This is a light, virtuous version of takeout lo mein that starts with a simple rainbow of vegetables: carrots, snow peas, Napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and green onions. You can cut these up however you want (you can even buy shredded carrots for ease), but in my version I use a vegetable peeler to cut strips of the carrots, cut the snow peas into matchsticks by hand (the only fiddly part—you could just halve them), and shred up the cabbage, mushrooms, and green onions.
Now, you're just ten minutes away from dinner. Flash stir fry the veggies in a skillet. Then add freshly grated garlic and ginger and pre-cooked lo mein noodles. Once the garlic and ginger are fragrant and the noodles and veggies have become tangled together, just add soy sauce. Then, get your chopsticks ready, and dig in.
Recipe Details
Vegetable Lo Mein Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 ounces shitake mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
- Kosher salt
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced or peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
- 7 ounces of snow peas, whole or thinly sliced
- 1 medium clove garlic, grated (about 1 teaspoon)
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 14 ounces cooked lo mein noodles
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
- Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)
Directions
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a wide nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cabbage and season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring and tossing frequently, until barely cooked through but still bright, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add 1 more teaspoon oil to wok and return to high heat until lightly smoking. Add carrot and snow peas and season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring and tossing frequently, until barely cooked through but still bright, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl with mushrooms and cabbage.
Add remaining teaspoon oil and reduce heat to medium-high. Add garlic, ginger, and scallions and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add noodles and toss to coat. Return vegetables to wok. Add soy sauce. Add sesame seeds and cilantro. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles and vegetables are coated in sauce. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.