Rainbow Lo Mein: Easy, Healthy & Flavorful!

Have you met Megan Gilmore, the radiant Detoxinista? I’m sure many of you already adore here nutritious recipes. But even if you haven’t stumbled across her clean eating site, you might want to take to look at her new cookbook. No Excuses Detox was just released and has “100 Recipes to Help You Eat Healthy Every Day”. Read on for some details on this beautiful new book as well as a sample recipe for healthy, flavorful Rainbow Lo Mein.

The Details on No Excuses Detox

No Excuses Detox contains a plethora of dairy-free and vegan recipes. Just a small smattering use cheese or eggs, and all appear to be vegetarian and gluten-free. But before jumping into the recipes, Megan helps us shed our excuses and preps us with quick tools. You’ll find time-saving tips, meal plans, shopping lists, and more.

The chapters then include recipes for Speedy Shakes & Morning Favorites, Salads & Dressings, Soups & Sides, Game-Day Appetizers & Snacks on the Go, Comfort Food & Casseroles, Skillets & Stir-Fries, Sweet Treats, and Healthier Homemade Staples. Roughly half of the recipes within include pretty full-color photographs.

Megan’s recipes all have an easy, doable appeal, with ingredient lists that aren’t overwhelming. And for the most part, she uses foods that are readily available in almost any grocery store. I also like how Megan includes special diet icons and practical labels on each recipe. For example, the Rainbow Lo Mein recipe below is labeled as a “30-Minute Recipe”, “Kid-Friendly”, and “$3.32 per Serving”. Wow, that is affordable nutrition!

But speaking of nutrition, a quick heads up that No Excuses Detox does include nutrition facts for each recipe but they’re in the back of the book in a chart. I had totally missed this at first, and don’t want you to!

Recipe Examples from No Excuses Detox

Just a few dairy-free recipes that caught my eye from Megan Gilmore’s No Excuses Detox include:

• Orange-Mango Creamsicle Smoothie
• Frozen Chai Latte
• Cashew Butter Spice Muffins
• Creamy Herb Dressing
• Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
• Avocado Caesar Salad
• Tuscan Bean Soup
• Mexican Quinoa Stew
• Creamy Cauliflower “Potato” Salad
• Garden Spring Rolls with Creamy Tahini Dipping Sauce
• Speedy Black Bean Burgers
• Roasted Vegetable Rice Bowls with Carrot Ginger Sauce
• Rainbow Lo Mein (recipe below!)
• Singapore Sweet Potato Noodles
• Cauliflower Jambalaya
• Deep-Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

Special Diet Notes: Rainbow Lo Mein

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, optionally grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, plant-based, and vegetarian.

For a strictly vegan rainbow lo mein, swap in agave nectar for the honey.

Rainbow Lo Mein

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

While some people might find it easy to replace regular pasta with zucchini “noodles,” that’s not always the case for everyone—even for my own family members. This lo mein dish is my solution, since it takes a fifty-fifty approach, using half pasta and half zucchini noodles for a more vegetable-centric dish that is still as satisfying as the traditional version. Feel free to add any vegetables you have on hand to make this recipe your own.

Author: Megan Gilmore

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 4 ounces brown rice spaghetti noodles
• ¼ cup wheat-free tamari
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 (8-ounce) zucchini
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 large carrots, julienned
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

Instructions

1. Prepare the spaghetti according to the package directions.
2. To prepare the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the tamari, honey, ginger, Sriracha, and sesame oil and set aside.
3. Use a spiralizer to turn the zucchini into spaghetti-like noodles or use a vegetable peeler to create long, thin zucchini ribbons, then set them aside.
4. While the spaghetti is cooking, in a large Dutch oven, melt the coconut oil over medium heat and sauté the onion and bell pepper until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms, along with the reserved sauce, and sauté until tender, another 5 to 8 minutes.
5. Add the pasta and toss well to coat in the sauce. Adjust any seasonings, adding an extra splash of tamari or Sriracha, if desired. Once everything is tender and heated through, the dish is ready to serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Notes

MAKE IT GRAIN-FREE: If you’d prefer to skip the pasta altogether, simply replace the spaghetti with two additional spiralized zucchini for a completely vegetable-based dish. In this case, you can add meat to it for a properly combined meal.
MAKE IT AHEAD: This dish is delicious served hot or cold, so feel free to make it up to 3 days in advance and store it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. Serve cold, or reheat in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring until piping hot, 5 to 8 minutes. (Add a splash of water to prevent sticking, if needed.)
RIGHTS: Reprinted with permission from No Excuses Detox, copyright © 2017 by Megan Gilmore, published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Photography copyright © 2017 by Erin Scott

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