japanese rice noodles with eggplant and edamame

Happy Pi Day!  Since I can't actually eat pie, or at least I have zero interest in trying a gluten-free, sugar-free pie, there is no pie here today.  Instead, we have Asian noodles.  Shocker, I know.  Y'all know how I love my Asian cuisine.

I'm now three weeks through my Lenten sacrifice, or just about halfway through my journey.  All in all, things are going well.  I feel great.  I don't necessarily notice a big difference from three weeks ago, but I do feel a little less "bogged down" and a little bit lighter and stronger.  (It could also just be my return to my yoga mat after a few weeks away.)  Either way, I have plenty of energy and feel happy and healthy.

Sure, I crave sweets and get FOMO over my friends eating Baked and Wired in front of me, but the things I've been craving most recently are foods I don't even eat that often.  Pancakes.  (Honestly, I don't even like pancakes that much.)  Cereal.  (Do you know how hard it is to find a gluten-free cereal that also does not contain some sort of sugar, including honey or evaporated cane juice?  Kelly did send me a recipe for a gluten-free/sugar-free breakfast granola.  I'll have to try that ASAP.)  French toast with powdered sugar and maple syrup.  You get the idea.

Then there are the things that I miss that aren't necessarily cravings, but rather, necessary food groups.  Part of the issue with my no-gluten thing is that I am not eating bread and pasta, which is not ideal for someone who runs several times a week.  I didn't think it was going to be a problem, but it has been evident on some of my long runs that I have not found a way to properly supply my body with the carbohydrates it needs.  (Pretty sure the carbs in vodka are not what my body is looking for while running.)  Around mile four or five, my body just shuts down and I need fuel.

So, to rectify the situation, I figured I needed to make some Asian noodles before my long run last weekend.  My original intention was to make something with soba (buckwheat) noodles, which, despite their name, are naturally gluten-free.  However, the 100% soba noodles were $6.39 for eight ounces, which is obscene.  That comes to almost $13/pound.  Um, sorry.  No thank you.  We're talking about noodles here, not halibut.  (Note:  if you need a lesson in food math, check out this post.)

Instead of soba, I settled on some thin, flat rice noodles, made from 100% brown rice, and therefore, gluten-free.  Because I've consumed an offensive amount of peanut butter recently, I decided to forgo the traditional pad thai route and try a sesame-mirin sauce instead.  Also, because I tend to favor vegetarian meals, I stirfried some eggplant, edamame, and red peppers in with the noodles.  You could easily do the same with chicken, beef, or tofu.

This is a great example of a dish where I had to be really careful about reading the labels.  I originally picked up some cheaper soba noodles and decided to double-check the label to make sure they were 100% buckwheat.  Of course, they were not - only 30% soba.  If you like the taste of soba but are not gluten-free, this would be a great option.  I also had to buy the Eden Foods mirin, which doesn't have sugar or corn syrup added.  (The common Kikkoman brand does).

Anyway, this dish is great.  Salty (from the soy sauce) and sweet (from the mirin), with a variety of textures and flavors to keep your mouth guessing.  It also happens to contain the perfect mixture of carbohydrates and proteins for a 9-mile run.  This time, I didn't get tired.*

*Fine print:  I didn't get tired until mile 8.5 when we were running up the steps in Meridian Hill Park just after a steep climb up 16th Street.  At that point, I almost keeled over. #humblebrag

Japanese rice noodles with eggplant and edamame
A caramelized memoir original
Serves 4

1 medium eggplant (about 1 ½ pounds)
2 cups edamame beans (frozen is fine)
6 green onions
½ red bell pepper
1/2 cup gluten-free soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for frying

1. Peel eggplant and chop into small dice (less than an inch). Chop red pepper and green onions, both white and green parts. Put all vegetables in large bowl with edamame.
2. In smaller bowl, mix next seven ingredients. Adjust according to taste. Pour over vegetables and cover. Let marinate 30 minutes.
3. Over medium-high heat, stirfry the vegetables in oil in a large wok, in batches, if necessary, until vegetables are soft and nicely browned. (I had to do mine in two batches, about 7 minutes per batch.) Once both batches are done, add all vegetables back to wok.
4. While cooking your last batch of veggies, bring a pot of boiling salted water to a boil and add rice noodles. Cook according to package directions but stop a couple of minutes short. Drain.
5.  Add noodles to the wok with all the vegetables, cooking an additional minute or two and adding any leftover marinade, if necessary, while tossing to coat in sauce.  Serve warm or at room temperature.