Today, ladies and gentlemen, the Tuesday of the week of May 15th, is my annual Christmas.
Why, you ask?
Because this is the week that farmer’s markets return to Pittsburgh, and Tuesday is my neighborhood’s.
I need to start working on a farmer’s market carol that I can sing as I walk there.
Up this week: Vegan Wedding Soup, Laura’s Not-So-Vegan-and-Not-So-Healthy Cheesecake. Ooooh yeah!
Grab yer kebabs, it’s finally warm enough to fire up the grill. I’m always way psyched about grilling season because it means LESS WORK FOR ME:
The self-proclaimed King of the Grill. Also, Pittsburgh isn’t cloudy, it’s just a little sooty.
So, this meal happened on a Saturday afternoon, after we’d visited the previously mentioned Strip District and I bought all kinds of produce and fresh tofu. In retrospect, it was incredibly silly of me to use freshly made tofu for kebabs, as it was entirely too soft. Live and learn, and use the firmest tofu you’ve got.
You will need:
About 1/2 block tofu
One red pepper
One orange or yellow pepper
A good amount (how’s that for precision?) of pineapple
Marinade:
2 TBS Soy sauce
1 TBS Olive oil
1.5 tsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
Pinch dried ginger
Chopped Thai basil (optional–I’m addicted, okay??)
Normally I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. However, a strange thing has happened–after Easter, when our good friend Liz gave us 34 pounds of candy, so much so that I had to ask Rob to hide it from me and dole it out in reasonable portions, I’ve begun to develop sugar cravings. So when I wanted to make these kebabs, I decided to use sweet fruits and vegetables (the pineapple and peppers) and make a sweet marinade as well.
Okay, so begin by mixing the marinade in a bowl. Then chop everything into nice bite-size pieces. Dump them all in a Ziploc bag with the marinade, toss well to coat and refrigerate for at least an hour, turning the bag over if you think about it.
If you are using wooden BBQ skewers, soak them in water for about 30 minutes before you grill them so they don’t go up in flames.
When the tofu mixture is done marinading, skewer them up and dump the remaining marinade on them while the grill heats up:
See how the tofu is getting kinda crumbly? That’s what happens when you don’t use extra firm. Foolio!
Now throw ‘em on the grill. Yeah!
Close the lid and let them hang out for a bit. If you don’t have a grill, you could easily do this on a pan inside. Let them cook about 4-5 minutes and carefully flip them over using tongs. Cook another 4-5 minutes and take them off. You’ll be able to tell when they’re cooked to your liking.
While they were grilling, I wanted to make some kind of side dish. To go along with the Asian influence, I decided on these udon noodles.
See, they’re from Japan; they’re authentic–
Eh, nevermind.
Anyway, I cooked the noodles according to the package directions, tossed them with a little soy sauce and sprinkled them with sesame seeds. Then I put some on a plate with the kebabs and threw some more Thai basil over the whole thing.
I’m so glad it’s spring!
So, now you have some Thai basil leftover from the previous recipe, right? And maybe you also picked up a package of smoked tofu at the Asian grocery store, and you’re like, “What am I gonna do with this anyway?” right?
Smoked tofu, by the way, totally rules. The package was on the floor next to the fridge as I put groceries away, when I was suddenly distracted by my ringing phone (or maybe it was a shiny object, I can’t seem to remember). When I came back I found Marley licking the package. I swatted him away, rinsed the kitty saliva from the plastic and stuck it in the fridge. I came downstairs about an hour later to find him licking the spot on the tile where the tofu had been. Of course, as you can tell, there is not very much that Marley won’t eat:
He’s not a kitty who misses many meals.
So anyway, it was Sunday afternoon, I had this basil, tofu, and a hungry manfriend—and thus, it was sandwich time.
You will need:
olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced (there are very few recipes on here that don’t include garlic. If you don’t like garlic, you can just go away.)
Half a package of smoked tofu, cut into strips the size of your index finger
1 large whole wheat pita, halved
Spinach, chopped
Red cabbage, chopped
Thai basil leaves, whole
Sesame seeds (optional)
Peanut Sauce (recipe below)
To make the Peanut Sauce, you will need:
2 TBS peanut butter
1 TBS soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
Squeeze of lime juice to taste
water to thin to desired consistency
Start by heating the oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, taking care not to burn. We really just want to warm the tofu and add a little garlic flava, so this part will be quick. Drop the tofu in the pan and cook a minute or two on each side, just to heat through. Remove from heat.
To assemble, carefully open the pocket of your pita and stuff half the tofu inside. Please also ignore my grody bass playin’ fingers with short nails and no use for polish:
Smear with half the peanut sauce:
Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you’re into that:
Add some spinach and cabbage for crunchiness:
Poke some basil leaves in there:
NOM NOM NOM!
P.S.
