If you’ve had a long day at work and fancy something tasty, but low effort, it really doesn’t get much better than noodles.

Noodle dishes are eaten all over the world, and are often accidentally vegan. As long as you opt for egg-free noodles, you can choose from a huge array of plant-based noodle recipes that don’t require any animal ingredients. For the below recipe, which comes from Natlicious Food, you can use pretty much any vegetables you have in your fridge, meaning it’s perfect for minimizing waste.

Harissa and lemongrass noodles

These budget-friendly harissa and lemongrass noodles are easy to make, taste amazing, and packed full of nutrients

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Servings people

Ingredients

1 broccoli, stem and head
1 onion
1 aubergine (eggplant)
2-4 mushrooms (depending how big they are)
2-3 leaves of Chinese cabbage
2 cloves of garlic
1 small piece of ginger
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of each garlic granules, curry paste, turmeric and chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
1 lemongrass stick
1 tsp harissa paste
400 ml creamy coconut milk (from a can)

Serve with

150 g noodles of choice (I used spelt)
Sesame seeds
Spring onions, chopped

Instructions

Separate the stem and head of the broccoli, remove the hard part from the stem and cut it in thin sticks. Then cut the head into small florets.
Cut the onion into small pieces.
Peel and cut the aubergine and mushrooms into large cubes.
Separate the hard part of the Chinese cabbage from the leafy part, chop into small pieces the hard part and roughly chop the leafy parts. Keep the leafy parts with the broccoli florets.
Grate the ginger and garlic. Cut the root of the lemongrass, remove a couple of the outer layers and cut it where the greenish part starts. Keep the white part and smash it hard using something heavy like a pestle.
In a wide pan or wok, add half of the olive oil, the aubergine cubes and a pinch of salt and sauté for a minute, on medium high heat.
The oil will be absorbed almost immediately, since aubergine is like a sponge and soaked everything, so to cook it without much oil, we will add 60ml of water and cover with a lid for 3 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.
Set the aubergines on the side, add the remaining of the olive oil and add the mustard seeds for few seconds, before you add the onion, broccoli stems, ginger, garlic, the hard part of the Chinese cabbage and the lemongrass.
Add a generous pinch of salt, all the spices and sauté for 3-5 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Then add the mushroom cubes, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the cooked aubergine and harissa paste and sauté for a couple of minutes, before you add the coconut milk.
Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the broccoli florets and Chinese cabbage leaves, cover and cook for 2 more minutes.
Cook the noodles according to the package instructions and serve with sesame seeds and spring onions.