Meatless Monday: Peanut-Sauced-Veggie Lettuce Wraps

Today was marked by a severe hangover. A mac 'n' cheese hangover.


One of my dearest friends requested that I cook "mac 'n' cheese two ways" for her boyfriend's birthday, and, as that meant I myself would be invited to enjoy the feast, I was only too happy to oblige. But after a couple hours of sauce-tasting and cheese-nibbling, followed by the meal itself (followed by - brace yourself - cheesecake), I was feeling...less than svelte.


Enter Meatless Monday. I was thrilled that after I tallied up the ingredients for this dish, it turned out to be vegan! I figure that after the dairy damage I did last night, a purely plant-based meal was called for. Nonetheless, what a voluptuous tasting meal it was!


The peanut sauce and tofu give it a lush richness, while the crispness of the lettuce and serving the rice cold make it totally summer-worthy. This would be dynamite with chicken instead of tofu, and if you wanted to skip the zillion-ingredient peanut sauce, a nice bottled Asian stir-fry sauce would be a dandy switch as well.


My continued apologies, dear readers, for my sporadic posts! I have vowed to cook up a storm from now till I head to Mexico in two weeks - it's simply the only way I won't sink my surfboard! To your health!

INGREDIENTS

Peanut Sauce:

2 T. sesame oil
several big spoonfuls natural peanut butter
big squeeze of honey
squeeze of Sriracha
a few vigorous shakes tamari or soy sauce
juice of one lime
several vigorous dashes rice wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
cilantro, chopped

Veggies/Filling:

1 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
shelled edamame
broccolini, chopped
2 carrots, sliced thinly on the bias
1/3 block tofu, in small chunks

Lettuce leaves from one head of iceberg
cooked white or brown rice, cold or warm

STEP 1:

Make the sauce: whisk together all ingredients and set aside.

STEP 2:

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Squeeze excess moisture out of the tofu with paper towels, and cook the chunks in a dry pan until golden brown on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.

STEP 3:

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and carrots to pan. Cook until onions get lightly brown at the edges. Add the broccolini, tofu pieces, and peanut sauce.

STEP 4:

Serve the rice and lettuce leaves alongside the veggie mixture. Place a little rice and veggies in each lettuce leaf, roll up like a burrito, and enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Peanut Sauce & Veggies

Yet another reason to keep a well-stocked pantry: the ability to make peanut sauce at a moment's notice.


This sauce has a similar flavor profile to Pad Thai: salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. All its components are long-keeping, so once you buy them, you'll have them until you run out, and can make this easy peanut sauce again and again. I pour it over soba noodles, tofu, use it as a base for stir-frying veggies - it's really versatile.


It tastes just right on shrimp, and it's rich enough that a light meal of just shrimp and an Asian-inspired veggie mix is completely satisfying - especially on a sweltering summer night.


INGREDIENTS

about 1 lb. raw peeled and deveined shrimp
1 red onion, in large chunks
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1 bunch fresh bok choy, cut into pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, in chunks
big handful sugar snap peas
handful fresh cilantro, chopped
sesame oil
salt and pepper

FOR PEANUT SAUCE:
big scoop natural peanut butter
about 1/3 cup tamari or regular soy sauce
squeeze of Sriracha
a few tablespoons brown sugar
several dashes rice wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
juice of one lime
1-2 T. sesame oil


DIRECTIONS

STEP 1:

Whisk together all the peanut sauce ingredients and set aside. Create the skewers: if you're cooking them on an outdoor gas or charcoal grill, soak the skewers first for about 30 minutes. If you're cooking them on a grill pan, no need to pre-soak. Place shrimp, some onion, and grape tomatoes on the skewers, alternating each ingredient.

STEP 2:

Preheat a grill pan over medium high heat. Also preheat a pan for the veggie saute. When the pan for the veggies saute is hot, add some sesame oil, then add the veggies, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until veggies are crisp-tender.

STEP 3:

Cook the skewers on the grill pan, spooning or brushing the peanut sauce onto them. Flip each skewer and cook on the other side until the shrimp are cooked through. Serve and enjoy!


