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!

Red Velvet Waffles w/ Cream Cheese Maple Sauce and Toasted Coconut 4/5 Spoons

OK, so it is not the weekend anymore, but here I am!

I have this insane idea to make pancakes/waffles out of all of my favorite desserts and luckily people around this beautiful world have the same idea as well. I've made Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes and now Red Velvet Waffles (next will be Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes!) I served this with my standard tofu scramble (Thanks Kris Anne!) and some MorningStar Farms Veggie Bacon.

(My picture of my 2nd waffle.... I was too hungry to take a picture of the 1st one! That is the cream cheese maple sauce and toasted coconut on top.)

Here are my notes:

-- I was astounded that someone would use 1 1/4 cups of sugar in these waffles. These made 6 big waffles for me, so that's like a little less of 1/4 c. of sugar in EACH WAFFLE. Sick. I used 1/2 c. and I think it was plenty. I wanted the cocoa flavor to shine through and I was putting sweet syrup on top, so I recommend you don't go above 1/2 c. unless you love really sweet things.
-- Make sure to have your buttermilk at room temperature. Even though my butter was melted and cooled, my buttermilk was cold so it kind of turned the fat in the butter into a weird flaky mess. I could whisk most of it out but you don't want to over-whisk waffles so just a note for y'all.
-- For my cream cheese maple sauce, I didn't use their recipe. I left 4 ounces of cream cheese out at room temp most of the day. I warmed up the cheese in the microwave for about 40 seconds and added about 2 T. confectioner's sugar, 3-4 T. pure maple syrup and a dash of milk to combine. Just mix with a fork until it is smooth and you are able to drizzle it on your waffles.
-- As for the coconut, it was kind of an after thought. I put about 1/2 c. of coconut in a pan and toasted it on low-medium heat and stirred it frequently. It takes about 10 minutes, just keep an eye on it, because it can burn quickly.

(Photo courtesy of The Spellbound Cafe)

These were really delicious. I wouldn't say they were perfect because I think they could use some tweaks. Not sure what but I'll mull it over and let you all know. They had a great cake like texture but didn't necessarily crisp up the way I wanted them to in the waffle iron. It might have something to do with my really old iron and not with the recipe though. Even though they were a bit floppy they had a really nice cocoa flavor and worked SO WELL with the cream cheese maple topping and toasted coconut. I will make this again with some minor adjustments. If you have fantastic waffle and pancake recipes you think I should try, please let me know!

Next up.... Spinach and Artichoke Spaghetti Bake! (My own recipe.... ooh la la.)

Sesame Tofu 5/5 Spoons

Sorry to be missing in action again, my loves. I am moving to a new apartment next week with an even better kitchen! I'm so damn sick of this apartment and it's oddly placed kitchen and small counter space that I have not been cooking much lately. Add on PMS and I'd rather burn the kitchen down than cook in it. But that doesn't mean I don't have a back up of recipes that I've made to review.... So here we go!

I'm glad to have foodie friends who are like, "Jackie, what the hell? Where are the recipe reviews?" so here I am talking about probably my new favorite vegan recipe this year. I mean it's so ridiculously easy and silly that I feel bad that it took me this long to actually perfect it. Sesame tofu guys! And I'm talking "Whoa this tastes like it is from Chinese take out" style sesame tofu. It may not be the healthiest thing in the world but there are far worse foods to spend your dinner hour with.

(photo courtesy of LA2DAY.COM)

So the way I make this is kind of a pieced together bastardized version of several recipes. The only "real" recipe I use is here for the Chinese Style Sesame Sauce (and even that I totally tweak the amounts). I looked at this one as well to get a feel for what I should do with the tofu. But I didn't like that she used egg in the tofu prep because I wanted to make this totally vegan. So all I do (and this is my favorite way to fry tofu) is take two blocks of tofu, slice them in bite size chunks, get a Ziploc bag and fill it with about 1/4 c. cornstarch and shake the hell out of it. You obviously don't want your tofu chunks too small or they will just be obliterated in the tossing process but I think you get the point. And I also freeze my tofu and let it thaw before using in this application. I've heard it gives tofu a chewier texture and by Xena, I think the experts are right.

(My own terrible picture!)

Ok, so here we go with the actual cooking. I take a fry pan and fill it with about 1 inch of vegetable oil. I hate using that much oil too but you won't get the great crunchy outside unless you really fry these babies up. Make sure to not crowd the pan otherwise you will just have soggy oily tofu instead of crisp deliciousness. So yeah, this part takes awhile. So be patient. While you are frying, take a small pan and add about 1/4 c. of sesame seeds to toast. Make sure you toss them about as to not burn them (like I did). Once they are done you can set them aside to add later on. When you are about half done with the tofu, you can start making the sauce. I don't know if I need to tell you this but make sure to drain your tofu on paper towel as well.

Here are my tweaks to the recipe above:

-- I only used 1/2 c. sugar and honestly, you could probably cut it down to 1/3 c. and there wouldn't be much of a difference. I find that so many recipes overdo the sugar amounts and I'm glad I didn't put a whole cup in here, it would have been too crazy sweet then.
-- Obviously I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
-- I don't really ever have white vinegar around so I used apple cider and it worked just dandy.
-- Instead of soy sauce, I used tamari because it was what I had.
-- And okay, so I hate kind of hate sesame oil. It has a weird acrid taste that I can't stand whenever I make Indian or Thai food. Because of that I only added about two dashes of the stuff. I liked that there was a hint but not too overwhelming of a flavor.
-- I used hot sauce instead of chili paste since I didn't have any. I added pepper flakes as well because I wanted it spicy!
-- And I didn't use garlic.... I actually just forgot but I honestly don't think it would have added all that much anyhow.

(Photo courtesy of Green Shakes and Giggles)

So whew! A lot of instruction and a lot of changes! So let's piece this bad boy all together. Once the tofu is done, I like to empty out almost all of the oil except for maybe like 3 tablespoons worth. I threw some broccoli in there but you can add whatever you please.... carrots, onions, pineapple, etc. Once those were softened a tad I threw the tofu back in and tossed it with the sauce and sesame seeds and I had a wicked delicious meal. Serve with rice, I like jasmine but any rice will do.

Let me just add that this seriously tastes like take out sesame tofu. It takes a little more time and effort but it is so worth it to know what is going into your food and make it your own.

I give this recipe:

5/5 Spoons!

Wow, this was fun to do! I'll be working on more this week. Enjoy!

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.