Ever since I stumbled upon black bean noodles, I've been absolutely dying to try them. It's like my life wish, these noodles. Is this normal? Anyways, I finally found some at a health food store in Anchorage along with Beyond Meat (OMG!). I knew exactly what I wanted to make with the both of them.

When I opened up the noodle package, examining it, I realized they were not in fact my irrationally sought after black bean noodles but instead black rice noodles....whoops. I'm almost ashamed to admit how devastated I was, but alas they turned out to be fantastic.

On purpose, I normally don't buy gluten-free things, so I was surprised to discover that they had a wonderful texture. If you have celiac disease, are gluten-sensitive, or just avoiding the stuff for some reason you give these noodles a try. I think you'll enjoy them.

Produce On Parade - Thai Purple Pasta - A beautiful purple pasta with sauteed red cabbage and plant-based meat, laden in a sweet, Thai sauce.

“Animals never worry about heaven or hell. Neither do I. Maybe that’s why we get along. ”

— Charles Bukowski

I joined Full Circle a couple weeks ago and received my first box this week. In it was absolutely the most adorable tiny purple pepper, which you'll see in my next post. There was a lot of gorgeous stone fruit, some sturdy kale, and silky chard too (that guy's in the next post as well!) I ordered two bunches of beets because I must have them in excess and a little head of purple cabbage.

Half of that little purple cabbage, you'll see found it's way into our purple pasta today. Good thing the noodles were already purple I guess! Feel free to use soba noodles in this recipe, I think they'd work beautifully. Black rice noodles probably aren't lingering around your local grocery store, so don't feel bad.

My cilantro has been showing off these sweet and delicate little white flowers now that the autumn leaves are falling and the mornings are windy and chilly. I'll be sad without my little herb garden in the coming month.

print recipe

Thai Purple Pasta

by Katie @ Produce on Parade September-12-2014

A beautiful purple pasta with sauteed purple cabbage and plant-based meat, laden in a sweet, Thai sauce.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ small purple cabbage head, chopped
12 oz. plant-based meat strips (I used grilled “chicken” strips), thawed and halved
9 oz. black rice noodles (soba work too!), dry
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
-- Sauce --
2/3 cup water
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. vegan sugar
1/2Tbsp. sweet chili sauce
dash of crushed red pepper
dash of sesame seeds

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. Once boiling, parboil the noodles according to package but deduct a few minutes. You want the noodles to be a super al dente. Mine only needed three minutes, so place them in the water when prompted below. In a large rimmed frying pan, heat the oil over medium low. Add the garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until fragrant. Add the cabbage and meat strips. Increase the heat to medium and cook for about 8 minutes, until the cabbage becomes wilted and tender and the strips are heated thoroughly.Meanwhile whisk together the sauce ingredients, ensuring that the sugar has mostly dissolved. Place the noodles in the boiling water to cook. Drain when super al dente and add to the frying pan. Next, add in the sauce and stir well to coat. Turn the heat to medium-low for a few minutes, until the noodles have soaked up most of the sauce. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Serve hot and topped with sesame seeds and additional cilantro.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 5