Posts filed under 'dinner'
Last week I flew to Seattle to surprise my husband, who was there on a business trip. While in Seattle we stopped into a little vegan grocery store, Sidecar Pigs for Peace. It’s a really great store, and I can’t tell you how fun it is for me to walk into a shop and think, “I can buy anything I want! It’s all vegan!” I’m overwhelmed in a similar way whenever I get to go to a vegan restaurant. You mean I can order anything on the menu? Are you serious?
One of the things I brought back with me to Boston was a package of Soy Curls. I saw them for the first time in a Chicken-style salad on Julie Hasson’s Everyday Dish. I’d never seen them in Boston, so I jumped at the last bag sitting on the shelf at Sidecar. They sat in my purse all the way back to Boston, and I tried to explain to my husband what they were exactly. Looking at the dry, shriveled pieces in the package, I could tell he wasn’t convinced.
So I went ahead and made myself a dish with them. When I sat down on the couch (I’ve co-opted the dining room table to use in the kitchen), he asked for a bite. Then another. And then requested them for dinner the next night.
Soy Curls are great because all you have to do is soak them in hot water to rehydrate them, then flavor/cook them however you want. Here’s a great, easy and FAST dinner that’s perfect for spring asparagus. You can substitute tofu, setian or tempeh for the Soy Curls if you’re unable to find them, but you may need to adjust the favoring; soy curls seem to absorb the sauce in a special way.
Sesame Soy Curls with Asparagus and Quinoa
Serves Two
Quinoa
1 Cup Quinoa, rinsed three times
1 1/2 Cups Cool Water
1/2 tsp Salt, scant
1 tsp Oil
2 Cups Dry Soy curls
2 Tbs Oil
1-2 Cloves Garlic, minced (optional, I left it out)
1 Dry Chili, crushed, optional
2 Small Carrots, thinly sliced or grated
1 lb Asparagus, trimmed to 1/2-1/3 of the stalks
1 Tbs Sugar
3 Tbs Soy Sauce/Tamari (reduced sodium)
1 Tbs Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
Sesame Seeds for garnish.
Rinse the quinoa three times, rubbing the grains in your hands. While the majority of quinoa now available in stores already has the bitter coating of saponin removed, I find there is usually still some left. Your quinoa will tastes better if you give it good scrub.
Add rinsed quinoa, water, salt, and oil to a pot that has a lid. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and turn the heat down to low to simmer. Let simmer for 20 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it steam for another 10. Don’t open the lid until the last 10 minutes are up. Fluff before serving.
Place soy curls in a bowl and cover with boiling/near boiling water. Let sit for 10 minutes or so to re-hydrate. Once hydrated, squeeze out any remaining liquid.
Heat a wok over high heat and add oil. Add soy curls and stir-fry until browned. Remove curls from the wok and add garlic, chili and veggies (using more oil if needed). When asparagus is bright green and tender-crisp, add soy curls back into the wok. Add soy sauce, sugar and vinegar and toss well. Drizzle sesame oil over the top. Taste a soy curl and adjust seasoning if needed.
Serve over quinoa and top with sesame seeds
May 8th, 2008
Did anyone make the marmalade? This is the perfect recipe to use it in. If you’re not up for making marmalade from scratch, that’s not a problem. Next time you’re at the store pick up a small jar and use that instead. In fact, using store-bought marmalade makes this dish super-duper easy to prepare.
Marmalade chicken is one of those simple dinner dishes that home cooks have been preparing for themselves or their families for years because it’s not only damn easy, but also damn tasty. There are a ton of different recipes available for it online, some just call for marmalade and chicken (or in our case, tofu or seitan), and some make a more elaborate marinade using the marmalade as a base.
This dish is as easy as you want it to be, super flavorful, and infinitely customizable. You can use a base of rice, couscous, pasta, quinoa, millet, polenta (and so on) and dress it up with any simply prepared greens or veggies you’ve got. If your using a rice cooker for your starch, and the oven for the tofu, you can quickly steam or saute up any other accompaniment without much fuss.
I grilled the tofu after I baked it because I love grill marks. The use of a grill or a grill pan is totally optional, unless you’re like me and like really pretty tofu. If you’re free of my strange tofu vanity issues, don’t worry one bit. However, if you do break out the grill pan, be careful not to burn the ‘fu. All the sugar in the marmalade makes for easily scorched tofu if you’re not careful. I may or may not be speaking from experience. *cough cough*
One last thing before I jump into the recipe. Pearl couscous. Oh my goodness, have you tried this stuff? I love it! It’s also called israeli couscous or maftoul. Like regular coucous, it’s actually a pasta, but it’s like couscous on steroids. It’s really fun and a nice change of pace from rice. You should be able to find it near the regular couscous, either in a package near the pastas or in a bin in the bulk food section of your local grocery store. You can boil/drain it like regular pasta, or cook it in a skillet like risotto. Very cool stuff.
