret if you are on the fence about cilantro. Add the cilantro to your boiling noodles. It will infuse lightly with the noodles and be less intense. You can always add more for garnish and flare if you do like cilantro. I added some to my noodle water AND used it for garnish. I like the fresh pop of cilantro.

You can also add some spinach – remember when we had that thing on adding more veggies and fruit into your life? Add some spinach. I like using a food more than once in the cooking process – let’s be honest. A little cooked spinach and little raw spinach gives different textures and fun-ness.

Once the noodles are tender – drain and add them back into the pot. Yes, all that brew goes down the drain. You can save it. I don’t know who you are. I drained it. Do NOT rinse your noodles. You want the starch and flavor to remain. Turn off the heat, too, you don’t want to fry your noodles. Remember how I said don’t use turmeric unless you want everything to be yellow? Yeah, you’ll see that now if you used some. Don't worry, one day things won't be yellow.

Add in as much god-lovin’ spinach as you want. Mix it up. As a bonus, since your pot is still warm, the spinach should wilt a little. I ripped up a lot of spinach and folded it all in. Do the same with however much cilantro you want to use. Let it all sort of get warm in the hug of the noodles.

Cut up the tomato however you want (or if you have the baby ones, throw them in). I went with sort of strips - you could cube it or keep it in wedges, play around with it.  Then fold that in there. You could always break out the juice parts and mix that into your noodles if you have hope for the future. But, who has that kind of time? I got all my aggression out ripping up spinach. I wanted the texture of these tomatoes sitting on a warm bed of curried noodles with cilantro.

Fold all that together and season with a little more garlic or curry or salt - anything you need for your tastes buds to enjoy.

Then, sit back and watch Criminal Minds because the next noise you hear is probably going to be a serial killer who needs to steal your eyeballs! Sleep is for pansies!