Sesame Tofu & Rustic Cabbage Soup

Sometimes, you just need to detox.

Whether it's from having one too many cocktails or eating out too much (guilty of both this weekend), the body gives subtle clues when it's not a happy camper. For me, I know I need to detox when I start to feel a little sluggish and heavy on the inside.  I also start to crave green, crisp vegetables.

This weekend was especially busy and I got a little lazy with cooking. My body craved a home cooked meal today and it was the perfect opportunity to use up some produce that was nearing expiration. I had a half head of green cabbage and a couple potatoes. Luckily, I found an amazing recipe that used up both items.

I wasn't sure how the soup would turn out since it was my first time making it so I also made a back up meal, a sesame tofu recipe that my dear friend Clarissa sent to me. Luckily, the soup was light yet flavorful and super nutritious. And the sesame tofu was delicious as usual. Even if both dishes didn't quite go together, it still made for a delicious Meatless Monday and I'm ready to attack the rest of the week.

Sesame Tofu
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 6

14 ounces extra-firm tofu
2 teaspoons honey
3 tablespoons tamari
3 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons sesame oil (not toasted)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Canola oil
1/4 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted
6 green onions

Cut the tofu into small triangles, place into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After the tofu has simmered for 10 minutes, drain the tofu in a strainer.

Meanwhile, put honey, tamari, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic and chile flakes into a small saucepan and bring just to a simmer. Keep warm.

Coat a pan lightly with olive oil and put the tofu in to brown. Once browned, lower the heat to about medium and pour the sauce in and let simmer for a couple minutes. Toss the tofu with the sesame seeds and green onions just before serving over your carb of choice (I used brown rice).

Rustic Cabbage Soup
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks 
Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
a big pinch of salt
1/2 pound potatoes, cut 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups vegetable stock 
1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
Freshly cracked black pepper, garnish
1 cup cooked brown rice.

Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the stock and bring the pot to a simmer.

Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is. Serve with a couple spoonfuls of brown rice and freshly cracked pepper and you've got yourself a full meal.

Laksa

Laksa!

My mom likes to give me random ingredients whenever I visit. On my last visit, she gave me a package of rice noodle sheets. I had no idea what to do with it. They were a little too thick to saute like chow fun noodles and bánh cuốn was a bit too complicated for a work night.

It'd been sitting in my refrigerator for several days when I finally just googled, "what to do with rice noodle sheets." Nothing really appealed to me so I went to one of my favorite sites for asian recipes, Rasa Malaysia. This site never fails me, it's where I got my Roasted Crab with Garlic Noodles and Indian Mee Goreng recipes.

After a quick search for "noodles" on Rasa Malaysia's site, I found exactly what I didn't even know what I was looking for - Laksa!

Curry, noodles, and soup? Yes, please! I changed the original recipe up a bit and it turned out fabulous and a super quick meal! Enjoy!

Laksa
Adapted from Rasa Malaysia's recipe
Serves 6

Stock
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 pack Malaysian instant curry paste (I used Mae Ploy Masman Curry Paste)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 stalks lemongrass (white part only, pounded)
2 jalapenos, thickly sliced
10 tofu puffs, halved
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste
Green onions and Lime wedges as garnish

Other Ingredients
Rice noodle sheets (The package will say Bánh ướt)
Bean sprouts, rinsed
3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
Fish cakes, sliced

In a stockpot, add the oil and sauté the instant curry paste until aromatic.

Add the chicken broth, water, fish sauce, lemongrass, jalapeno, tofu puffs and bring the stock to boil.

Lower the heat to simmer. Add the coconut milk and evaporated milk. Add salt to taste. Keep the stock on simmer.

Bring another pot of water to a boil, add the rice noodle sheets, and allow the noodles to soften and separate a bit. Careful to not overcook or the noodles will break apart. Drain in a strainer.

To assemble a bowl of laksa for serving, put the noodles into a bowl and top with bean sprouts, a few slices of fish cake, and 1-2 egg quarters. Using a ladle, pour the laksa broth and a few pieces of tofu puffs on top of the noodles.Garnish with green onions and squeeze lime juice over the top right before serving.

Evaporated milk, Coconut milk, Masman Curry Paste, Tofu puffs, Lemongrass, and Rice noodle sheets

Kimchi Fried Rice

When I first met John, he would go on and on about this dish he used to get in college called Kimchi Fried Rice. The restaurant was located in a hole in the wall in Berkeley in a place called the Asian Ghetto (a.k.a. Durant Square). You can imagine why I wasn't exactly scrambling to go there.

