Peanut Sesame Noodles

One of my favorite noodle dishes ever! Easy to make and D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

INGREDIENTS (for 2)

2 cups udon noodles*

2 cups bok choy**

2 carrots

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Peanut sesame sauce:

- 1 cup peanut butter (creamy)

- 6 tbsp soy sauce

- 2 tbsp rice vinegar

- 2 garlic cloves

- 3 green onions

- 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

- 2 tbsp sugar

- 1 lime juice

- 2 tbsp sesame oil

- 1 tsp chili sauce

- 1 tbsp shredded fresh ginger

- 1/4 cup water

*Use sweet potato or rice noodles for GLUTEN-FREE.

**It's also delicious with spinach or cucumber.

PREPARATION

Peanut sesame sauce:

Slice garlic and onion and add to blender. 

Add all the sauce ingredients, except for the peanut butter. Blend until smooth.

Then add the peanut butter and blend.

If the sauce is too thick, add more lime juice or water.

Reserve.

Vegetables:

Wash and peel carrots. Cut into very thin strips and reserve.

Wash bok choy. Cut off the bottom part of the stem and discard.

Place a skillet over medium heat and add 2 tbsp vegetable oil. 

Add bok choy and 1/4 cup water. Stir well and cover with a lid. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Turn off heat and reserve.

Udon noodles:

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 4-5 minutes. Drain, wash with cold water and reserve.

Serving the plates:

Place noodles in the middle of a bowl (or large plate) and add the vegetables.

Pour some peanut sesame sauce on top (you can always add more sauce while eating it). 

You can slice more green onion and sprinkle it over the sauce. 

Mix well all the ingredients and enjoy!

I've made this same dish with avocado, tomato, kale, "mock duck", tofu, lettuce, sweet corn... Use your imagination! 

Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles)

My vegan -and equally awesome- version of the popular Thai dish

INGREDIENTS (for 2-3)

1 pack fresh rice noodles* 

5 garlic cloves

4 green onions

2 red tomatoes

1 large carrot (or 2 small)

6-8 Kailan (Chinese broccoli) stems + leaves and flowers** 

1/2 block firm tofu

1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves

1 tbsp chili paste (or 1 red chili pepper)

Vegetable oil

1/3 cup sweet Thai soy sauce (syrupy consistency)

4 tbsp soy sauce

*You shouldn't put the fresh rice noodles in the refrigerator because they will get dry and hard. It's better to buy them the same day (or the day before) that you are going to cook them, and keep them at room temperature.
Dry rice noodles work too, but try to find the widest possible.


**Regular broccoli also works, if you can't find kailan.

PREPARATION

If the rice noodles are not cut yet, cut them in large strips and use your fingers to separate them easily. Reserve. 

(They don't have to be perfect, they usually are irregular rectangles a little larger than bite size. It's better to separate them before you start cooking, because the cooking process is really fast and you want to have them ready to throw in the skillet).

I recommend having the tofu and vegetables prepared before starting to cook this dish.  The process moves fast and you can get caught chopping one ingredient and overcook another.  The cooking time is very short once everything is prepared.

Wash the tofu in cold water and squeeze it gently. Drain it using paper towels to remove excess water.

Place a skillet over medium heat and add vegetable oil for deep frying.

Cut the tofu into cubes and add. Deep fry until golden (about 10-15 minutes). 

Use a spatula that can drain excess oil to remove the tofu from the pan.
Put tofu on a plate with paper towels below to remove excess oil.
After 2 minutes remove the paper towels and reserve the tofu (if you don't, it will get soggy).

Wash the kailan (or regular broccoli) and cut it into bite size pieces. Boil it in salty water for about 3 minutes. Drain and reserve. This will cook the kailan a little while giving it a bright green color.

Mince the garlic and reserve.

Wash the green onions and cut into bite size. Reserve.

Wash the carrot and peel it. Cut it into bite size, either slicing it diagonally or cutting thin strips (julienne style). Reserve.

Wash the tomato and cut it in slices. Reserve.