Hope you're having a delicious, relaxing summer! More soon...

Meatless Mondays: Thing One & Thing Two

After a weekend
of meatish indulgence,
veggies were called for
in overabundance.


She chopped up some leaves
and defrosted some beans
and whipped up a dressing
quite worthy of queens.


"Tis a shock to my system"
her boyfriend exclaimed,
yet not one lettuce leaf
on his plate went unclaimed.


Despite her public distaste
for salads in general,
she realized she needed
some vitamins, minerals!


"Cilantro," she said,
"will just do the trick."
And indeed it transformed
the salad - and quick!


She boiled wheatberries
till soft to the tooth.
It took over an hour -
and that's the sad truth.

Every once in a while
you need a good cleanse
so you and your figure
can remain best of friends.


Enjoy these two salads
without any guilt.
For optimum health
they were specially built.


INGREDIENTS: WHEATBERRY & ASPARAGUS SALAD

1 cup wheatberries
olive oil
1 bunch thin asparagus, ends trimmed
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks green garlic, halved and thinly sliced
fresh thyme
fresh oregano
fresh rosemary
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
~1/3 c. white wine
1/3 block of extra-firm tofu


INGREDIENTS: ASIAN BROCCOLINI SALAD & CILANTRO-TOFU DRESSING

a few handfuls mixed baby lettuces
1 T. sesame oil
2 finger peppers, thinly sliced, with all seeds
1 bunch broccolini, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 medium shallot, chopped
~1 cup frozen shelled edamame
salt and pepper
~1/2 c. roasted cashews
2 smallish carrots, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds

Dressing:

1/2 medium shallot, chopped
a few big dashes rice wine vinegar
juice of 1 lime
dollop creme fraiche (or sour cream, or yogurt)
1 bunch cilantro, ends trimmed
big squeeze honey
1/3 block tofu, crumbled
~1/3 c. water
salt and pepper

Meatless Mondays: Three-Pepper Thai Pesto Noodles

One sad, lonely photo. That is all.


That's simply all I could muster. In an apartment with no less than four digital cameras, two photo-enabled cell phones, one small video camera, and two laptops with built-in camera lenses, I could only manage one photo of this delicious, spectacularly indulgent vegan dinner.

I searched high and low for batteries, memory cards, matching computer-connection cords, and all the digital accoutrements needed to take and upload photos, but everything was scattered, missing, misplaced, or broken (all within 400 measly square feet, lest we forget). *Le sigh.* At least my old, decrepit batteries in one camera held out for this photo - the AA's swan song.

If I had a few more lovely photos to break up my commentary, I'd share with you all about how traditional pesto gave way to an Asian pesto inspiration, but you can Google pesto and see for yourself. Sparse though the evidence may be, this was a craveable meatless Monday creation. And I realized, mid-bite, that it was not only vegetarian, it was vegan as well (bonus for me and my planet!).

If you've never made pesto, or are trying to eat more conscientiously, or if you simply delight in an overabundance of cilantro, I urge you to make this pesto* posthaste. And then try not to have seconds.

NOTE: If you are sensitive to spicy foods, as mentioned, watch your serranos, and if you're a total wuss, substitute green bell peppers for the Cubanelles. Trust me.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 5-6 servings

PESTO (makes about 2 cups - you'll have some leftover):
1 bunch cilantro, stems trimmed off
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, stems trimmed off
1/4 c. toasted sesame oil
1/3 c. olive oil (you could use less - I just eyeballed it)
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
big handful roasted salted peanuts (about 1/2 cup?)
1/3 cup (about) roasted unsalted cashews
several vigorous dashes soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1 lemon
a few vigorous dashes rice vinegar
2 T. honey
~1/3 c. water (more or less as needed)

PEPPERS/TOFU
1 T. toasted sesame oil
1-2 tsp. olive oil
1/3 block extra firm tofu, cut into chunks, moisture squeezed out
1 red bell pepper, in big chunks
1 medium sweet onion, in chunks
2 cubanelle peppers, halved and sliced
2 serrano chilies, halved and sliced, with seeds (if you're sensitive to spice, remove all seeds, or leave out serranos altogether)