Eventually, he caught me in a good mood and we ended up sitting on one of the greasy bar stools at Bear's Ramen. The lady whipped up a Kimchi Fried Rice with SPAM for John and a Kimchi Fried Rice with Tofu for me. I was hooked after my first bite! It was unbelievably delicious! Perfect amount of smokiness (from the chilis?) and sour from the kimchi. And she won my heart by topping it with a sunny-side-up egg. Where has this dish been all of my life? I've never even seen this on the menu at Korean restaurants.

So, we went back again, and again, and AGAIN. Each time, we mentally took notes of the ingredients that the lady (owner I'm assuming) put into the wok. We tried to duplicate what we saw but it wasn't the same. We even googled the recipe but we were missing a secret ingredient. Finally, John found it. The secret ingredient is...

PAPRIKA!

Who knew? Paprika is what gives the rice that amazing color and smokey flavor. You can adapt this dish for any protein. SPAM is most popular but you could use chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, even tofu!

Bon Appetit!

Kimchi Fried Rice with SPAM or Tofu
Adapted from these recipes and from careful observation at Bear's Ramen
Serves 2 

1 cup of kimchi (drained, chopped)
1/2 block Spam (diced) or 1/2 block of Extra Firm Tofu
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups cooked rice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 teaspoon paprika powder
2 eggs
2 stems green onion (chopped)
Whole sesame seed for garnishing
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add in your SPAM or tofu and let it cook in the oil for a few minutes. Add in the kimchi, stir everything for a few more minutes until everything is heated through.

In the meantime, heat a little bit of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Crack two eggs, into the skillet, being careful to keep the egg yolks separate. Let it cook until the whites are done but the middle of the egg yolk a bit runny.

Push the ingredients to the edge of the wok and put the rice in the middle. Add in the soy sauce, sesame oil, chili paste, paprika, salt and pepper. Incorporate all of the ingredient and use your spatula to push the rice into the wok. You don't want to burn it, you just want it lightly browned.

By this time your eggs should be done. Spoon the Kimchi Fried Rice into two bowls and top each with an egg. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and green onions on top.

Kimchi Fried Rice with SPAM

Kimchi Fried Rice with Tofu

Mom's Stir-fry

Before I get into the recipe, I have to take a moment to applaud my mom. In the 18 years that I lived with my parents, my mom managed to make a home cooked dinner every single weeknight AFTER working a full day. Every. Night. And we always ate relatively early. She would be home by 6 and we ate dinner together around 7. There was always a vegetable dish, some kind of protein, and of course, rice. Oh yea, she even managed to have tong more often than not. How did she do that?

I work from home 4.5 days per week, have a lovely 10 ft. commute every morning AND evening, and can barely manage to cook 3x on a good week. Many thanks to my mom for providing a balanced meal every night. You are very much appreciated.

There's a stir-fry that my mom made often that I just salivate over! It doesn't even have a name. It's just a bunch of bite-sized pieces of ingredients all quickly stir-fried together. The ingredients vary but my favorite variation includes potatoes, preserved vegetables, baked tofu and edamame. This is MY kind of comfort food!

Here's my adaptation of my Mom's Stir Fry. Enjoy!

Mom's Stir-fry
1 potato - thinly diced
1 cup of asparagus - sliced into coins
2 squares of baked tofu - sliced into bite sized pieces (you can find this in the refrigerated section at asian supermarkets. should be very firm and brown on the outside.) 
1 cup of edamame
1 cup of corn
1 package of preserved vegetables (these are tricky to find. they come in airtight pouches and are usually near the tofu in the refrigerated section of asian supermarkets.)
fish sauce, soy sauce, and fresh black pepper to taste (no salt, the preserved vegetables are salty enough)

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook until it browns a little. Once the potatoes are tender, remove from skillet and set aside.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the asparagus and saute for a minute. Then add the baked tofu, edamame, corn and preserved vegetables. Stir-fry until heated through. Just before turning off the heat, add the potatoes back to the skillet, heat through, and add some freshly cracked black pepper.

Serve over brown rice or mixed in with quinoa as pictured. Add a drizzle of fish sauce and soy sauce!

You can imagine how creative you can get with this dish. Add meat, carrots, celery, bell peppers, anything really! Just be sure to cut everything into bite-sized pieces so that it cooks quickly and evenly.

