Finding The One That Got Away...
A Note from Teri
Sometimes the best recipes are the ones that almost got away. Today, I’m excited to share not just this truly delicious, easy weeknight dinner, but also the journey we took to create it. In the @nocrumbsleft kitchen, recipe development can be full of ups and downs. I’m often asked how I create recipes, and the truth is—it’s rarely a straight line. We’d tucked this recipe away over a year ago when it wasn’t quite right. Revisiting it turned out to be the magic it needed—now it’s absolutely perfect!
Last year, when my son Patrick was in Chicago, we improvised a Noodle Salad Crunch Bowl… a vegan noodle dish using tofu as the protein. The sauce was incredible! But no matter how I tried, I couldn’t recreate it—it just didn’t hit the same. Plus, we’d used a unique kind of noodle from my local farmer’s market in Michigan, which I knew would be hard for most of my followers to find. I was determined to find the right substitute. After a few months of trying (and failing), we shelved it. The sauce felt inconsistent, and the right noodle proved elusive. It just didn’t feel meant to be.
Fast forward a few months ago—we were combing through old videos for Instagram reels and Substack inspiration when that noodle dish popped up again. It looked so good that we couldn’t help but try again. We recreated the sauce multiple times, but it kept coming out differently. Not great when you’re trying to write an actual recipe.
Enter my dear friend Fernanda, a true food muse—there’s no higher compliment. She inspires me endlessly, and we love to talk food: dreaming, scheming, taste-testing, problem-solving. I shared the dish with her, she took it over, and she brought it across the finish line. She’s not working in our kitchen day to day anymore, but she still takes on special projects. And when we collaborate, it’s like we share the same culinary brain. Having her guide this dish to completion was nothing short of magical.
We absolutely love this version of our cold noodles. It works beautifully with sautéed steak, shrimp, or tofu—you can choose your favorite protein and make it your own. Today, we went with chicken. One of my favorite parts is how customizable it is. You can toss in your go-to chopped vegetables and build your perfect bowl. If you’re looking for a dish like this in salad form, check out our Chicken Salad with Mandarins.
We ended up finding our rice noodles at an Asian grocery store. After all that searching, it was kind of a delight to realize that the fanciest noodles aren’t always the best. While this recipe is ideally made with classic wheat noodles (udon is great!), I’m gluten-free, so we opted for rice noodles.
Substack is one of my very favorite places to create. It's a such a joyful experience for me to get to come up with new, exclusive recipes and fun fabulous content for you here. Thank you for being here! In subscribing to my paid tier, you're supporting my love of Substack and creating in this space. You get exclusive recipes and recipes that don't hit my blog for another month! Thanks again for being part of the fabulosity! More to come.
Recipe & Grocery List
Follow Along With Teri
Amazing new recipes to make in July:
We have some amazing blog posts for you! Check out this delicious viral Pepper Steak with Creamy Horseradish Dressing! Click here for all our other steak recipes as well. So wonderful. Click here for the most fun Cucumber Boat with Shrimp Salad that we posted on Instagram! Absolutely everyone is making this Corn and Sausage Platter! Our friends over at @kris.and.dave made this, and it was so much fun! Coming up on the blog is an all new version we did with pasta, so stay tuned… it’s going to be out of this world.
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The Last Crumb
In last week’s issue, we talked about things to look forward to and ways of giving back. I’d love to hear your stories—there’s such joy in hearing about the ways people give back. It lights me up, every time. A follower Marie sent in a story about her friend Barbara that moved me deeply, and I wanted to share it with all of you:
By the way, if you didn’t see last week’s issue, it’s a complete fan favorite and you’re absolutely going to want to check it out. I invite you into my inner circle and share the beautiful holiday weekend I had with friends. Let’s celebrate summer together.
xoxo,
Thank you! This looks so yummy ! My son is coming to visit and I’m going to make this for him 💙
I love this! Thank you for sharing!❤️