Weeknight Rice Noodles with Meatballs

Serves 4-6
Hands-On Time: 30 min
Total Time: 30 min

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Ingredients

Sauce
2 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 TBS grated or minced ginger
2 TBS sesame oil
2 TBS honey
2 tsp chili oil

Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
3 tsp onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp salt

Assembly
16 ounces rice noodles
1 lb mixed sliced mushrooms of your choice (I like to include at least some shiitake)
4-5 baby bok choy, halved
Bunch scallions, white/light green parts thinly sliced, dark green parts roughly chopped
Vegetable oil for frying meatballs

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Cook the noodles a minute or two shy of the package directions. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.

Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine the ground beef, garlic, onion powder, salt, and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Shape the mixture into about 16 meatballs (1 1/2 inches across). Heat vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook the meatballs in the oil until browned and mostly cooked through, about 7-9 minutes. Transfer to a separate plate or bowl. Add the mushrooms to the pan with vegetable oil and meatball drippings and cook until browned. Add bok choy and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the dark green parts of the scallions and cook another 2 minutes. Add the vegetables to the bowl with the noodles.

Add the broth to the pan and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the meatballs in for the last 2 minutes of cooking, turning occasionally. Pour the meatballs and sauce over the noodles and vegetables and toss to combine. Serve topped with the thinly sliced scallions.

Note: If you’d like the sauce to be slightly thicker, whisk together one tablespoon of sauce with one tablespoon of cornstarch and combine with remainder of sauce before simmering.

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