Marmalade Tofu with Kale and Lemon Pearl Couscous
Serves two with leftover tofu, easily scaled
1 14 oz block of Super Firm Tofu, pressed well (or 4 seitan cutlets)
1 Recipe Marmalade Marinade, below
Couscous, risotto style
1 Cup Pearl Couscous
2 tsp Oil
2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
Zest from 1 Lemon
1/2 tsp Salt (scant)
2 to 2 1/2 Cups Water
Kale
1 bunch Kale (or about 2 cups veg of choice)
2 tsp Oil
2 Tbs Water
1-2 tsp Tamari
1/4 cup Sliced Almonds
Marmalade Marinade
5 Tbs Marmalade
2 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce (reduced sodium)
1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Hot Chili Flakes (optional)
1/4 tsp Ginger (optional)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Preheat oven to 400º F.
My favorite method for pressing tofu: Pour off all excess water. Wrap the tofu in two paper towels. Then wrap the tofu in a terrycloth kitchen towel. Place a cast-iron skillet on top (or anything else that’s flat and heavy and can get wet) and let sit for 20 minutes or longer. After 20 minutes, the towel should be soaked through and the tofu nice and firm. The paper towel just protects the tofu from any lint or, um, cat hair that might be on the towel. Slice the block into 8 even rectangles.
In a baking dish that will fit all the tofu snuggly, whisk together your marinade. Add the tofu (or seitan) and coat each piece. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway. There should still be a little marinade in the bottom of the dish after baking, just enough to use as a glaze.
When tofu is halfway done, heat oil in a large skillet an add dry couscous. Stir for a few minutes until each pearl is coated and lightly toasted. Add lemon juice, zest and salt. 2 cups of water and let simmer, stirring frequently, and watch as the couscous absorbs the liquid. When all liquid is absorbed, try a pearl to see if it is cooked through. Add more water as necessary. You can also boil the couscous, drain, then mix in the salt, juice and zest with a little oil.
In the last few minutes, heat the oil for the kale in a wok or large skillet. (The tofu will hold nicely in a warm oven if you need more time.) Add washed, torn kale and toss to coat. Add water to the hot pan and quickly cover with any lid that will fit to quick-steam the kale. Remove the lid after a few minutes (admire how tender and green the kale looks) and saute to cook off any remaining liquid. Add almonds and tamari, stirring well, until the almonds are lightly toasted.
Plate the couscous and then the kale. Add the tofu on top, and drizzle any remaining glaze over everything. Garnish with extra almonds if desired.
April 8th, 2008
In Italy, gnocchi doesn’t require potatoes. They can be made from regular pasta flour, or cheese. In fact, pretty much anything that can be rolled into a lump and served like pasta/dumplings can be gnocchi. In the United States, however, gnocchi is usually assumed to be made mostly from potatoes, though you’ll see sweet potato gnocchi and ricotta gnocchi every once in a while.
When it comes to potato gnocchi, there’s a great debate between those who insist on adding eggs to the dough, and those who insist that eggless gnocchi is the best. Begin vegan, this is a problem easily solved. No eggs! There, that was easy, right?
What’s really nice about this is that your vegan gnocchi is just the same as a lot of traditional gnocchis out there. While I love adapting recipes to be vegan, it’s really nice to make time-tested dishes that have always been vegan. Gnocchi is one of those dishes. Don’t let anyone make you put eggs in your gnocchi!
The downside is that eggless gnochhi can be a bit more fussy than the egged version. But don’t despair! I did a bunch of research, and I think I have a solid recipe here that will minimize if not eliminate any problems. These tips will be detailed in the recipe below.
I decided to serve this with two easy sauces. If I’m going to the effort of making fresh pasta, I want sauces that compliment and showcase the pasta–nothing too thick or too heavy that would hide it or mask the flavor of fresh gnocchi. First I made a thyme vinaigrette, but vinaigrette is too strong of a word. It’s simply fresh thyme leaves, mashed in a mortar and pestle with some salt, olive oil, and a tiny splash of white wine vinegar. It’s not nearly as tart as you might expect with a title like “vinaigrette”. It really lets the fresh time flavor stand out, and shows off your beautiful gnocchi.
