J-Style Penne
"I love pasta and usually cook them with basic Italian sauces such as marinara and alfredo, but sometimes cook light with the flavor of soy sauce. This is also good for cleaning up vegetables in your refrigerator on weekend."
photo by Nohoko
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon gingerroot, minced
- 1 tablespoon green onion, minced
- 4 leaves green cabbage, roughly chopped
- 1⁄2 green pepper, cut lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1⁄2 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1⁄4 lb fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1⁄2 lb penne
directions
- Prepare pasta according to package directions and drain well.
- In a large frying pan over high heat, cook ginger root and green onion in extra virgin olive oil until fragrant.
- Add green cabbage, green pepper, yellow onion and shiitake mushrooms into the pan and stir fry until the cabbage turns soft.
- Turn heat to medium-high and add spinach into the pan, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add penne into the pan and stir for 1 minute. Sprinkle soy sauce over the pan. Serve hot.
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Reviews
-
This was a great recipe, full of fresh veggies and wonderful flavor. We recently bought a new kind of soy sauce that was recommended by a wine magazine in our area (interesting similarities!) and this was a great way to give it a try. In the future I might try to add some extra heat with some red pepper flakes or chili oil, but it's a good simple and hearty dish all on its own too. Thanks Nohoko!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
My name is Nohoko. I am from Japan and have lived in Kentucky with my husband for two years. This is my first time to live in the US and I enjoy my life as a homemaker – especially I love to spend my time for cooking.
When I came to Kentucky, I was surprised that my husband ,who had stayed alone for more than four years because of his job, increased his total cholesterol gradually up to 217 (which was almost reaching the upper limit of normal value 219) although he was not obese at all (5.7 ft /137 lb).
Since then, my first priority in cooking has been to reduce his cholesterol and finally it fell down to 197 at the timing of medical check-up this May (the chart of his cholesterol is availabe in the first entry of my blog↑if interested). Also we have not made any doctor’s appointments since I came here and my weight has not changed (5.5 ft /112 lb).
I believe the secret to reduce my husband’s cholesterol and keep us healthy was Japanese style home cooking my mother taught me from my childhood. As you may already know, Japanese cooking is simple, without lots of seasonings – with the exceptions of soy sauce. Key ingredients are fish, and noodles, soy and soybeans, seaweed, and vegetables.
When I decide a dinner menu, there are only three basics I stick to –
1. Eat seaweed every day
2. Eat brown rice every day
3. Eat fish (which contain Omega 3 a lot) twice a week at least
Though my husband and I were born in Japan, our generation grew up eating more meat than fish and loves to try various kinds of international cuisines. I am happy if I can introduce and share my recipes I fused my Japanese style cooking into international flavors.
