Lemon Broccoli Pasta

Some evenings, preparing dinner can be very challenging. Usually, I wait to start cooking until Graham gets home from work so he can entertain and play with Kai (who, for some reason, always gets a little needy and fussy right around 5:00). But on other evenings, like tonight, when Graham goes to the gym after work, I have to start getting dinner ready before he gets home.  0n these nights, it's best to either have left overs ready to pop in the oven or to make something quick and easy. 


Kai can be a little demanding of my attention at times, so it's difficult to make a dinner with any sort of complexity when I'm on my own. He's not one of those kids who will sit and play quietly near me or in the other room while I do something that doesn't include him.  If my attention wavers from him for too long, he'll be at my feet pleading "Mommy, look me!".  Just the short week we spent alone together while Graham was away on a school trip was quite challenging, especially when it came to meal time.  I realized how difficult it must be for single parents to do it all on their own.  I can completely understand why so many turn to frozen dinners or take-out! 


So, for tonight's dinner I had some plain soba noodles already cooked from the day before.  I decided to turn them and whatever vegetables I had left in the fridge into a pasta dish. And... it turned out pretty good! It was so simple and easy.  I was able to prepare the roux (creamy sauce) in between building a tower with Kai, and I chopped the vegetables at the table while Kai had a snack.  I then let Kai "help" by cleaning up the discarded ends of the broccoli, putting them into a bowl, and dumping it into our compost bag. And throwing the veggies, noodles, and sauce all into a pan to cook, was, of course, super easy. Just FYI- soba noodles are a good source of protein (and broccoli has protein, too!), so you don't need meat in this dish!


Ingredients:
*vegan (or not, your choice) roux (recipe to follow)
*lemon juice (about 1tbsp or more depending on how lemony you like things)
*a couple heads of broccoli (chopped)
*a few stalks of asparagus (diced)
*garlic 
*soba noodles (or any other pasta)


Roux Ingredients:
*approx. 1 tbsp of margarine (Earth Balance) or olive oil
*approx. 1 and 1/2 tbsp of flour
*about 1 cup of liquid ( I used a mixture of almond milk and  veggie broth)
*1 spoonful of miso
*a few sprinkles of nutritional yeast (This isn't essential. If you aren't vegan, I imagine you wouldn't have it on hand. But it is tasty and adds a nice cheesy taste)


Roux Steps:
1. In a small pot on med. low heat, melt margarine (or oil) and flour. Stir about 2-3 minutes. It will condense and begin to thicken.
2. Pour in a little liquid and stir. Then slowly add more liquid and stir.  Do this until desired consistency.. the more liquid the thinner the sauce. 
3. In a separate bowl mix a tbsp of liquid with a tbsp of miso.
4. Add miso mix, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice. Stir.  Set aside.


Recipe Steps:
1. Saute broccoli, asparagus, garlic in olive oil until dark green.
2. Add cooked noodles to pan, and maybe a little more oil.
3. Pour in roux.
4. Done! That's it. So easy!