1 package rice noodles (or, if you're dumb like me ran out of rice noodles, use 1/3 rice noodles and 2/3 whole wheat spaghetti - cook them according to package directions and in two separate pots).
small handful peanuts and cashews for garnish (optional)

STEP 1:

Combine all ingredients under "PESTO" in a blender. Blend on high until mixture forms a smooth, creamy pesto sauce. My blender is a 7-year-old, $8 blender from Wal-Mart, so it took a little prodding till it would really get going, but just push stuff around in there until it all gets mixed. Set aside.

STEP 2:

Heat the sesame oil in a pan. Fry the tofu on all sides until golden brown. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add a little olive oil to the pan (and the remaining sesame oil) and add the onion and bell pepper. Cook until lightly browned at the edges.

STEP 3:

Add the Cubanelle and serrano peppers to the peppers/onions. Add a little salt and pepper. Cook until the cubanelles and serranos are softened and beginning to brown lightly in places. Meanwhile, boil the noodles, drain, and set aside (try to time it so that you're ready to toss everything together as soon as the noodles are done).

STEP 4:

In the pot you cooked the noodles in (off the heat), toss the noodles with 1 to 1.5 cups of the pesto and the peppers mixture. Transfer to plates or a serving dish. Top with the fried tofu and some extra nuts for garnish. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday: Chinese Tofu Stir-Fry

Meatless Mondays. And no, this is not yet another excuse to employ alliteration (although just about any excuse will do). Meatless Mondays is a nationwide initiative spearheaded by the John Hopkins (never heard of 'em) school of Public Health to try to reduce Americans' meat consumption by 15%.

One day a week without meat? But why?!

*Sccccrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech* [That's the sound of me dragging my soapbox into place.]


You can reduce your risk of heart disease. Reduce our fossil fuel dependency. Save money, water, energy, and - let's call a spade a spade - cute little animals. I could go on. But why take my word for it? Check out all the details on www.meatlessmonday.com.

I let the 3/4 rule guide my diet: I try to make sure 3/4 of my diet is plant-based. So Meatless Mondays aren't a big stretch for me. I look forward to eating meatless meals, not only for all the reasons Johns Hopkins says I should, but simply because I enjoy plant-based foods (although admittedly, I like them best when smothered in cheese). But as for a certain - ahem - live-in boyfriend, Meatless Mondays might as well be called I'm-Still-Hungry-Where's-The-Meat Mondays. Unlike the fine folks working in public health, Ross didn't exactly jump up and down when I told him I'd like to institute MM's in our household.


In fact, fresh off a trip to the gym, Ross was no doubt fantasizing about animal flesh the entire bus ride home, while I, meanwhile, lovingly drained and pan-fried tofu for our dinner. But he kept a positive attitude and had faith that I could make any meal - even a vegetarian one - pretty tasty. I'd like to think he was right.


INGREDIENTS

1 T. toasted sesame oil
1/2 block extra-firm tofu, cut into thin-ish 1" square slices
1 more T. sesame oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium bell peppers, cut into chunks
1/2 head cabbage. sliced thinly
1 bunch broccolini, cut into 1-inch pieces
handful roasted unsalted cashews
splash of wine OR juice of one lime OR 1/4 c. water OR 1/4 c. vegetable broth
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
about 1/3 c. soy sauce
about 3 T. hot sauce (or to taste)
several vigorous shakes of seasoned rice vinegar
a few big drizzles of honey
salt and pepper to taste (season at the end only if needed)
cooked brown rice for serving

STEP ONE:

On paper towels, press the tofu down, squeezing out the water. Meanwhile, heat 1 T. sesame oil in a large pan. When tofu is dry, cook in the oil over medium heat until crisp and golden brown on one side. Flip each piece individually and cook until the other side is crisp and golden brown.

