Asparagus and Mushroom Stir Fry for One

This little meal is quick, elegant, down-home, and delicious, all at the same time. It’s a great way to use up the last of that bunch of asparagus and to feed your Chinese food addiction too!

1/4 cup water

1 TBLSP sesame oil, plus a slosh in the sauce

1 TBLSP tamari (or soy sauce)

1 clove garlic, minced

½ TBLSP cornstarch

Chow mein-style noodles (or rice noodles)

2 slices of onion, diced

¼ pound fresh asparagus

5 mushrooms

Freshly cracked pepper

1. Boil enough water to cook your ramen-style noodles. Don’t drop the noodles in yet, though. They cook really quickly.
2. Collect the water, tamari, slosh of sesame oil, garlic, and cornstarch in a small bowl, and mix it thoroughly. Set this lovely sauce aside.
3. Halve or quarter the mushrooms and trim and cut the asparagus into 1- 2-inch pieces.
4. In a skillet, heat the TBLSP of sesame oil. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the asparagus, stirring often, cooking for 3-4 minutes. This is a good time to put the noodles in to boil.
6. Add the water and cornstarch mixture to the asparagus, and cook until the sauce is pleasantly thick and the vegetables are tender. This should take another 2 or 3 minutes. Grind in enough black pepper to please your palate.
7. Drain and place the cooked noodles in your serving bowl and spoon the veggies and their yummilicious sauce over them.

Variations:

• You could use just about any green veggie in this, like broccoli, kale, zucchini, or green beans. You might have to vary the cooking time (longer for broccoli, shorter for kale), but it would be just as good. 
• Top with a little gomasio or sesame seeds. Or, you could toss some nuts at it in the last minute of cooking.