After trying various types of sharitake noodles and various cooking methods (and consulting with my niece, Annie), I’ve ascertained that the sharitake-tofu noodles far outshine the regular sharitake noodles. Sure, it costs you twenty calories, but, hey, twenty’s a far shot better than the 200 I was spending on brown rice noodles.

As for the cooking method, I found that the method that produces the least rubbery texture is to microwave them for two minutes (with a bit of a stir at the midway point).

A half-packet of the tofu-sharitake noodles topped with my new lower-fat peanut sauce, carrots, cucumber, beets, tomatoes, 1 ounce of avocado, and a half ounce of cashews clocks in at a tidy 250 calories.

Another plus: as I reduced the amount of peanut butter in the peanut sauce, the dogs gradually lost interest in hanging like vultures over me while I eat my lunch. They don’t even pester to lick the bowl!