STEP TWO:

Add the rest of the sesame oil to the remaining oil in the pan, then add the onion, cabbage, and bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes, until beginning to soften. Add the wine (or alternate acid/liquid). Cook for a few more minutes, until liquid is almost evaporated. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot sauce, honey, garlic, broccolini, cashews, and tofu. Cover and cook until broccolini is crisp tender. Uncover and let some liquid evaporate.

STEP THREE:

Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve over brown or white rice. Enjoy!


Ross' Comments:
"It tasted delicious even though it had negative calories. I think I lost weight while eating it."

Ha! Negative calories? If I knew how to make delicious food that actually took away calories as you were eating it, I'd already have a Food Network show (not to mention line of stylish cookware), my friends.

I usually don't espouse the nutritousness - or lack therof - of my recipes, mostly because I'm no dietician, and far be it from to guess how many calories, fat grams, etc., are in my dishes. However, just to make you feel even better about trying this meatless meal: the fat in this dish is mostly good fat, from the cashews and sesame oil (fat helps you feel full even if you're not eating animals). The cashews and tofu have a good amount of protein; the bell peppers are little Vitamin C bombs, and broccolini has calcium and iron. The brown rice has fiber (as do all the veggies), and the soy sauce helps to unlock all of rice's nutrients (yes, rice has lots of nutrients!). And that's just the tip of the delicious stir-fry iceberg.

Happy Meatless Mondays, friends! Eat your veggies and live well :-) More soon...

Snappy Shrimp Dinner & Korean Soba Noodles

Weeknights are hard. Considering the fact my refrigerator is now too small to hold more than a few days' worth of food, planning meals a week in advance isn't so much an option any more. So, while that cuts down on food waste, it also means I find myself stopping at the grocery store on my way home from work quite a bit.


It's nice to have a few meals that are quick and easy to prepare, making the after-work grocery trek not such a big deal time-wise. This shrimp dish is one of those meals. It includes some of my favorite quick-cooking ingredients (most notably, shrimp), with a few things you see me combine all the time: peppers, tomatoes, onions, white wine, and lemon. I love a sauce with a nice, acidic bite ladled over simple white rice. A healthy heap of spinach rounds it out nutritionally.

SNAPPY SHRIMP DINNER

INGREDIENTS

2 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, put though a press or minced
1/2 lb. raw peeled, deveined shrimp
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red chile pepper
1 can whole peeled tomatoes and all juices
handful fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 c. white wine
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
several big handfuls raw baby spinach leaves
cooked white or brown rice

STEP 1: Place the rice in a rice cooker or cook according to package directions. While it's cooking, heat olive oil in pan over medium heat and cook onions and peppers (including hot chile pepper) until tender. Add garlic and cook another minute.


STEP 2: Add lemon juice, wine, about 3/4 of the parsley, and tomatoes. Break up tomatoes with a wooden spoon and stir until well-mixed. Season with salt and pepper. Bring heat up to medium-high and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes.



STEP 3: Add spinach to the pan and stir. Recover and cook for about 2 minutes, until spinach is slightly wilted.


STEP 4: Add shrimp, stir, and recover, and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasonings. Spoon shrimp and veggie sauce over rice. Top with remaining chopped parsley. Enjoy!


I got the idea for this easy noodle dish when browsing thekitchn.com, an offshoot of Apartment Therapy, one of my favorite blogs. The original recipe (found here), was actually for Naengmyun, a Korean noodle dish served in cold broth. I thought the combination of pear, cucumber, and typically Asian flavors was interesting, and I thought it could be nicely adapted into a cold noodle dish - sans the broth, making it more portable as a workday lunch. I strayed from the original recipe, pumping it up with crisp green beans for a greater veggie-to-noodle ratio, but I tried to keep the spirit the same.

KOREAN SOBA NOODLES

INGREDIENTS

3 bundles buckwheat soba noodles
1.5 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
3 T. toasted sesame oil
1 one-inch piece ginger, thinly sliced and cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 T. Sriracha hot sauce
3-4 T. finely chopped green onions
1 ripe Bartlett pear, thinly sliced and cut into small pieces
handful cilantro, roughly chopped
1 fried egg (for serving), optional
thinly sliced cucumber, for serving, optional

STEP 1: Boil soba noodles and green beans together in a large pot of salted water. Drain.