To cut the thyme vinaigrette, I made a simple cashew cream sauce with a hint of lemon. It has a light sweetness and richness that really matches nicely. If you have a high-speed blender (like a Vita-Mix) you’ll have no problems blending the cashews into a smooth sauce. I’m not sure how a regular blender will fare. You could try powdering the nuts in a spice grinder before adding them to your blender, and straining the cream afterwards if it’s still lumpy. It might work fine, though!
Alright, are you ready to make gnocchi? And PS - this recipe is soy free!
Gnocchi with Thyme Vinaigrette and Lemon Cashew Cream
Serves 2-3
For Gnocchi
2 Russet Potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Scant Cup Bread Flour*
(No salt!)
For Thyme Vinaigrette
2 Tbs Fresh Thyme, leaves only
1-2 Pinches Salt, to taste
4 Tbs Olive Oil
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar
For Lemon Cashew Cream
1 Cup Water
1 1/4 Cups Roasted, Salted Cashews (or raw)
Zest of 1 Lemon
1/2-1 tsp Lemon Juice
*I call for bread flour because of the high-gluten content. This will help the pasta set up while it’s cooking a little better than regular flour would.
Game Plan: The first thing you’re going to do is get the potatoes in the oven. Baked potatoes will be drier than boiled, so even though it takes longer, it makes for better gnocchi. While they’re baking, prepare both sauces, get your workstation ready, and put a large pot of salty water on to boil. (It’s important that you salt the water and not the dough; this will help keep the gnocchi firm. Salt is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water–salt in the dough would make your gnocchi a little mushy). Now you’ll be ready to cook and plate the gnocchi as soon as you’re finished shaping them.
For your workstation, you’ll need the following: 1 knife (a paring knife is ideal), a fork or a gnocchi board, a large plate lightly dusted with flour (for your shaped gnocchi), and a large, flat surface for rolling out your pasta. A potato ricer (or a food mill) is ideal for ricing the potatoes, but a box grater or even just a fork will suffice.
You want to rice your potatoes as soon as possible when they come out of the oven. The hotter the potato, the more steam comes off when you rice it, which reduces the moisture content of the gnocchi. The dryer the gnocchi, the less flour you need, which leads to the lightest, fluffiest, most delicious gnocchi. Use a kitchen towel to hold the potato, unless you feel like burning your fingers!
Near your pot of boiling water, place a bowl with 1/2 of the vinaigrette in the bottom. When the gnocchi are finished cooking, you’ll scoop them out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place them directly in this bowl and toss to coat. Then you can plate them and drizzle them with the cream sauce before they cool. Got it?
Preheat oven to 400º F. Stab your potatoes with a fork and wrap them in foil. Bake in a small dish for about 60 minutes, or until tender all the way through.
Sauces
Meanwhile, prepare your sauces. Strip the thyme leaves off their stems into a mortar. Add a pinch or two of salt and grind with the pestle until a rough paste is formed. Add oil and vinegar and mix again. Don’t worry if it’s emulsified, it just needs to be mixed. Taste and adjust salt or vinegar as needed. Set aside.
Place all the ingredients for the cashew cream in a blender and blend on high until thick and smooth. Adjust seasoning if needed (this should be slightly sweet and not as salty as the vinaigrette) and set aside.
Making the Gnocchi
As soon as the potates come out of the oven, remove the foil and then peel them. The photo shows me using a vegetable peeler, but I quickly switched to scraping the skin off with the back of a knife. Much easier.
Put the hot potatoes through a ricer as soon as you can. The hotter the potatoes are during this step, the better the gnocchi will be. Rice them over a wide, flat surface to maximize contact with the air to help them dry out better. You can also grate them or shred them with a fork.
Let the potatoes cool/dry for 10-15 minutes. During this time, make sure you have everything in place you’ll need for shaping, cooking, dressing, and plating the gnocchi. Once they’re shaped you want to be able to cook them and serve them as quickly as possible (unless you’ll be freezing the cooked gnocchi for later).
Gather your cooled potatoes into a flat disc and sprinkle about 1/2 the flour over it.
Work the dough with your hands, adding more flour if needed. You probably won’t need the whole cup of flour. I had about three tablespoons leftover. If in doubt, use less as opposed to more.
Work your dough until just combined. Do not overwork it! It should be soft, not sticky or crumbly. You’re not even going to really knead it, just mix it together. You must shape the dough immediately.
