Happy May, Y’all!! Summertime is almost here and this month is flying by! May has been a month FULL of all sorts of transition and change in my life friends. As I maneuver through change and new routines and different days I either curl up & retreat like the introvert I naturally am or I obsessively bake and cook. This month has been a lot of internal retreat and finally now some new recipes! It is with great JOY I am sharing with you my newest obsession, Beef Noodle Bowls! Y’all! They are SO good and SO simple to throw together! They’re also insanely make ahead friendly!

About 5 years ago I caught an OLD episode of the Barefoot Contessa where she made some sort of noodle bowl with Chicken &  Peanut Sauce. I remember thinking wow, I bet those are yummy and I should totally make em… I never did. I recently watched another episode of hers where she made a completely different noodle dish and I decided man- this is easy to do I am sure so let me hit the kitchen.

As with almost every Asian dish I have ever made there are several ingredients that go into making a proper marinade or sauce for Chinese, Thai, Chinese, Japanese etc. – they all need just a smidgen of like 69 things to make it perfect. : ) I promise, I tried to keep it to as few as possible but, the main ingredient is Soy Sauce which is pretty standard for your average kitchen! Also, this is a 500 calorie kinda meal- it’s filling and pops 29 grams of protein. It’s kinda great y’all and the first night I made it I knew I should’ve made more. I must confess since it was a weekend I pulled out some cold noodles around midnight and watched the office for a couple hours. I may or may not have used my fingers. It was amazing and worth every late night carb! I hope Beef Noodle Bowls are one of your new favorites!

So here are my tips:

*Don’t waste money on fancy noodles. I used Barilla Angel Hair Pasta and it’s perfect

*Make your noodles the morning of or night prior if possible and let them be cold when you assemble but, know if you don’t they’re still perfect!

*Taste your sauce as you go because I may prefer more of one ingredient or less than you do- please make it true to your love.

* These can be VEGGIE or Chicken Bowls! You just switch the protein or add whatever sauteed veggies you want.

*Make a double recipe if you’re sharing. You’ll be sad, sad as soon as they’re gone and eating cold noodles while you watch TV is super comforting!

Ingredients:

¾ Cup Soy Sauce

3 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/3 cup cilantro

2 tablespoons chili sauce

Juice of 1 small lime

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ green onions (white parts included- about 4 stems)

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (Okay to leave out if you want no spice!)

8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta (boiled al-dente about 4-5 minutes and cooled)

12-16 ounces Ribeye (Trim excess fat away)

Salt & Pepper to taste

 Directions!

Noodles:

Boil your noodles in SALTED water for 4 to 5 minutes. Drain immediately and rinse to avoid sticking and cool them off. Place noodles in the fridge for at least 1 hour prior to serving. I tend to do this the night before or the morning of.

Sauce:

Wisk all ingredients except green onions & cilantro. When mixed well add chopped cilantro and Wisk again. Taste and see if you’re happy! I sometimes need more lime juice or less cayenne pepper. Reserve ¼ cup of marinade for the steak. Set aside or in the fridge if you are assembling later.

Steak:

Heat a grill pan to medium high heat with olive oil. Season steak with salt & pepper.

I cook the Rib-Eye to a happy medium so a steak this size is about 7 minutes on each side.

Remove steak from heat and move to a plate to cool.  When steak has cooled for 10 minutes pour marinade over steak and put into a Ziploc bag to rest and soak up flavor!

You can either refrigerate the steak until ready to eat or if you’re planning to eat it right away it is good to eat after 15 minutes or so.

Assembly:

Take cold noodles out of fridge and place into large bowl. Wisk the marinade once more before pouring into the noodles. (Reserve ¼ cup)

Toss them continuously until all noodles have been mixed. Add green onions and toss again to distribute. I reserve a few green onions for the end also.

Slice the steak against the grain into 16 slices.

Portion out ¼ of the noodles into each bowl and arrange 4 slices of steak on each one. Top with 1-2 tablespoons of the reserved sauce and a few green onion slices.

*These Beef Noodle Bowls package beautifully for picnics or meals to go! Just make sure to include extra sauce in the container to shake prior to eating for maximum flavor!

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