STEP 2: Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Combine rice vinegar and next 6 ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over noodles. Add pear and cilantro to pot and toss to combine. Thinly slice cucumber and place on top before serving. Just before serving, fry an egg and place it on top of the noodles. Serve and enjoy!


These noodles are so light and refreshing - perfect for a lunch that won't weigh you down or send you into a midday food coma when you should be pounding out headlines.

Thanks for reading! More soon...

Quick Bi Bim Bop Bowl

Ross and I used to live in Uptown, and some days when we'd ride the train home together, we'd get off at the Sheridan red line stop (our stop) and have a quick, healthy Korean dinner at BBop, which is practically underneath the train tracks.


I never quite understood the name BBop until I began to look into making my own Korean food - namely, Bi Bim Bop, a simple rice, egg, meat, and veggie concoction. Then one day it hit me - BBop is a cutesy abbrevation of Bi Bim Bop, one of Korea's most famous and most popular dishes.

I was always struck by how simple the dish is - it's rice, marinated meat (chicken or steak), sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, and spinach, simply placed into a bowl - not mixed up, just placed side-by-side, Salade Nicoise style. You douse it with hot sauce or top it with kimchi, and there you have it: a Korean dinner.


The idea to create my own version of Bi Bim Bop struck me last night, when I found myself with not much more than a few eggs, a couple carrots, and some leftover brown rice in the fridge. Eggs and rice topped with Sriracha is one of my favorite quick-and-lazy meals, but I wanted to punch up the nutritional content. And it hit me - I was only a few veggies away from Bi Bim Bop.

I did change a few things (what did you expect?). I opted for fresh broccolini over spinach; I kept it meatless but added some protein with some shelled, ready-to-eat edamame (sticking with the Asian theme); I left out the sprouts because I'm not a sprouts fan; and I improvised an Asian-flavored sauce that tasted remarkably like the Korean sauce from BBop - a lucky coincidence, believe me.

QUICK BI BIM BOP BOWL

INGREDIENTS

~1 cup cooked brown rice (or you could use white)
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 c. cucumber, sliced into half moons
handful cooked, ready-eat, shelled edamame
1 bunch broccolini, quickly boiled or steamed until crisp-tender, tough stems removed
1 egg
butter for frying the egg, or oil or pan spray

sauce:

1 T. Sriracha (if you don't like things spicy, start with about a tsp.)
2 T. low-sodium soy sauce
a couple dashes rice wine vinegar
drizzle of honey
1 clove garlic, minced


STEP ONE:

Arrange the rice and all the veggies on a plate or in a bowl (traditionally, they are placed side-by-side in little piles, not mixed together). Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Fry the egg until the whites are cooked and the yolk is still runny.

STEP TWO:

Meanwhile, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Place the egg on top of the rice and drizzle the sauce over the rice, egg, and veggies. Enjoy!


Bi Bim Bop is great with chicken; if you wanted to add chicken to this dish, I'd marinate diced chicken breast in the sauce, then just quickly saute it until it's cooked through.

The Bi Bim Bop came out great! I absolutely love how the sauce came out, and I will definitely be making it again for future Asian cooking needs (beware: if you've never used Sriracha, it is very spicy. My mouth was on fire for 10 minutes after I was finished eating). It's so great to be able to cook something in your very own kitchen that people on the other side of the world love to cook in theirs.

Thanks for reading! More soon...

(Almost) Heidi's Cashew Cauliflower Curry

They say that the hotter the region of the world, the spicier the cuisine (think Thailand, India, Malaysia).

Chicago certainly isn't known for its balmy temperatures, but lately it's been as hot and muggy as it is down south this time of year. Maybe that explains my sudden craving for tongue-scorching fare.

