Sweet and Sour Soba Noodles With Tofu

Tofu loves to be paired with spicy flavors. I love adding tofu to curries or in a stir-fry.

This dish is more of a Chinese/Japanese mix-up prepared by a Italian/Scandinavian mix-up for her Ukrainian/Polish crack-up!

I made it up on the fly and it worked.


My favorite kind of miracle.




Ingredients:

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 garlic cloves minced
1+ tablespoon catsup
1+ tablespoon hot chili sauce (like sriracha)
1 teaspoon ginger (fresh diced or in powder)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons canola or sesame oil
2 green onions diced (all of the white part and a bit of the green)
juice of half an orange

whisk all ingredients in a bowl and set aside

Veggies:

I used what was left in the fridge(not much):
cabbage (half a head)
onions (1 yellow and 1/2 red) sliced
garlic - 3 cloves sliced
ginger - 1 teaspoon
carrots - 2 shredded
green peas - half a bag of frozen
2-3 tablespoons of canola oil
1-3-4 oz. of soba noodles cooked as per package instructions
4 green onions diced

Instructions:
Heat the wok or pan with a little canola oil and crumble the tofu in. Cook the bite sized crumbles for 3-4 minutes then remove from wok.
Add another tablespoon of canola oil to the wok and saute the onion for 2-3 minutes then add garlic and ginger. Cook for another minute or so then add whatever sliced veggies you have in the fridge chopped or sliced into bite sizes. Add one veggie at a time - cooking each for a minute or two on it's own. Add a little tamari/soy sauce with each new veggie to layer the flavors. Cook veggies through 7-10 minutes.

Add the tofu back to the wok and toss with veggies. Add noodles and sweet and sour sauce and toss to coat.

Top with green onions.

Enjoy.

serves 2-4

Creamy Mushroom-Barley Bisque

Another rainy Saturday afternoon here in Western Oregon. What better than a hot bowl of creamy mushroom bisque to warm us up?

It was delicious and fairly simple to make.

Looks like we're not the only ones craving something warm. This sweet doe looks very interested in our soup du jour:




Mushroom Bisque: (totally vegan - but it can obviously be made with dairy if one is so inclined)

Ingredients:
1 onion diced
4 cloves of garlic - chopped finely
3 cups of chopped mushrooms (I used cremini)
3 tablespoons of canola butter (Earth Balance is great)
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
2 cups of plain soy milk
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
7-8 cups of vegetable broth or water
1 cup of barley (rinsed)
1/4 cup chopped parsley (optional)
1/4 cup of sherry or Marsala (optional)
salt and pepper to taste



Instructions

Saute the onion in olive oil until translucent
Add chopped mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes
Add half of the garlic - saute until mushrooms begin to sweat
Season with a pinch of salt, thyme and pepper to taste
Add barley and saute for one minute
De glaze pan with sherry at this point or simply add broth(water) and bring to a boil
Lower to a simmer, cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes to cook barley.

Meanwhile make the roux:
Melt canola butter in a small saucepan
Add remaining garlic and saute for a minute
Add flour and whisk
Cook the flour for a minute then whisk in milk
Continue to whisk as the sauce thickens (4-5 minutes)
Add salt and pepper to taste
Set thickened rue aside until needed

After 40-50 minutes the barley will have cooked and the soup will have reduced and filled the kitchen with a glorious smell
At this point lower heat and stir/whisk in the creamy rue
Adjust seasoning to taste
Top with parsley


Serve hot!

Chocolate and Hazelnuts and Bananas...oh my!

These are just a few of my favorite things:





I love this homemade "Nutella" on top of bananas. I think hazelnuts and chocolate are a divine combination. I first tried Nutella when I was a junior studying abroad in Europe. My uncle Luigi (I kid you not) had stocked up on the sweet treat a few months before when my kid brother had come to visit.

Nutella on crusty bread is a favorite of many bambini d'Italia.

And apparently 20-year-old foreign exchange students too!



Unfortunately, Nutella, like most commercial nut-butters contains a few ingredients that I am not so crazy about. Nutella contains a LOT of sugar, a LOT of modified oils and not a lot of hazelnuts (only about 13%).


So I searched the Internet for a healthy(but yummy),homemade recipe and found a great one at: Su Good Sweets. This recipe contains more nuts, less sugar and more real cocoa than the Nutella you can buy at the market. I used organic brown sugar in place of powdered sugar and it turned out great. I also used just a tablespoon of canola oil instead of the 1/4 cup of oil called for in the original recipe.

This is a truly, delicious, alternative to peanut butter and you can adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Walrus loves the roasted hazelnuts that fall to the floor when I'm rubbing the skins off.

Lucky dog.

This spread is great on pancakes, waffles, toast, in sandwiches and it is brilliant partnered with bananas.


mmm mmmm mmm.


Nutella Advert:



pretty slick.

Pantry Challenge - good chocolate on the cheap

Craving Chocolate?

I love chocolate. I will spend a bit of money to get that fancy bar of organic 70-80% cacao bar from the market each week just to have a nibble now and then.

It can add up.

Well, tonight I found a solution. I made a thick chocolate sauce/non dairy ganache from cocoa powder, sugar and Earth Balance and figure that could save a us a good 10-12 bucks a month.

It was rich and delicious and tasted just like my favorite chocolate ganache.

Why didn't I do this years ago?

Chocolate sauce on bananas is so damn good.

2 parts cocoa powder
2 tspns sugar (or sweetener of your choice)
2 tablespoons good cocoa (Dutch)
1 tablespoon canola oil or Earth Balance spread-melted

mix ingredients together to make a thick, rich sauce.
adjust to taste then dollop on a sliced banana or fruit of your choice.
top with crushed hazelnuts or walnuts.

yum.

serves two.

Bread for supper, bread for dessert!

I used the last of my whole wheat loaf for a light supper and a delicious hazelnut-chocolate spread dessert.

Supper:
Creamy Red Lentil Curry soup
Small tomato and cuke salad
slice of whole wheat




Dessert:
Homemade hazelnut-chocolate spread on toast.




Yum!

Takes me back to Uncle Luigi's :)


I'll post the recipes in a bit.

Don't Mess With Texas

Texas sure surprised them last night.

Don't mess with Texas.

And don't mess with a hungry dog:





She's not amused.