If you are using chili pepper instead or chili paste, mince it and reserve.

Wash the Thai basil and reserve.

Mix the soy sauces in a separate bowl and reserve.

Place a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add 5-6 tbsp vegetable oil (mild olive oil works great).

When the oil is hot, add the garlic and chili paste (or minced chili pepper) and stir for about 30 seconds.

Add the green onion, carrot and kailan and stir for 2-3 minutes.

Add the rice noodles, separating them with your fingers while throwing them over the vegetables.

Add the soy sauce mix immediately and stir gently using a spatula. This will prevent the noodles from sticking together.

Add the tomato, tofu and basil leaves and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Turn off heat and serve immediately.

VARIATION: you can make a faster version of this if you don't deep fry the tofu or simply skip it. 

I've also made it with "mock duck" and it's delicious! To cook it properly you have to squeeze it to remove excess water and then fry it in a skillet with 2 tbsp vegetable oil until brown. 

Vegetable Cous Cous

Traditional Moroccan Cous Cous... made easy

INGREDIENTS (for 2)

1 cup bulgur*

1 small butternut squash

3 carrots

1 large zucchini (or 2 small)

1 large onion (or 2 small)

1 turnip

4 cups vegetable stock

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp margarine**

Salt

Olive oil

Spice mix:

- 1 tbsp turmeric

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tsp ground coriander

- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp shredded fresh ginger or 1tsp ground ginger 

- 3 bay leaves

*Many times you'll see this listed as Cous Cous... but Cous Cous is the entire dish, not just the grain. The grain is called "bulgur".

**I prefer "Earth Balance Original".

PREPARATION

Mix all the spices in a bowl. Reserve.

Cut the onion into thin strips.

Pour about 8 tablespoons olive oil in a pot and heat over medium heat.
Fry the onion until it begins to brown.
Add spices to pot and stir well for a few seconds. 

Peel the squash and cut into cubes. Add to pot. Stir well.

Peel the carrot. Cut carrots, turnip and zucchini into large chunks. Reserve.

Add tomato paste to pot. Stir well.

Add vegetable stock, turnip and bay leaves to pot.
Reduce heat, stir well and cover. Let simmer about 15 minutes.

Add carrots and zucchini and cover. Cook for 10 minutes on low heat.

While cooking, place the bulgur in a large, wide bowl. Salt to taste and add a dash of olive oil (not much, just a little). Stir with a fork.

Put 1 1/3 cups water in a pot and boil.

Pour gradually over the bulgur. Mix with a fork or your hands, separate balls that form.
Continue adding water and mixing until it runs out.

Cover the plate of bulgur and allow the water to absorb, about 10-15 minutes.

Melt the margarine in a pot over low heat.

Uncover the bulgur and add the margarine, mixing it gently with a fork.

Make a mound with it, leaving a hole in the middle (like a flat volcano).

Salt the vegetables to taste, mix well.

Pour the vegetables over the bulgur. You can decorate the "volcano" of bulgur with the pieces of squash, carrots and zucchini. Then pour some of the broth on top.

Serve with the remaining broth in a separate bowl with a spoon so everyone can add more broth to their plates (or not), depending on preference.

Veggie Maki (Sushi Rolls)

INGREDIENTS (for 6 rolls)

6 sheets nori seaweed 

2 cups of Japanese rice

1 avocado

1/2 cucumber (make sure it's not bitter!!)

1 carrot

Rice seasoning: 

- 2 tbsp vegan white sugar

- 4 tbsp rice vinegar

- 1/2 tsp salt

Soy sauce (for sushi/sashimi, if you have it)

Wasabi

Bamboo rolling mat

PREPARATION

How to prepare Sushi rice:

(Always start making this because it takes a lot of time)

Wash rice in cold water, stirring the pot and drain the water until it run clear (about 10 washes).

Leave the washed rice in the pot and add 3 cups of cold water. Bring water to a boil over medium/high heat, and when it starts to boil, cover the pot and keep it cooking for about 4 minutes.