I had a great weekend of baby-showering (the arrival of my little nephew is only two months away!), but in so doing, I devoured no less than a dozen egg salad and pimiento cheese tea sandwiches - on white bread, no less! It was also my birthday weekend, which meant several thousand calories consumed that other way you consume calories - in, ahem, liquid form.


So I wanted something healthy, vegetable-y, and yes, fiery. I checked out 101cookbooks.com for inspiration, and found a curry recipe of Heidi's that I'd been wanting to make for some time now. I've made curries that were similar to this, but never so closely inpsired by this exact recipe. I also liked that her Cashew Curry wasn't served with rice - as much as I like rice, the idea of just slurping the spicy curry broth straight from a spoon sounded wonderful.

I did add a few things to Heidi's recipe, but only because I wanted to make her recipe go further - so I could pack several days of lunches this week.

ALMOST HEIDI'S CASHEW CAULIFLOWER CURRY

Serve 3-4

INGREDIENTS

1 can light coconut milk
1 can vegetable broth
big squeeze honey
1/2 head orange (or regular) cauliflower
1/3 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into pieces
1/4 block extra firm tofu, cut into chunks
1 red chile pepper, seeded and finely minced
1 small yellow onion, or half a large onion
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced thinly
1 smallish yam, peeled and cut into smallish chunks
1-2 T. curry powder
a little salt
handful roasted unsalted cashews
big handful cilantro leaves

STEP ONE:

Add the coconut milk and vegetable broth in a large skillet. Turn the heat to medium-high. Whisk in the salt and curry powder and honey.

STEP TWO:

Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cilantro and the cashews. Bring to a low boil and cool until all vegetables are tender and the curry broth has reduced and thickened.


STEP THREE:

Stir in the cashews. Pour into bowls or a serving dish and top with a bunch of cilantro. Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite curries I've made to date! I love that it was lightly - but not cloyingly - sweet. The curry flavor was really direct, and the heat level was perfect - enough to make my nose run but not so hot my lips were burning. The vegetables and cashews were hearty and satisfying; I would definitely make this again. And it was super easy - you don't even have to saute the veggies, you just chop and drop.


It would be excellent with shrimp or chicken, too, and also tasty over rice if you wanted to go that way. I can't wait to have a spicy leftovers lunch tomorrow at work...mmmm.

Thanks for reading! More soon...

Stir-Fried Three-Bean Rice Noodles

I'm sort of having an Asian food moment. It's had its ups and downs so far; I seem to use a heavy hand with ginger, and always underestimate how much soy sauce I actually want, but overall my trials and errors have pretty much satisfied my Far East cravings.


I bought these super-thin rice noodles on a total whim, knowing only I had found a great deal on fresh snap peas and intended on eating them as soon as possible. Rice pasta tastes very similar to regular pasta, but it definitely does add a little something special to an Asian dish. My intent was to stir-fry them until they were a little crisp - this didn't happen. In fact, the stir-frying action basically just tore them into smaller pieces, so I quickly abandoned that plan and just mixed them up with the beans as fast as possible.


Once I added the right amount of soy sauce to this dish (a lot), it was really good - without the saltiness of the soy sauce, the bite of the ginger and the cayenne was just too overpowering. I loved the crispness of all the fresh beans, and of course I can never get enough of my beloved chickpeas. I'd love to try this with some toasted nuts next time.

STIR-FRIED THREE-BEAN NOODLES

INGREDIENTS

Makes 5-6 servings

1 package Thai rice noodles
handful grean snap peas, fresh
handful green beans, trimmed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed thoroughly
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
3 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 T. minced fresh ginger root
couple splashes rice wine vinegar
soy sauce to taste
salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

STEP ONE:

Heat the olive oil in your largest skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion, red pepper, and carrot, seasoning with a little salt and pepper and cayenne pepper, until slightly softened. Add garlic and ginger and cook until frangrant. Add vinegar and cook until evaporated slightly.




STEP TWO:

Meanwhile, boil the snap peas and green beans in a large pot of water until crisp-tender. Remove water from heat and put in rice noodles. Allow to sit in the water until softened but not mushy. Drain.




