Vege Noodle Baskets
These noodle baskets are the ultimate in versatility. They are quick to make, are packed full of goodness and best of all can be eaten at any time of the day.
I’ve eaten them cold in the car on my way to work (not my preferred way of eating brekkie to be fair), heated at lunch with chutney and grilled halloumi or as a side to some other form of protein at dinner. Given I’ve been making these for more than 15years in some variation, no doubt I’ve had them as a mid-morning or afternoon snack too.
I used to make them with rice noodles (and you still can), however these days I choose to follow a low carb way of eating, hence use Konjac noodles. You can find them in the ‘imported’ section of your supermarket where all those fancy pancy foreign goodies are stacked high. You know the ones that pull on your nostalgic heart strings and all of a sudden you are forking our $5 for a bag of Walkers Crisps just to give you a couple of minutes dreaming of the good times you had when living in London (where you paid $0.39p for the same crisps)….surely it’s not just me??!!
Ingredients – this makes 9 large noodle baskets
1 packet Konjac noodles – well rinsed and drained. Don’t freak out when you open these as they do tend to have a very interesting smell. Hence why you rinse them.
1 carrot – grated
1 red capsicum –thinly sliced
40gms baby Spinach –finely sliced
50gms fresh turmeric – peeled and grated
½ fresh red chilli – finely diced
½ red onion – finely diced
¼ c parsley – finely cut stalks and all
¼ c pumpkin seeds
9 eggs
¾ c milk or cream (use plant based if your lifestyle requires this. I have made with coconut milk, almond milk, normal milk and good ole fashioned cream).
9 cherry toms – cut in half
Topping
2T almond meal
1T each pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and hemp hearts/seeds
½ T each sesame seeds and poppy seeds
Heat oven to 180C.
Spray 9 Texas muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray and line with baking paper. You can do this by either cutting out circles to fit the base only, using large muffin paper cups or cutting up squares of baking paper & manoeuvring them to fit.
Place all ingredients (other than eggs, milk/cream and cherry tomatoes) into a large mixing bowl. Mix well. I find it easier to do this with my hands given there are so many different goodies in there and you want to make sure these are mixed well.
Again, using your hands, divide this mixture evenly between the 9 lined muffin tins. The noodles do tend to take over, with the diced veges falling to the bottom of the mixing bowl, so make sure you spread these evenly across the muffin tins.
Crack the eggs in the same bowl (don’t worry about rinsing it out first) and lightly whisk. Add the milk or cream and whisk to combine. Pour evenly across the 9 muffin tins.
Mix all the topping ingredients together and sprinkle over the top. Add the cut cherry tomatoes to finish.
Bake at 180C for 35-40mins until fully cooked. Stab with a skewer to check. If it comes out clean, you’re good to go. If it’s still a bit grubby, cook for another 5mins and check again.
Helpful stuff
Feel free to use ‘normal’ noodles in this recipe. Just make sure that they are cooked. Any thickness is fine. I have used vermicelli before but I found it too much of a pain in the butt to work with as it is just too thin and unruly. And no one likes thin and unruly.
Don’t get too caught up in having the right ingredients. It doesn’t really matter. If it’s courgette season, grate one up and add to the mix. Do the same with pumpkin or kumara. There is no need to cook either of these first. Don’t use potato though – it just adds the wrong texture and contributes no flavour. Yes, I have tried.
Any colour capsicum will do. Or if like me these don’t agree with you, either use chargrilled from a jar or just leave out. Either way is just fine.
Don’t have a red onion, just use a stock standard brown onion. Or spring onions. Over summer we all have these lurking half dead in the bottom of the vege draw. So throw them in.
Haven’t got all the fancy stuff to go on the top, no worries. Sprinkle over some grated cheese. It’ll be different. But different is good.
See what I mean. Don’t get too caught up in it all. So long as the muffin tins are full, you’re gonna have a magnificent mix of tasty veges ready for any meal or snack in the coming days.
Oh, one last thing…my brother and sis-n-law are pesto making ninjas, so I am lucky enough to have an ongoing supply of homemade pesto on hand (E&S if you are reading this please take note of the last sentence. Mainly the bit about ongoing supply 😉) If you too have pesto making ninjas in your family, add 3T to the egg mix. Then thank me later. It’ll take these wee baby’s next level 😊