While I’ve already apologized for abandoning this blog during the semester, it was apparently worth it. I got a 4.0!
A few months ago, I posted a recipe that I tried to emulate from one of my favorite food places in Pittsburgh, Pho Minh. This is another that I have semi-successfully tried to adapt from a place in my neighborhood called Thai Me Up. This is one of my new favorite places in the city, because you can bring a 40 of malt liquor in there, and no one cares. In fact, if you linger over your 40 for long enough, the chef will bring you the most delicious almond-crusted cake you have ever eaten. Seriously.
Anyway, my favorite thing on Thai Me Up’s menu is Spicy Tofu with Basil and Rice Noodles. It is so good. So, I began searching the internets for a decent recipe, and ended up combining a few to recreate this deliciousness. It is certainly not as good as the original, but it’ll suffice.
The key to this recipe is absolutely Thai basil. I would suggest, if you can’t find Thai basil, that you substitute mint and go for an entirely different flavor—to use regular sweet basil wouldn’t do it justice. You can find Thai basil in most Asian groceries (for you Pittsburghers, I get it at Lotus in the Strip.)
This is what Thai basil looks like—you can recognize it in a store or farmer’s market by its small, pointy leaves and purple stem. It tastes much stronger than sweet basil, with a slightly licorice-y flavor.
I also got some of these red Thai chilies for this recipe, the nice thin ones, but you could use regular red or green chili peppers from the grocery store for this as well.
You will need:
Oil (peanut would be great, I only had olive oil on hand)
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Chili peppers, de-seeded and de-ribbed, as many as you’d like
Half a block of extra firm tofu, cut into 1-inch(ish) cubes
About 2 TBS soy sauce
¼ cup of water or vegetable stock (or slightly less)
Large bunch of Thai basil
Rice noodles, cooked according to package directions
Heat a bit of oil in a wok or large skillet. Add the shallot and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and chilies, cook another minute.
HEY! HERE’S AN IDEA! DON’T RUB YOUR EYES AFTER CHOPPING THE CHILIES. Because I did, and it hurt like hell. I threw myself on the kitchen floor, screaming like a wounded animal and frantically trying to…I don’t know…rub the chili pepper residue from my eyes? With my tainted hands? I screamed to Rob, “GET IN HERE AND TAKE A PICTURE OF THIS SHIT, I’M GONNA BLOG IT!”
He respectfully declined.
Anyway, once you’ve dried the tears, add the tofu to the pan and stir fry until browned on all sides, to your liking. Add the soy sauce and water, stir fry another minute or 2, until the sauce is thickened. Add a big handful of Thai basil leaves, either left whole or chopped once or twice (you want big pieces.) Stir to wilt the basil and remove from heat. Serve the mixture over rice noodles with a Thai basil garnish—it’s too pretty not to!
Now close up!
Now far away again!
So as it turns out, grad school takes up a lot of time. Yeah, duh, right? I just finished my finals this week, and all semester I’ve been sort of fretting about abandoning this blog–not because I care about it, but because I paid $45.99 for the hosting and URL. I kid, I kid. Well anyway, just as things all seem to get busy at once, they all seem to slow down at once too.
Then, my buddy Joe P. of Tower 41 Productions, who is pressing my band’s second album and whom I also proudly advertise on the tote bag I carry around, told me he had a bunch of recipes for me to try out. Add to that, my lone British reader MattJ sent me some lovely curry recipes that could be easily vegetarian- or vegan-ized that looked delicious and I never tried. And Laura’s been baking up a storm! Where is the failure here? Me. Fortunately, I never stopped cooking and having Rob take pictures, I just stopped posting. So anyway, here’s what’s coming up at thefoodsex:
Yeah! And to prove I’m not lying, here’s one of the recipes.
These were invented in a night of desperation, when Rob and I were both hungry and snipping at each other, as we’re prone to do when we don’t eat…oh, every hour or so. I frantically canvassed our pantry and fridge for stuff to throw together, and this is what happened.
You will need:
2 tsp olive oil
1 shallot, diced (or really, any onion but i like the sweetness of the shallot in this)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 TBS roasted red peppers, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs (or slightly less)
2 TBS chopped cilantro, with extra leaves for garnish
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
pinch of oregano
salt and pepper to taste
In a small skillet, heat 1 tsp of the olive oil and add the shallot and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the shallot is soft. Remove from heat.
Dump the chickpeas into a mixing bowl and smoosh them anyway you can–a potato masher, a fork, your toes, whatever. Alternately, you could do this in a food processor, but make sure not to puree the chickpeas, as you want some chunks in there. Add the garlic and shallot, roasted red peppers, cilantro and spices and stir. Now, begin to add the bread crumbs a little at a time. Start with half of the 1/3 cup and mix. Pull a handful of the mixture out and try to form it into a patty. Add more breadcrumbs if necessary.
