Shiratake chicken stir-fry

So I just tried shiratake noodles for the first time NOT in sukiyaki.  Thought I better write down what I did because the stir-fry was yuuuum.

Ingredients

Shiratake noodles
Chicken
Broccoli
Onion
Garlic
Chicken stock
Spinach
Capsicum
Water
Kikoman
Peanut butter
Peanut oil

1.  Wash shiratake noodles really well
2.  Par-boil shiratake in a pot with half a garlic clove, half a chicken stock cube, some water and a dash of kikoman
3.  Remove from heat and drain and leave to dry
4.  In a bowl marinate chopped chicken breast with some kikoman, garlic, the other half of the chicken stock (dissolved in a just enough water to make a paste).  Marinate for however long (at least 30min)
5.  Dash of peanut oil in a wok, add onion and noodles and fry until onion is soft
6.  Remove from pan and set aside
7.  Add chicken to the pan (with marinade), about half a tablespoon of peanut butter and fry
8.  Add vegetables (except spinach) and after about 2min add noodle/onion mix
9.  Add spinach just enough to wilt
10. Season and serve
________________________________

If you're not familiar with shiratake noodles they are a Japanese noodle that is low cal, low carb, low fat.  Depending on the variety they are around 20 calories, 3g carb (1 net carb because 2g fibre), 0.5g of fat per serve.  They smell like fish at first, you need to wash them really well (they come in a fluid filled bag) and most people par-boil them before using.   Apparently they work well as a pasta substitute in cheese based dishes too, so I'll give that a go at some stage.

I'd eaten these when I was in Japan, and konnyaku (which is the vegetable that it comes from) blocks and thought it was disgusting.  Then again I didn't like miso soup when I was over there either and now I love it.

Neil is thinking of trying low carb as well, he is eating low carb dinners with me but not sure if he has the dedication/motivation.  I hope he sticks with it, will make life easier!

Raw Vegan Alfredo Sauce with Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients

4 small zucchinis 
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 20 minutes and drained 
3/4 cup water 
1 tbsp lemon juice 
1/4 tsp nutmeg 
1 tsp thyme 
2 garlic cloves 
salt & pepper, to taste 
1 tbsp light miso paste (optional – look for unpasteurized miso to make this 100% raw) 
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional, if you want non-vegan sub this for cheese, I used mozzarella/parmesan combo) 

Directions 
To make the zucchini noodles: Using a vegetable peeler, starting from one end of the zucchini, peel a long ribbon of flesh down to the other end of the zucchini. Turn the zucchini and repeat this step around the entire zucchini, until the core is so small that it is difficult to peel. Repeat this step for the other zucchinis. 

To make the raw Alfredo sauce: combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. 

Place half of the zucchini noodles in a serving bowl and gently stir half the sauce through it. Repeat for the remaining noodles and sauce. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh basil or parsley. 

Serves 2 

----------------
Made this for dinner tonight, yum. Am going to use zucchini noodles again tomorrow night with a pesto.