My favorite part! Roll some of the dough out into a long snake, about as thick as your tumb. Cut the snake into little “pillows” and dust them with flour. To shape, simply roll one of the pillows down a ridged gnocchi board (or the tines of a fork!). The gnocchi should curl around your thumb. Once side will be ridged, and the other side will have an indent in it. This helps to catch the sauce.
Place the shaped gnocchi on a plate that has been dusted with flour. At this point you should cook the gnocchi immediately. I tried freezing the raw shaped gnocchi and it was a disaster! You must at least partially cook the gnocchi at this point or all your hard work will be ruined.
Cooking and Serving the Gnocchi
Gently place the gnocchi in to salted, boiling water. After a minute or two, the gnocchi will float to the surface. About 30 seconds after they begin floating, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water, draining them well.
Place the cooked gnocchi into a large bowl that has 1/2 of the vinaigrette in the bottom. Toss the gnocchi to coat. Drizzle your dinner plates with the other half of the vinaigrette and some of the cream sauce. Pile the gnocchi on the plates and drizzle more cream sauce on top. Garnish with a fresh sprig of thyme and serve immediately.
March 12th, 2008
I’m starting to miss summer veggies. We’re in a food rut over here. Today my husband turned to me and said, “Judging from the blog, people would never guess that all we eat is pasta.”
Clearly something needed to be done.
When I’m feeling the food blues, I like to make fancy things. Scratch that–I like to make things that look fancy, but are actually pretty simple. When I think of an easy lunch, I usually don’t think risotto. All that stirring… it’s definitely only a once-in-a-while thing for me. But baked risotto! A little prep then 25 minutes in the oven and voila. It’s a little different in texture than standard risotto, which is creamier. This is closer to a pilaf than anything, but it’s still delicious. I’m going to try making it with more liquid next time to see if I can replicate the creaminess of stirred risotto.
But back to lunch. The risotto practically cooks itself, so with 25 minutes of downtime I could prep some veggies to accompany it. I wanted to make the end of December feel more like the middle of July. Canned artichokes, a red pepper, and an eggplant all volunteered. These are all veggies that are great cooked simply, roasted or grilled with wee bit of olive oil and salt. To jazz them up a touch, I made a very easy (and very tasty) balsamic reduction to drizzle over the plate before serving.
If you’ve never made a balsamic reduction before, you should really give it a shot. It only has one ingredient (I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count). It can be prepared ahead of time, and it goes with all sorts of foods (even fruit!). And it looks pretty. Drizzle some messily on your dinner plate and you go from a nice looking meal to a gourmet looking meal immediately. See?
Chefs love to drizzle stuff all over plates. I don’t blame them. If you can drizzle something tasty, go for it. Extra points for a bright or contrasting color. Just make sure your drizzle-stuff is sort of thick and syrupy so it sticks where you put it. If it’s too thin it will run all over.
Baked Risotto With Grilled Veggies and Balsamic Reduction
Serves two to three
Risotto
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 Red Onion, finely chopped (or 3-4 shallots)
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Cup Arborio Rice
1/3 Cup Oil Packed Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp Dried Italian Herbs, your choice
1/2 Cup Cooking Sherry
2 Cups Hot Vegetable Stock, or water and veg bullion cube
1/2 tsp Salt (if needed)
Veggies
1 Small Eggplant*
4 Water Packed Artichoke Hearts
1 Bell Pepper (or jared, roasted red pepper)
Reduction
Balsamic Vinegar (at least 1/2 cup)
*I only used 2 slices of eggplant per person, so you won’t need an entire eggplant to make this dish.
Preheat your oven to 450º F.
Begin by sauteing the garlic and onion in olive oil in an oven safe sauté pan that has high sides and a tight fitting lid. While the onion is cooking over medium heat, begin roasting the pepper if you are using a fresh one. Instructions can be found here.
Once the onion has softened and browned, add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and herbs. Add the cooking sherry and stir until absorbed by the rice. Add the stock/water, stir, cover and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a cast-iron grill pan with some olive oil. When the pan is very hot, add slices of eggplant and drizzle with olive oil. Grill until tender, remove from the pan. Slice the artichoke hearts in quarters and grill for a few minutes, set aside when completed. Sprinkle both lightly with salt.
To make the reduction, heat balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan, reducing by half until the vinegar is syrupy. The more vinegar you use, the easier it is to make, but the longer it takes. If you only use a small amount of vinegar, you can overcook it easily; keep a close eye on it. While the vinegar is reducing, check for consistency by drizzling some on a plate. If it is thick and syrupy, and tastes sweet and tangy, you’re ready to go. Try not to burn or completely caramelize the vinegar.