Once you have reached a good “burger” consistency, form the mixture into even-sized patties. I can’t remember if this made three or four patties–I was probably too busy yapping at Rob (see above.) Heat the remaining tsp of olive oil in a skillet for a few minutes, but don’t let it get to the smoking point. Carefully place the patties into the oil and don’t move them for about 3 minutes. Gently flip them over when they begin to brown on the bottom, then cook to desired brownness/heat. Serve on a bun with cilantro leaves and roasted red peppers on top.
Oh, how I wish I’d had better buns for these. They would have been so good on a big crusty multi-grain roll, but my whole-grain-challenged better half is a white bread fanatic. Sigh.
Rob ate his with A-1 steak sauce, I ate mine with spicy mustard. Good stuff!
In an effort to use up some of the leftover cabbage from the tofu tacos, I decided to use cabbage leaves as wraps. Now, I can’t seem to type or say the words “red cabbage” without thinking about the movie A Christmas Story, which Rob and I watch each Christmas (alongside National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation), so the idea of red cabbage gives me the warm-and-fuzzies. Yeah, I said it. I am emotionally involved with a vegetable. But I bet you are too, or else you wouldn’t be reading this.
You will need (to serve 2):
1 cup wild rice mix, uncooked
1 apple (I used Red Delicious), cored and diced, unpeeled.
1 shallot, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 large red cabbage leaves
handful of salted cashews
handful of parsley, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper
Cook the rice according to package instructions. This will take 50 minutes, so in the meantime, paint your toenails and watch an episode of Intervention on OnDemand. You deserve it. Did you know that wild rice is not really rice, but in fact a grass? See, learn something new every day. Now you are justified in watching junky television!
Next, heat some olive oil in a skillet and cook the shallots and garlic until the shallots are translucent. Add the cooked rice, apples and cashews, cook until heated through (for just a minute, you don’t want the apples and cashews to lose their crunch.) Remove from heat, stir in parsley and salt n pepa to taste. Simple enough.
Carefully peel two cabbage leaves from the head, keeping them as intact as possible. Cut out the tough, thick stem area in the shape of a V (see picture above.)
Plop a big spoonful of the rice mixture in the middle of the cabbage leaf and gently roll up burrito-style. Stick a toothpick through the wrap to keep it all together. Continuously warn your dinner companion about the toothpick as he eats until he finally says, “Okay! I see the damn toothpick!” Good work.
I served this with spinach wilted in olive oil and garlic with some whole wheat pita slices to load the spinach onto. (What a poorly worded sentence.) I served this alongside spinach wilted in olive oil and garlic. I also included some whole wheat pita slices so we could spoon the spinach onto them. (Too long-winded. You get the idea.)
This recipe was adapted from one I read in last month’s Bon Appetit for Chicken-Lime Fajitas. It translated nicely to being vegan and was totally delicious, though it left me with a lot of cabbage to use up (that’ll be posted later.)
You will need (to serve 2):
Taco shells or tortillas (I’m a soft girl, Rob’s a crunchy guy.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Green onions
1 lime (for juice and zest, get extras if you want to garnish the plate)
3/4ths block extra firm tofu
Red cabbage
1 avocado
Cilantro
Salt and pepper
In a bowl, mix about 2 TBS olive oil with your garlic, the juice and zest of one lime and some salt and pepper.
Now, slice your tofu into finger-sized lengths. Whose fingers? I dunno, your fingers? You figure it out. Place the tofu pieces in a large Ziploc bag and pour the lime mixture over. Leave a little bit of the liquid in the bowl, you’re gonna use it later. Toss and shake the bag until the tofu is nice and coated. Throw (you can gently place, if that suits you better) the bag into the fridge to marinate for an hour or so. Turn the bag over once if you think about it to make sure it marinates evenly.
Once it’s been in there awhile, grab your trusty big skillet (you can carefully pull it from your closet, if you want. Why are cooking terms so violent??) and start it heating over medium-high heat on your stove. Once it’s nice and hot, dump the contents of the tofu bag in, getting as much liquid in the pan as possible. I think I actually added a bit of water to the mostly-empty bag and dumped that in the pan in order to get all the oil and lime juice out. To the skillet, add some chopped green onions if you so desire. This is what it looked like in my pan:
Cook until, well, it’s the doneness that you like in your tofu. What are you really looking for in tofu? When you find the right doneness, you’ll know.
While the tofu is cooking, slice two leaves of red cabbage into strips. You could grate it, I guess, but I liked the slightly thicker strips that slicing provided. Place the strips in the bowl with the leftover lime marinade and toss them around with about a TBS of chopped cilantro, to just very lightly coat.
Then check on your tofu. Is it done yet? Is it all you dreamed it would be?
