Nourishing Noodles & Recipe for Carrot & Beet Noodles with Ginger Sesame Dressing

If you managed to get your hands on this month’s Vegan Life Magazine, you will have seen some stunning shots of noodle and smoothie bowls from Chris Anca’s recent publication Nourishing Noodles. I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of this book from the publisher and I’ve been spiralizing like crazy ever since.

You may know Chris from her fabulous blog Tales from a Kitchen. Her newly released recipe book contains nearly 100 plant-based recipes featuring spiralized vegetables and fruit. The seven recipe chapters cover breakfasts, appetisers, snacks, soups, entrees*, desserts, condiments, toppings and more. So, if you’re looking for some spiralizing inspiration, this is definitely a book to check out.

Nourishing Noodles

Not only is it full of creative recipes, but Nourishing Noodles is a beautiful, high quality print. It is one of those cookbooks that feels great to hold and has thick, coated pages (so perfect for kitchen use). The book has stunning photography throughout and the quality of the print really brings the photos to life.

Nourishing Noodles

One of the first recipes that grabbed my attention as I flicked through the book was the Thai-Inspired Carrot Noodles with Ginger-Lime Coconut Dressing. This happened to be one of the recipes featured in this month’s Vegan Life, so I’m guessing it grabbed their attention too!

Nourishing Noodles

This recipe uses ingredients that are kitchen staples for me and the recipe looked really straightforward, so I couldn’t wait to try it out.

The first time I made it, my bowl looked very different from the picture in the book as I used orange carrots and the author uses yellow and purple carrots. As you can imagine, my bowl was less purple and more vivid orange! I then had a light bulb moment and realised that I could attain the purple colouring by adding in a beetroot. That did the trick!

One thing I’d recommend though when spiralizing beetroot is to wear gloves, otherwise you’ll end up with bright purple hands!

Spiralized Beetroot

All the ingredients for the ginger-lime dressing simply get whizzed together in a blender. I’m not sure whether you’d need to grate the ginger first if you’re using a regular blender. I used my Froothie power blender and I threw in the ginger whole. Within a few seconds, all the ingredients were blended into a smooth, creamy sauce.

Ginger Sesame Coconut Sauce

This sauce is incredibly tasty! I’ve made it multiple times and can imagine it becoming one of our ‘go to’ noodle sauces. The original recipe only calls for ½ cup coconut milk but I use a whole can and make a bigger batch (enough to serve 4 people). Then, to thicken the sauce and make it extra creamy, I add in ½ cup raw cashews.

Ginger Sesame Coconut Sauce

Though not shown in the photo below (as I’d run out on photo shoot day!) I usually add in a handful of curly kale into the bowl. I first massage the kale with a little oil to soften it, then stir it into the sauce. Lil’ L isn’t that keen on raw kale, but soaked in this sauce he’ll happily eat it all up.

Spiralized Carrot & Beetroot in Ginger Sesame Coconut Sauce

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An adaptation of Chris Anca’s fabulous Thai-Inspired Carrot Noodles with Ginger-Lime Coconut Dressing. The original recipe can be found in her book Nourishing Noodles

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
3-4 large, fat carrots (at least 2cm / ¾ inch in diameter)
1 medium-large beetroot, peeled (or substitute with another carrot)
handful of curly kale leaves, thick stems removed
½ TBSP olive or sesame oil

Dressing
400ml / 14 oz can of coconut milk
75g / ½ cup raw cashews
25g root ginger (1½ inch piece)
2 TBSP tamari or reduced salt soy sauce
2 TBSP sesame oil
zest of 1 organic/unwaxed lemon
1½ TBSP lemon juice
2 tsp maple syrup
1 TBSP chia seeds

Toppings
2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds or Gomasio
small handful chopped parsley or coriander leaves (cilantro)

Method

  1. If you don’t have a power blender, first soften the cashews by soaking them for 30 minutes in freshly boiled water, then rinse and drain. Also, I would suggest finely grating the ginger so that it blends easily.
  2. Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Set aside for a few minutes to thicken.
  3. Spiralize the carrots and beetroot into thin noodles. Slice a couple of the cores (left over from spiralizing) into little disks.
  4. Tear the kale into small, bite-size pieces. Drizzle on the oil and massage with your hands until the kale softens.
  5. Place most of the carrots and beetroot in a large bowl (I set aside a few pieces to arrange on top of the bowls for presentation). Add the dressing to the noodles and gently massage until thoroughly coated and softened. (Remember to wear gloves if using beetroot!) Add the kale and stir to coat in the dressing.
  6. Arrange in bowls and top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Notes

  • The original recipe is for a cold noodle dish, but we find that the noodles and sauce can be gently warmed through if you prefer.
  • This dish is surprisingly filling, so I would serve modest bowls rather than piling them up.
  • If you’re not used to eating beetroot, I’d recommend starting with a very small amount (say, no more than ¼ of a beet) as they can have a powerful detoxifying effect.
  • The sauce is incredibly tasty! I’m pretty confident that it would work well with cooked noodles. As soon as I’ve had a chance to try it out, I’ll report back.

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* I think that ‘Entrées’ are what we call ‘Mains’ or ‘Dinners’ here in the UK. It’s a little confusing as we use the term Entrée for ‘Starters’ (ie. the dish we serve before a main course)! Does anyone know why main dinners are called Entrées in North America? I’d love to know!

6 thoughts on “Nourishing Noodles & Recipe for Carrot & Beet Noodles with Ginger Sesame Dressing

    1. It’s an amazing book Chris. Such creative recipes, beautiful photography & high quality print. I hope you’re very proud of yourself. You should be! xx

  1. It sounds a lovely book to read and hold. The dressing sounds fantastic and it’s reminding me that I really need to use my spiralizer more often. I’ve never used it for beetroot – does it dye the spiralizer?

    1. I’ve just whipped out my spiralizer to check and no, the beetroot hasn’t stained it! It’s still nice and white 😀
      Now the weather’s cooling off, I’m craving warmer foods so I think I’ll try stir- frying some spiralised noodles. Maybe butternut squash? That should be the perfect shape for spiralising x

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