Peanut Noodles

One of my favorite comfort foods on a rainy, windy day is noodles. I like noodles any which way, and I use them often. Sometimes I'll make vegetable lo mein with udon noodles, other times a spicy Asian soup with cellophane noodles. Last night (which was appropriately drab weather-wise), I chose to use soba, or buckwheat, noodles to make dinner. Besides tasting really good, these noodles are a source of multiple amino acids and are easily digestible since they are wheat free. My favorite way to use this kind of noodle is with a peanut based sauce; for whatever reason, a peanut sauce coats soba perfectly. After trying more sauce recipes than I can count on two hands, I figured out my own version of peanut sauce that I really love. You can simply boil the soba, dress in peanut sauce, and enjoy for a simple and fast meal. But I added a few tasty extras to mine - tofu and a mixture of veggies. A big bonus of this recipe is that it is equally delicious hot, room temperature, or cold. It makes for great leftovers.
Soba with Peanut Sauce, Tofu, and Vegetables
-8-10 oz. soba noodles, cooked, drained, and rinsed
-canola oil
-1 14 oz. package extra firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
-2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
-1 bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
-1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame
-2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-1 clove garlic, grated
-2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-1 tbsp agave nectar
-1 tbsp sriracha
-2 scallions, chopped
-2 tbsp sesame seeds

-Coat the bottom of a large pan with canola oil and put over medium-high heat. Add the tofu cubes and cook for 7-8 minutes. Once golden, flip the tofu and cook for another 7-8 minutes so you have two golden sides. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel.
-Leave the heat on the pan. Add the carrots, peppers, and edamame. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring. Add 1 tbsp of grated ginger and cook for 1 more minute. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
-While the tofu and vegetables cook, prepare the peanut sauce. Combine the peanut butter (softened in the microwave if needed), soy sauce, 1 tbsp of the grated ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, agave nectar, and sriracha. Whisk well to combine. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of warm water to get the sauce nice and smooth.
-Toss the soba noodles with the prepared peanut sauce in a large bowl. Top with the cooked tofu and vegetables, and sprinkle scallions and sesame seeds over the top. Serve.

Lots of Snow Means Lots of Cooking

Hi all! In my neck of the woods we've received another decent snowstorm! Over the course of last night and this morning we got about a foot of snow. One way I tend to pass the time when it's snowy and I'm in the house for most of the day is by trying out new recipes. Today, I tried two - dinner and dessert.

For dinner I made a recipe I've had my eye on for a little while now. I found it over on one of my favorite blogs, No Meat Athlete. You can find the recipe in this post. Mac n' Chard made a really tasty and filling dinner tonight. Similar to the last pasta dish I made, this sauce includes ground nuts; it also incorporates cooked veggies and spices. Another plus is that this dish has a whole bunch of vitamin-rich chard in it. Obviously, this meal tasted nothing like your traditional mac n' cheese, but that's okay. It was really delicious in it's own right, and is a great new way to enjoy pasta. Especially on a cold snowy night, this really hits the comfort food spot.

Prior to making dinner, I put together some dessert. I made my first attempt at Rice Pudding. When I was looking through recipes for this, I couldn't find any that sounded "right" to me. They all seemed overly complicated. So I said to myself, why not just make a sweet risotto? And that's what I did. This came out really creamy and yummy, and according to Mark, it was pretty close to the real thing. I'm glad this recipe made 4 portions so I can enjoy it again tomorrow.

Rice Pudding
-3 cups plain rice milk
-3 cups vanilla almond milk
-1 tbsp Earth Balance
-1 cup arborio rice
-1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
-1/4 tsp cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
-1/2 tsp vanilla

-Combine the rice and almond milk in a small pot and warm over medium low heat.
-In a large pot, add the Earth Balance and put the heat on medium. Once it is melted, add the rice and stir to coat.
-Add a ladleful of milk to the rice in the large pot. The milk should just bubble, not too fast. Stir the rice and milk mixture very often. Once the milk is absorbed, add another ladleful. You will repeat this process until the rice is cooked and tender and you are out of milk. This should take around 30-40 minutes, but the important thing is that the rice is cooked; don't worry too much about sticking to a particular time.
-Approximately halfway through cooking, add the sugar and cinnamon and stir well.
-With your last ladleful of milk, add the vanilla and stir well.
-Once the rice pudding is done, spread it into a shallow dish to come to room temperature.
-Once cooled, scoop the rice pudding into individual dishes and top with a dash of cinnamon. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Walnut Mushroom Pasta

I was never a fan of cream based sauces in the past, mostly because dairy and I were never the best of friends. But I also didn't like the heaviness that it lent to a sauce. However, I do like the smooth, rich texture of these kinds of sauces. When I was looking for inspiration on how to use mushrooms and pasta together, I came across a recipe that incorporated a walnut sauce. What better way to get a creamy, rich texture than with nuts? The walnuts have a mellow flavor that didn't overpower the delicious flavor of the cremini mushrooms in the dish; they added a really earthy element. Also, the fat in this dish is healthy and not full of cholesterol and saturated fat. Best of all, this is an easy and quick dinner to whip up on a weeknight, with plenty of time to chop up veggies for a salad.

Walnut Mushroom Pasta
-3/4 cup walnuts
-3/4 cup vegetable stock
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1 onion, sliced
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp dried thyme
-10 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
-2 tbsp water
-1/4 cup parsley, chopped
-salt and pepper
-1 lb linguine

-In a blender, puree the walnuts and vegetable stock until smooth. Set aside.
-Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onion slices. Cook until softened, about 5-6 minutes.
-Add the garlic, thyme, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms start to soften, about 3-4 minutes.
-Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the water, stir, and cover. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
-In the meantime, cook and drain the pasta.
-Add the prepared walnut sauce and the parsley to the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes.
-Toss the pasta with the walnut mushroom sauce to coat, and serve immediately.