It probably isn’t. So, take your biggest knife and slice around the pit of the avocado so you can essentially break it in half. To get the pit out, WHACK it with the knife so the blade is stuck in the pit (this needs to be violent) like so:
This illustration confuses me, as I’ve never seen an avocado so tiny as compared to those giant fingers. But you get the point!
Now your tofu is probably done. Remove it from the heat and arrange tacos as follows: taco/tortilla, tofu, cabbage, avocado. Finish the whole thing with some chopped cilantro.
Here are mine in tortillas:
And here are Rob’s in hard tacos:
It’s been awhile since we made these, but if I remember correctly, Rob’s only beef with them was that the cabbage consistency was a little TOO crunchy when raw, especially in big chunks. I personally liked it, but if that sounds like it would be a problem for you, by all means throw the strips in the pan and cook them around with the tofu until they are done to your liking.
Then again, what are you really looking for in cabbage?
So I finally installed a spam comment blocker, and all is well with the world.
Except the flu.
I was seriously laid up all weekend, leaving the house only to go to an optometrist appointment I’d had scheduled for about a month, and to pick up some groceries yesterday afternoon when I was feeling a bit better.
So needless to say, I needed some soup and I didn’t feel like inventing any. Normally I don’t publish other people’s recipes, so this is an exception. I made Chickpea Noodle Soup, recipe by Isa Chandra Moskowitz who wrote Veganonicon, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and Vegan with a Vengeance (catch the pattern?) She is also one of the masterminds behind The Post Punk Kitchen, a site I waste many a work hour on.
So here we go. I made a few adjustments to this, and they are noted below.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 cup chopped baby carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed in your fingers
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons mirin (optional, and I didn’t use it)
1/3 cup brown rice miso (made a substitution here. Apparently our local grocery store chain had some dispute with their miso supplier and had yet to find a new one, so they didn’t have any. To substitute, I found one of those packets of instant vegan miso soup and poured the powder into a bowl, removing the dehydrated chunks of tofu and green onions and used that. A little shoddy, but it did the trick. I am sure this soup would be much better with actual miso. Sigh.)
6 cups water or vegetable stock (used 4 cups vegetable stock, 2 cups of water and one veggie bouillon cube)
1 (15-ounce) can, drained and rinsed (I used two cans for MORE CHICKPEA)
6 ounces soba noodles
Spinach
In a soup pot over medium-high heat, sauté the onions and carrots in the oil for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and herbs, and sauté for another 5 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the mirin (or just a splash of water). Add the broth/water and the chickpeas. Cover and bring to a boil.
Once the broth is boiling, break the soba noodles into thirds and throw them in. Lower the heat to medium so that the soup is at a low boil. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the miso and stir until it’s incorporated. Taste and adjust the salt, and add a little extra miso if you would like a stronger, saltier flavor. (At this point, I also added a few handfuls of spinach. You could also use escarole, kale, chard or whatever you have on hand.)
This soup was delicious. The recipe makes enough for 6 servings, and I definitely ate it for lunch on Saturday and Sunday and still have a whole lot left over. One thing to note is that soba noodles will continue to soak up broth in the fridge, so have a little extra broth in a separate container to mix in (I boiled 2 cups of water with a veggie bouillon cube, and a pinch each of thyme, rosemary and celery seeds.)
Even Rob liked this. Seriously, discovering that Rob likes chickpeas has been a revelation in our house. He ate around the mushrooms, but otherwise cleaned his bowl. SHOCK AND AWE!
All comments are closed until I install a Spam blocker. Good lord!
I’m starting a category called “Not Vegan and Not Very Healthy” because the bulk of things I’ve been posting here lately are vegan, but Laura’s baking isn’t and sometimes I eat non-vegan breakfast and the like. This is why I say, “I eat mostly vegan.” Simple as that. I win. Besides, these could be easily veganized.
Anyway, I think Laura should start her own cupcake business? Why? Because of this:
If you didn’t look at those and smile, then you are a cold-blooded, heartless monster. Especially the black one at the top with the white eye. Awwww!
They were:
3/4 c flour
3/4 t baking powder
pinch of salt
1/3 c white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened at room temp
1 t vanilla
1/4 c milk
Bake in an oversize cupcake pan (6 cups on a pan instead of 12) at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. But when using the enormous cupcake pans, you have to watch them closely.
Frosting:
1 stick of butter, softened,
3 cups powdered sugar,
2 T milk
2 t vanilla.
Mix the frosting together and separate them into bowls to do different colors. Put them in frosting bags with different tips to make different fur textures. The eye balls are blobs of white frosting and black gel. The ears are graham crackers cut into triangles, and she put frosting on some of them. The tongues are Bubble Tape bubble gum that she used kitchen shears to shape.
It’s important to note that these cupcakes were inspired by Murphy.
He looks thrilled to have a cupcake made in his image, doesn’t he?
Yeah.