Zucchini Pasta

Vegetables are abundant right now and it is so fun to walk through the market and pick up all kinds of colorful veggies.  Once I get them home I have to come up with a multitude of ways of using them before they go bad.  Enter zucchini pasta.  Summer squash are my favorite food right now and with the help of a julienne slicer you can turn zucchini, or any summer squash, into pasta noodles.  I haven't eaten actual pasta in a long time, so I don't even notice the difference.  The sauce mixes with the noodles and it is just a plate of veggie deliciousness.

Zucchini Noodles: I always peel the zucchini, but I don't think this is totally necessary.  I think it makes the noodles softer and closer to a pasta type consistency.  Then use the julienne slicer to create beautiful long noodles.  Sautee them in a pan with a little butter/oil for about 2 minutes to soften them just a bit.

Sauce:  The options here are endless.  I like to use ground pork, but ground beef would be good as well.  Brown the meat in a sauté pan with a little oil.  You can add some garlic and onions if you want.  Next comes the veggies.  Since fresh tomatoes are so abundant right now I use fresh garden tomatoes, but canned tomatoes would work, too.  I also like to add red peppers and green onions for some extra flavor and veggie goodness.  Chop and toss the veggies in with the meat and let is cook together for about five minutes.  Toward the end of the cooking process add some sweet basil.  This is the do not miss ingredient.  It is such a wonderfully fresh and fragrant addition to the pasta. Right now fresh basil is cheap and all over the place.   I keep buying it and then need ways to use it up throughout the week.  This pasta pile up is a great solution.  It is so sad to throw past it's prime basil into the compost heap.

Have fun with all those beautiful summer vegetables.

Cold sesame (cucumber) noodles

I went up to the northside homestead to harvest some of the veggies yesterday. Green beans!  And the blueberries, and so many greens! The cucumbers are still pretty small - but I am already planning to make some cucumber kimchi and pickles. I love eating cucumbers in hot weather, which we are decidedly having, hence today's recipe. This is another one from The Clothes Makes the Girl blog, and I thought it turned out delicious. The cucumber makes great noodles, and the sauce was perfect. This makes 2 big servings, or 4 smaller ones. I had mine with some sauteed green beans and a fried egg - which sort of made me want bibimbap. Maybe I will try a paleo version of that soon?!


Sesame (cucumber) noodles

1 teaspoon sesame seeds
2 cucumbers
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon sunbutter (sugar-free) - *I used almond butter
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon tamari or braggs
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 scallion, dark green part only, thinly sliced

1. Heat a small saute pan over medium heat, then toast the sesame seeds until light brown, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Peel the cucumbers, then turn them into noodles with a julienne peeler. Place in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, mix the tahini, sun/almond butter, oil, tamari, vinegar, water, red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger with a fork until smooth.
4. Pour the dressing over the cucumber noodles and toss gently with a rubber scraper until evenly coated. Mound on a plate and sprinkle with the sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

Peanut Noodles

Now, in my days of eating in a vegan/vegetarian coop in college, I've had some pretty horrible peanut sauce. An almost impossible to swallow mixture of what seemed to be crunchy peanut butter with a dash of water and Braggs. This, my friends, is an entirely different beast. I found this recipe by Bogart Loves, local blogger and baker of delicious donuts. It's spicy and comforting and all-around delicious.

for the sauce:1 Tbsp canola oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
1/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp agave syrup
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sriracha chili sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark sesame oil
juice of one lime

In a large saute pan, heat 1 Tbsp of canola oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chopped shallot and garlic. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together until smooth. Allow shallot and garlic to cook until they turn slightly golden and then add the sauce. Bring sauce to a simmer and allow to cook for no more than 3-5 minutes, stirring often. If the sauce becomes thick, add a bit of water to thin it out.

I used coconut oil instead of canola oil and onion instead of shallot. You could also omit the fish sauce to make it vegetarian. I steamed what veggies I had (cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage), boiled up some udon noodles and smothered the whole thing with the peanut sauce and topped it with fresh tomatoes and green onions.

Soba and Fried Tofu Salad

I've been feeling really uninspired to cook lately, and whenever that happens, I buy a new cookbook. So, I picked up Jeanne Lemlin's Simple Vegetarian Pleasures at Magers and Quinn the other day (with credit I'd forgotten I had!)--I'm pretty excited about these truly simple recipes!

She recommends serving this one cold, but since I was hungry and couldn't wait (plus have a thing about temperature), I ate it hot. Probably delicious either way!

1 pound extra-firm tofu
1 T. canola oil
1 T. tamari or shoyu
1 pound soba noodles

Dressing:
3 T. tamari or shoyu
3 T. sesame oil
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. hot chili oil
1 T. rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 t. grated ginger

1 T. sesame seeds
2 large scallions, thinly sliced
4 cups spinach leaves, washed, then stacked and julienned

1. Fry up the tofu however you like. (I cubed mine and cooked it in a bit of oil and the 1 T. shoyu until it was fairly crispy.)
2. In the meantime, cook the soba noodles.
3. Make the dressing!
4. In a large bowl, combine tofu, soba noodles, and the dressing. Top each serving with a big handful of spinach, some sesame seeds, and a few scallions.

So. easy.

(The photo is heavy on the sesame seeds!)

vermicelli salad.

just so you all don't think that all i do is bake and never eat actual food...here's a recipe from the rebar cookbook. i was craving something fresh and summery and this really hit the spot.

dressing:

1 cup hot water

4 tbsp brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 tsp sriracha sauce

4 tbsp fish sauce (or substitute soy sauce)

2 tbsp soy sauce

6 tbsp lime juice

salad:

2 cups shredded lettuce

1/2 package rice noodles

4 scallions, minced

1/2 cucumber, sliced

2 carrots, grated

2 tomatoes, chopped (i left these out because i didn't have any)

4 tbsp chopped cilantro and mint

2 tbsp cashews

1. dissolve sugar in hot water and let cool. stir in garlic, jalapeno, soy and/or fish sauce and lime juice. whisk thouroughly to combine.

2. follow instructions on package to cook noodles. strain and rinse with cold water. shake excess water from the noodles and gently toss with sesame oil.

3. to assemble salads, place shredded lettuce in the bottom of each serving bowl, add fresh herbs, then noodles, then veggies, then dressing, sprinkle with cashews and more fresh herbs.

eat!

Noodle soup

I got home from vacation last week to not so many groceries - certainly nothing fresh. Thus there became an experience of being in some Top Chef type of quick-fire challenge where you have to make a delicious something out of random stuff in the cupboard. (Don't we all do this sometime or another?!) The culinary creativity for this soup was all My Charming Companion and not me - but I am posting because it turned out delicious.

Onion, carrots, celery, & cabbage were sauteed in sesame oil.
Garlic and fresh ginger were added, then chicken stock, tamari, sriracha, and fish sauce.
Rice noodles were cooked on the side.
Two mixed eggs were stirred in (the trick is to do it very slowly) along with frozen peas.
Noodles and soup were combined in a bowl.