*Vegan
I recently ate a gross Kale Udon Bowl at a Japanese restaurant. They made zero effort; just threw some garlic, kale, and noodles in a bowl and acted like that was acceptable. I’m not even vegan, but I was offended on behalf of vegans everywhere. I went to the greenmarket where they were all excited about ramps and fiddleheads and dandelions. I filled a bag and made it my mission to create the best vegan udon bowl ever. I succeeded.
1 bunch ramps, washed well, then washed again
1 bunch dandelion greens, stems trimmed, chopped
1 avocado, pitted and peeled
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (or Parmesan cheese for nonvegans)
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt (Gentile salt works, too.)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup cashews
1/3 cup raisins
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound dried udon noodles (Use fresh if you want. I don’t care.)
1. Cut the greens off of the ramps. Separate the greens from the whites. Chop the greens. Mince the white part like garlic, and set aside.
2. Combine 1 cup of the dandelion greens, 1 cup of the ramp greens, the avocado flesh, olive oil, nutritional yeast, water, sugar, 1 teaspoon of the minced ramps, salt, and lemon in a blender or food processor, and pulse until it forms a pesto.
3. In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the cashews until fragrant.
4. Coat the bottom of a sauté pan with olive oil, and place over medium heat. Add the remaining minced ramps, ramp greens, dandelion greens, raisins, and red pepper flakes.
5. Bring a big pot of salty water to a boil, add the udon, and cook for 8 minutes. Drain the noodles and return to the pot. Add the pesto and toss to coat the pasta evenly. Toss the greens and ramps with the pasta. Add the toasted cashews and make it look pretty.
JUST THE TIP: Get to the farmers’ market late in the day, around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. Those small farmers get up mad early, and they want to GTFO of there. They’ll be willing to do buy one/get one, or slash the prices to sell off their inventory and go home. Have a chat, make a deal; everybody leaves happy.