Thai Peanut Noodles 5/5 Spoons

I was torn today. Do I make easy and healthy peanut noodles or some other made up concoction that takes a lot more time? PEANUT NOODLES WINS! They usually win.

This is such an easy dish to make as long as you have all the ingredients. And I will say, just keep a couple of limes around all the time and you can really make a bastardized version of this anytime you want! This is vegan, made with whole wheat noodles and CRAZY tasty. It will satisfy anyone in your home, guaranteed. Unless they have a peanut allergy, then yeah, stay far away.



I would say this easily serves 4-6 hungry mouths.

Thai Peanut Noodles

1 lb. whole wheat linguine noodles (or something more Asian, but hey, I love these)

Vegetable oil for pan
8 ounce container tofu, drained and pressed until it is firm and not wet anymore then diced in 1 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small onion, sliced thin
2-3 carrots, sliced thin
3-4 garlic cloves, diced
1-2 t. dried ginger (it’s what I had on hand, use twice as much of the fresh stuff if you have it)
Juice of 1 lime
Few dashes of tamari (to deglaze the pan)
Salt & pepper to taste

Sauce:

6 T. peanut butter
1 c. vegetable broth
¼ c. water
¼ c. tamari (or soy sauce)
2 T. rice wine vinegar
2 T. sambal oelek (this is a chili paste that is DELICOUS and lasts forever; you can find it in most standard grocery stores)
2-3 T. cornstarch
Dash dried ginger
Salt & pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime

Unsalted peanuts, chopped for garnish
Green onions, diced for garnish
Sriracha (or your favorite hot sauce) for garnish (I like it hot, hence the big yummy squirt on top!)

I always start my noodles first. So yeah, you know how to cook pasta right?

Oil your pan and crank it up med-high heat. Throw all of your chopped veg and tofu in the pan and let it get nice and crispy for 1-2 minutes before stirring. The tofu will stick, but hey, no biggie. Season with salt & pepper and add your ginger. Stir again. Things will start to get brown and crispy after another 3-4 minutes. Turn your heat down to low-med and add your tamari and lime juice and stir. Just keep stirring occasionally and let everything get all lovely together.

When your pasta and veg are just about done, start your sauce. It only takes 3-4 minutes to get bubbly and thick. I basically just throw everything in the pot and stir before even turning on the heat. Cornstarch works better with cold liquids, so just stir a few times and then turn your heat to medium. Make sure to stir every 30 seconds or so to prevent burning. Once it gets thick toss it in with your noodles and veg. Garnish and serve!

It’s really as simple as that. This dish just makes me happy. And it tastes even better the next day as a cold salad. And it’s totally customizable in that I kind of use whatever veggies I want and sometimes use tempeh instead of tofu.

It feels so good to be back writing again and writing recipes! I mean these are just things I make for myself and my roommates but it's nice people are reading. I hope to do a dessert review soon. Perhaps a baked doughnut? YES!

Veggie Sushi Rolls 4/5 Spoons & Baked Vegetable Egg Rolls 3/5 Spoons

One thing I have learned from these two recipes is that I'm pretty damn good at rolling sushi and not so good at making egg rolls. It wasn't perfect looking but it stayed together and looked pretty enough to eat. I used this recipe and tweaked it to my own desires. The thing I love about sushi is you can make it your own and add whatever you want.



(Picture courtesy of Vegetarian Times)

Here are my tweaks for the sushi rolls:

-- I did not use the dipping sauce in the recipe. It sounds good, but I'm totally okay with just soy/tamari sauce as a dipping sauce.
-- I did not use sesame seeds because I didn't feel like toasting them. Lazy sushi says I.
-- I made 3 cups of rice and I still had a bunch of left over and made about 6 rolls. So you might want to make a little less.
-- Tofu was in the freezer and did not thaw it out in time, so once again, lazy sushi.
-- My veggies consisted of avocado, carrots, cucumber and asparagus.

Rolling sushi is not as hard as I thought it would be. I do not have a mat so I just used plastic wrap and I thought it worked really well. The only reasons I am giving this 4 instead of 5 for this specific recipe is because I believe the sushi rice was too salty and will adjust it next time I make it.