STEP THREE:

Add the noodles, beans, and chickpeas, and soy sauce to skillet. Stir-fry a few minutes until everything is incorporated. Trasfer to a plate and serving platter or plate and enjoy!



I actually ate some leftovers with a scrambled egg piled on top for some added protein - it was a nice addition; of course you could scramble it right in the pan, too.

It's safe to say I have a long road of Asian-cooking-technique perfecting ahead of me, but I be it'll be a tasty journey.


Thanks for reading! More soon...

Gingery Tofu and Cabbage Stir-Fry

Sometimes, I'm ambivalent about what I want to make, agonizing over every ingredient and flipping through endless magazines for inspiration. And sometimes, like with this stir-fry, inspiration hits me as soon as I see an ingredient.


I knew I would have a ton of leftover cabbage from the fish tacos, and I immediately knew I wanted to make a brown rice and tofu stir-fry. I've been meaning to cook something with an Asian flair lately, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

I had to pick up the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, but being long-lasting staples, I wasn't worried, especially since I had most of what I needed on hand. The one thing I really wanted was sesame oil, which Dominick's didn't have, but I used olive oil and it still came out tasty.


Cabbage, in my humble opinion, is an under-used and under-appreciated ingredient. The one downside is that, being one person, it's almost impossible to use an entire head of cabbage (I see why it's a staple in the peasant soups of Europe - it's cheap and plentiful!). Unlike spinach and the like, cabbage really stands up to high heat and strong flavors, making it perfect in a spicy and gingery Asian dish. I really used a heavy hand with the ginger in mine, but if you like your ginger subtler, just tone it down a bit.

I was thrilled that I finally successfully fried tofu to a lovely golden brown - normally I just stir it in and wonder why it doesn't firm up and get some color (the key is frying it in a dry pan before you put it in a dish). It really enhanced the texture and allowed it to hold up through the vigorous stir-fry process.


Overall, this came out really nicely, and it was a great healthy end to a weekend of delicious indulgence at various barbeques and bars. I hope you put your own twist on this stir-fry (chicken, perhaps?) and enjoy it as much as I did.

GINGERY TOFU AND CABBAGE STIR-FRY

INGREDIENTS

1 cup dry brown rice
2 cups water
a little salt

1/2 a large head of green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 large white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced in rings
1-2 tsp. freshly grated ginger root
3 cloves of garlic
3 T. olive oil (or you could use vegetable or sesame oil)
a few good shakes of rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. reduced-sodium soy sauce, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
1/3 of a block of extra-firm tofu, sliced and patted very dry

fresh chopped cilantro for garnishing
raw cashews for garnish (optional: I needed to use some up, but they definitely added a nice crunch. You could also use unsalted peanuts)


STEP ONE:

Cook the brown rice in the water with a little salt, covered, according to package directions. Set aside. When as much of the moisture is squeezed out of the tofu as you can manage (pressing gently between paper towels), heat a large skillet over medium high heat and fry the tofu for a few minutes on each side, not moving it around, until it gets golden brown on each side. Remove from pan and set aside.

STEP TWO:

Using the same pan, add the olive oil and let it heat up for a minute, then add the onion, carrot, and bell pepper. Cook for a few minutes, seasoning with a little salt and pepper and red pepper flakes (I went easy on the salt all the way through this dish because I knew I was going to season it later with the soy sauce).

STEP THREE:

Add the cabbage and add a little more salt/pepper/red pepper flakes. If your stir-fry looks too dry, add a little more oil. Cook for a few minutes, until the cabbage begins to soften. Add the vinegar and stir-fry everything for a few minutes. When the cabbage has gotten even softer, add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry a little more.


STEP FOUR:

When the garlic and ginger are fragrant, stir in the rice and the soy sauce and stir-fry a little more. Add the tofu at the very end, careful not to break it up too much with the stirring. If it needs a little more soy sauce, add it. Serve, garnishing with the cilantro and cashews, and enjoy!


Thanks for reading! More soon...