My first curry

I had a weird assortment of produce that I needed to use: a Bell Pepper & Jalapenos.

I also had a couple of random items in the pantry that I wanted to get rid of: Coconut milk & Rice Noodles.

The only thing I've ever used the coconut milk for is a vegetable korma but I didn't have any of the other ingredients on hand. I did have a bottle of curry powder though so I did a quick search for Curry Powder, Coconut Milk & Potatoes (which I also had on hand) and voila! Easy Thai Chicken Curry recipe which I adapted for my palate. Try it out! I was quite pleased! Bon Appetit!

Thai Tofu Curry
(Adapted from this recipe on recipezaar.com)
4.5 oz Coconut Milk
10 oz Water
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tsp Soup Base (Any kind - I used "Better than Bouillon Vegan No Chicken Base)
1.5 Tbsp Curry Powder
2 small potatoes, diced
1/2 package of Extra Firm Tofu, diced
1 Roma Tomato, diced
1 Jalapeno Pepper, sliced into long strips
1 Red Bell Pepper
3-4 Fresh Basil leaves, reserve 2 leaves for garnish
Rice Noodles, boiled & drained

Mix Coconut Milk, Water, Soup Base, Soy Sauce, Curry Powder, and Potatoes in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, tofu, jalapeno and simmer for another 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add the bell pepper strips and basil and simmer for another minute or two. If you like the bell peppers a little softer, simmer for another 5 minutes.

Place the rice noodles in the bottom of a bowl and top with the curry and the basil garnish.

Burrito Bol

My friend Clarissa (the most amazing cook that I know) just recently tried Chipotle for the first time last week. She LOVED it (just like I knew she would) and decided to make her own version at home. It turned out delish and she shared the recipe with me. Here's how it turned out:

Counter-clockwise from top left: Diced roma tomatoes, tofu marinated in taco seasoning, guacomole, brown rice, basil & avocado dressing, black & pinto beans, and shredded butter lettuce (middle)

And here it is all put together!

Guacomole Recipe:

2 avocados, diced
1/4 white onion, finely chopped
1/4 of a lime, juiced
1 roma tomato, diced
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and lightly mash with a fork until nice & chunky.

Tofu marinaded with taco seasoning
1 package of extra firm tofu
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 package of taco seasoning

In a bowl, whisk the EVOO, lemon juice & taco seasoning until thickened. Cube the tofu into 1/4" pieces and toss lightly in the marinade. Let the mixture sit for atleast one hour.

Pour the tofu & the marinade into a saute pan and stir fry until heated through and serve.

Basil & Avocado dressing (for the brown rice)
1 avocado, diced
1 lemon, juiced
3/4 cup basil, lightly chopped
1/4 cup of water
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a blender/food processory and blend until all ingredients are combined.

Black & Pinto beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Drain both cans of black beans and rinse under cold water. Add beans to a saute pan and add all spices. Stir fry until heated through & serve.

Garden update:
The veg & herbs are growing beautifully! See for yourself:

The spinach is freakishly big! The leaves are big as my hand!

The butter lettuce next to my tomato vine does a lot better than the butter lettuce next to the spinach. Check out that beaut!

The tomato vine is taking over! I kinda want the butter lettuce to die to give the tomato vine more room. Is that wrong?

I love my basil!

Cod en Papillote

It's been one week since starting the herb garden and surprise surprise, they're still alive!!!

I found a recipe from whole foods that called for a number of the herbs I have growing. Chilean Sea Bass en Papillote or Chilean Sea Bass in a Paper Pouch. I couldn't find Chilean Sea Bass but the recipe did say I could use any white fish so I used Cod. I had so much fun making this dish, from the origami boxes I made to contain the fish and vegetables to arranging my freshly picked herb bouquet atop the fish.

But that's where the fun stops.

I didn't like this dish very much. It was too...herb-y. The asparagus was also overcooked and mushy. But maybe its only purpose was to keep the fish out of the liquids that dripped to the bottom.

Before going into the oven to bake.

Asparagus, Bell Peppers, Cod, Herbs (Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, & Parsley) and Lemon

Finito!

Cod en Papillote served with Quinoa, Avocado & Baked Tofu "Sushi"

So, again, this was not delicious but maybe I just went overboard with the herbs. The recipe did call for just 1 sprig of a fresh herb but I threw in 1 sprig of each herb. Oops! For those of you who still want to try, here's the recipe.

Bon Appetit!