Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles & Rice Noodles

 

It's Vegan MoFo, Day 2!

I posted two how-two guides earlier, to help folks who are having trouble setting up their feeds and/or adding individual blogs to their feeds, so I'm only now posting my recipe of the day.

I'd never made this dish before, and I must say, I'm already pretty fond of it. In fact, it might be a new staple. It's a recipe that I adapted from The Stoner Vegan's recipe, "Peanut Noodles." I even brought it with me tonight to share with my weekly creative writing group, and I think it was a pretty big hit. ;)

Without further ado, I bring you...

P a d  T h a i  w/  Z u c c h i n i  N o o d l e s  &  R i c e  N o o d l e s 

Ingredients

8 to 10 oz of rice noodles, cooked according to package* 

1 large zucchini, julienned

1/2 large yellow onion, sliced into short half moons

sesame oil**

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup water

3 TB tamari***

powdered ginger (or fresh), to taste

sea salt, to taste

1 lime****

1 carrot, shaved

2 green onions, sliced thinly

*I used over half a box of Thai Kitchen brand's "stir-fry rice noodles."

**I used spicy sesame oil, because I like hot foods, but whatever you fancy.

***You could use soy sauce or shoyu if you don't have tamari. And if you want to make this dish gluten free, use tamari but just make sure it doesn't contain wheat.

****Don't skip the lime. It's the magic ingredient, trust me.

1. In a large wok, saute the onion in the sesame oil until onion is fairly translucent.
2. Add zucchini to wok. Toss periodically.
3. Add the water, then the peanut butter. Stir well, until peanut butter is fully blended, but being careful not to break the zucchini.
4. Add the tamari, ginger, and sea salt. Toss.
5. Add the (already cooked) noodles. Toss.
6. Squeeze 1/2 (or more) lime over the mixture. Toss.
7. To serve, top with shaved carrots, sliced green onions, and lime wedges from the remaining part of the lime. Bonus: If you have fresh cilantro, that'd make a great topping, as well. 

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Vegan MoFo! Day 3: Green Thai Curry

Hey there! For my Day 3 MoFo post, I'm going to tell you about the green thai curry I made!

I mostly followed the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance, but with a few "grad student changes" (i.e., skipping any ingredients that would break my poor grad student bank and adding some ingredients that were much cheaper).


Here are the changes I made to the chile paste:

• I didn't have fresh lemongrass so I skipped that part. Looking back, I think this was probably a vital ingredient.
• Rather than grinding coriander seeds and cumin seeds, I used the powder forms of both. 
• I didn't have fresh cilantro, which was also probably rather important. Need to start growing more of my own herbs. Right now we only grow mint at my house.
• Didn't have shallots, either, so I used yellow onion. Seemed to be fine.
• I added an extra Thai green pepper. What? I'm a glutton for heat.

And here are the changes I made to the rest of the recipe: 

• I didn't use tofu. I ate all of my tofu. Woops. The SO told me that baked tofu probably wouldn't have worked out in a curry dish anyway, although I disagree.
• I added chick peas. This made me feel better about the lack of tofu.
• I added eggplant. Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies to work with. 
• I added some sliced up carrot.

I served the finished product with jasmine rice. One thing I loved about this recipe, other than the ah-mazing taste, is that it made a lot. I'd say this yields about 4 hearty servings, if you make it the way I did with the extra veggies and jasmine rice. Next time, I'll aim to add shiitake mushrooms, too. I think the earthy shiitake flavors would make this even closer to perfect.

Also, I must say, I never realized how easy it is to make your own chile paste. I mean, it's basically just a few types of peppers + spices + water all ground up together. Again, I wonder how this simple fact evaded me for so long? I feel a new obsession coming on.

And now...for the food porn:

Chile paste, just waiting to be added to the coconut milk and simmered into glorious aromas.

Yep, there's some wafting happening up in here.

iViola! A dish that's pleasing to all of the senses.

Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned for day 4. I've got some good stuff coming up!

Vegan MoFo! Day 2: My Secret for Perfect Tofu

As a vegan of over 5 years, it's hard to believe I'd never made baked tofu...until yesterday.

Let me just say, wow. I tested out the recipe for Asian Style Baked Tofu in Veganomicon and it was probably the best tofu I'd ever tasted (I give Isa and Terry full credit!). Where has this recipe been all my life, and why did I wait until now to try it?

Succulent baked tofu, waiting to be added to a kale salad.

As for the "secret" tip to getting your baked tofu perfect (no matter which recipe you use), the trick is in the pressing*. Typically, I'll press my tofu for a mere 15 minutes, maybe 30 if I'm feeling ambitious. This time, however, I pressed for about 3 hours (flipping the tofu block over a few times throughout, so that the top and bottom sides get pressed equally). Pressing for longer, I found, created a firmer, chewier composition and a heartier texture. My boyfriend, who often makes baked tofu, noticed the difference, too. From now on, any time I'm going to work with tofu, I will press it for a few hours!

*For those not familiar, to "press" tofu, you must drain the water out of the package and then place the block of tofu between two hard surfaces. It usually helps if you wrap the tofu with thin cloth first - that way the moisture can absorb into the cloth and keep the tofu-hard-surface sandwich from falling apart.

Keeping it brief today; I'm at work for most of the day, then going to see Little Stranger tonight at Detroit Bar.