One the risotto comes out of the oven, remove the cover and fluff it with a fork. BE CAREFUL. While I was plating the dish, I had forgotten that the pan had just come out of a 450º oven and tried to move it out of the way. I plated, photographed, and wrote about this dish one hand because of that. Ouch.
Plate the dish. I used a cooking ring to form the risotto, put the artichokes on top, and the eggplant and pepper next to the risotto. Drizzle with the reduction and serve.
Happy New Year!
December 31st, 2007
I’m forever combining kale and tofu. I always seem to have both on hand, probably because I love both ingredients. Today, Christmas day, we wanted lunch but certainly couldn’t make a trip to our little (very closed) grocery store. Time to play with kale and tofu again.
I’ve been trying to perfect pan-fried tofu. It doesn’t sound like something that would be all that hard, and really, it’s not. It’s a simple concept. But like all simple things, small changes can make a huge difference in the final result. I like my tofu a little crispy on the outside, and chewy and flavorful on the inside. There are three things I’ve discovered to help me achieve this: a cast-iron pan, a decently long cooking period, and a rest period afterwards.
Have you ever noticed that your baked tofu firms up a bit when it cools? Just out of the pan or the oven, it can still be a little floppy, a little mushy, a little… bleh. Let it sit out on your cutting board for a few minutes and it’ll firm right up, giving a chewier texture. I’ll give more details in the actual recipe on how to get your pan-fried tofu to turn out like the picture shows.
These noodles are stir fried and only lightly flavored - I made a dipping sauce to go with this dish inspired by the one P.F. Changs makes when you sit down. I’s a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, and chili sauce–well, at least that’s what my mixture is. I have no idea what P.F. Changs actually uses.
The marinade for the tofu is similar for the dipping sauce, but the resulting baked tofu is complimented by the sauce, instead of tasting like more of the same. I love pouring a bit of the dipping sauce over the noodles and tofu while I’m eating for a little extra zing.
Pan Fried Tofu, Kale, and Stir-Fried Noodles
Serves Two
1 Package Extra/Super Firm Tofu
1 Head Kale, deveined and torn
5 oz. Dried, Wide Rice Noodles (Mine come in 10 oz packages)
Sugar
Soy Sauce
Tofu Marinade
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce or Tamari
1 Tbs Thinly Sliced Ginger (or minced)
1 Tbs Maple Syrup
1 Tbs Oil
1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 tsp Mustard
1/4 tsp Sriracha or Hot Chili Sauce
Black Pepper, to taste
Dipping Sauce
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce or Tamari
1/4 Cup Water
1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp Sriracha
Begin by pressing the tofu. I wrap my tofu in a single paper towel, then in a bar towel, and place a cast iron pan on top for 15 or so minutes. The paper towel prevents bar towel fuzz from getting on the tofu, while the terry cloth bar towel sucks out a ton of water.
While the tofu is pressing, whisk together the marinade. I used a mandoline to cut the ginger into paper-thin slices: that way some cooks with the tofu and you get mild bits of ginger on the finished tofu. You can mince the ginger if you don’t have a mandoline available.
Cut the tofu into 8 equal sized rectangles and let it sit in the marinade for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through. Meanwhile, boil the rice noodles and cook for 6 minutes, until just tender. Rinse in cold water and drain as well as you can, set aside. I also cut my noodles with scissors to prevent them from being too long.
Whisk together the dipping sauce, and set aside.
Heat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Lightly oil the pan, just enough so the it’s shiny. Once the pan is very hot, add the tofu. If your pan is seasoned, you shouldn’t have any issues with the tofu sticking. Brown the tofu on one side, flip, and brown on the other side. I then spoon extra marinade over the tofu and flip every few minutes. In all, I cook the tofu for around 10 minutes, until it looks like the tofu will be burnt if I leave it on any longer. Remove tofu from the pan and let it rest while finishing the dish.
Heat a little more oil in your pan, add the kale. Once softened, add the noodles and toss. If they stick, that’s okay. Use a metal spatula to remove them; the crispy bits are tasty. Add more oil, enough to coat the noodles, if needed.
Flavor the noodles lightly with a sprinkle of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. Plate the noodles and kale. Slice the now firmed (but still warm) tofu and place on top. Serve with dipping sauce.
Leftover tofu is wonderful in sandwiches. Happy holidays!
December 25th, 2007
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