I give this recipe:

4/5 Spoons!

Now, the egg rolls. I liked these, but did not love them.



(Pictures courtesy of For the Love of Cooking)

I liked that these were baked and were pretty comparable to fried egg rolls from restaurants. The only difference really is that delivery egg rolls are chewier and whatever egg roll wrappers they use are just much better. These ones were thin and were kinda like phyllo dough to me.



My tweaks:

-- I did not use the water chestnuts, green onions or fresh ginger. I omitted the first two and used 1/2 t. ground ginger.
-- Instead of adding some salted peanuts (which I enjoy), I added crushed cashews and I think it gave it a nice salty bite.

So I probably won't make these again, but like sushi, you can add whatever you want. I will say the only reason I kept eating them is because I loved this hoisin sauce. Crazy delicious.

I give this recipe:

3/5 Spoons

Next... Tortellini with Italian "Sausage" and Fennel (yum).

Black Pepper Tofu 4/5 Stars

Oops, hi, I skipped a day or two. Lately I just haven't had my regular desire to eat my own meals. Isn't that weird? But I still love to cook and I'm glad my roommates still love to eat what I make.

All I want to eat are Smart Deli ham sandwiches on flaxseed bread, Odwalla Mango Tango smoothies and Fage 2% Greek Yogurt with honey and almonds. But I want to review one of the best tofu recipes I've found in 2010. Although I have made a few adjustments to the recipe, it is still overall the same deliciously spicy amazing recipe.

First off, Lottie and Doof is a food blog operated by a couple here in Chicago. Even though I'll take recipes from anywhere, I love knowing that I may be eating the same thing for dinner as someone else in my favorite city! There aren't a ton of vegetarian recipes on the website, but what is there is gold. And there are a few good dessert recipes as well. It is worth checking out. My friend Melissa hipped me (am I 80?) to this recipe for Black Pepper Tofu.



(photo courtesy of Lottie and Doof)

Obviously you can click on the recipe and check it out but let me give my own notes. There are a few but I don't think it would in any way compromise what the dish is really supposed to taste like. I just catered it to my own taste buds.

-- I made the tofu exactly as stated in the recipe, it turns out perfectly and I think I will use the cornmeal coating method for various other tofu recipes from now on. It's a pain the ass and takes awhile (especially if you use two blocks of tofu) but it's worth it, trust me.
-- I did not use a whole stick of butter. I used half of one and then supplemented with some olive oil. I really think you could just use all olive oil and a lot less, I'll try that next time. I know the butter gives the shallots, garlic, etc. a beautiful glossy sheen but I don't know how much flavor it imparts especially since the dish is powerfully spiced.
-- I used two jalapenos instead of 4 small red chilies. It's hard to find them at the store I go to, so I compromise.
-- Instead of fresh ginger, I used 1 1/2 T. dried ginger. Whenever I buy fresh ginger, I forget about it and it goes to waste. So dry works best for me.
-- The peppercorns. Wow. Do not use 4 tablespoons. Your mouth will simply fall off. I LOVE spicy food and even 2 tablespoons was a bit much but still very good. Make sure to use freshly ground peppercorns, if you used 2 T. of a finely ground pepper you would die, haha.
-- I just used all regular low-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce. And I may have used a bit less than it says. And I used 2 T. of brown sugar along with it instead of the caster sugar.
-- Green onions instead of spring onions. It's winter, we don't have spring onions now. They work really well though.

OK, I know this looks insane and like I totally fucked up the recipe but really I think I still capture the essence of this meal. My food looked exactly like L&D's recipe in the picture. Oh! And jasmine rice is essential. So flippin' good with this. There is a nice mixture of the green onion, the sheer spiciness of the thick sauce, the pungent warmth of ginger and the chewiness of the tofu. It is a knock out dish and worth the time to make.



I give this dish:

4/5 spoons!

Enjoy everyone! I'll be back sometime this weekend with Buttermilk Lemon Bars and a non-lard KFC biscuits recipe.