Reduce heat to low/simmer and cook about 10 minutes. DO NOT UNCOVER the pot at any time!!! Turn off heat and let stand 15 minutes. DO NOT UNCOVER YET!!

After 15 minutes, you can uncover the pot and leave it standing for 10 minutes, without stirring yet. Just wait. (Only if you are not sure if the rice is well cooked, grab a teaspoon and take a little rice so you can taste it. If by any chance rice is not well done, add a little more water and cook for a few more minutes. Sometimes it depends on the rice type or brand, but I always cook it this way and it's always perfect!).

Meanwhile, place the sugar, salt and rice vinegar in a small pot over low heat until it dissolves (about 1 minute), while moving the pot and shaking it slowly.
Turn off heat and wait for it to cool.

After 10 minutes, add this seasoning to the rice, slowly, while gently stirring the rice with a wooden spatula. Rice should be shiny and quite loose.

How to make the rolls:

Place the nori sheet on the bamboo rolling mat.
Place the rice in the nori sheet (see photo below).
Add the vegetables, cut into long strips, approximately in the center:

Roll the mat slowly, maintaining uniform pressure along the roll. This first round should be very compact:

Once rolled up, set aside and continue rolling the next one.

When you're finished, cut roll in half and put these two pieces together in parallel, re-cut in half, and again. Do the same with each roll (good way to keep the proportions of each piece).

Serve with wasabi and soy sauce, for dipping.

IDEAS FOR DIFFERENT FILLINGS:

Fried tofu, homemade vegenaise, oshinko (pickled daikon), avocado, cucumber, carrot.

1) Arugula, avocado, "Snapea Crisps" (original), green onions.

2) Cooked spinach, tofu, carrot (this is my version of the Korean "Kim Bap").

3) Kanpyo (cooked dry gourd).

I guess I'll have to post a few more recipes on how to make these...

Squash Kaffir Lime Cous Cous

INGREDIENTS (for 2-3)

1 cup bulgur*

1 small butternut squash

2 carrots

1 large zucchini (or 2 small)

1 large onion (or 2 small)

3 red tomatoes

1/2 cup prunes (optional)

3 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp sugar

Salt

Olive oil

Spice mix:
- 1 tbsp turmeric

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tsp ground coriander

- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

- 3 bay leaves
- 5 kaffir lime leaves

*Many times you'll see this listed as Cous Cous... but Cous Cous is the entire dish, not just the grain. The grain is called "bulgur".

PREPARATION

Mix all the spices in a bowl. Reserve.
Cut the onion into thin strips.

Pour about 8 tablespoons olive oil in a pot and heat over medium heat.
Fry the onion until it begins to brown.
Add spices to pot and stir well for a few seconds.

Peel the squash and cut into cubes. Add to pot. Add prunes. Stir well.
Peel the carrot. Cut carrots and zucchini into large chunks. Reserve.

Grate tomatoes and add to pot. Stir well.

Add vegetable broth, kaffir lime leaves and bay leaves to pot.
Reduce heat, stir well and cover. Let simmer about 15 minutes.
Add carrots and zucchini and cover. Cook for 10 minutes on low heat.

While cooking, place the bulgur in a large, wide bowl.
Salt to taste and add a dash of olive oil (not much, just a little). Stir with a fork.

Put 1 1/3 cups water in a pot and boil.

Turn off heat and pour gradually over the bulgur. Mix with a fork or your hands, separate balls that form. Continue adding water and mixing until it runs out.

Cover the plate of bulgur and allow the water to absorb, about 10-15 minutes.
Uncover the bulgur and make a mound with it, leaving a hole in the middle (like a flat volcano).

Salt the vegetables to taste, mix well.
Pour the vegetables over the bulgur. You can decorate the "volcano" of bulgur with the pieces of squash, carrots and zucchini. Then pour some of the broth on top.

Serve with the remaining broth in a separate bowl with a spoon so everyone can add more broth to their plates (or not), depending on preference.