Classy Ramen-Style Mushroom Soup

Super flavorful and quick enough that it just may get me to drop my Top Ramen habit.

From The Mushroom Channel

Makes 3 to 4 servings

• 8 small dried shiitake mushrooms
• 8 square inches dried kombu (optional)
• 4 ½ cups water
• 4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 6 – 8 ounces cremini and/or shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon – 1 tablespoon crushed red chili flakes (to suit your tastes)
• 1 ½ tablespoons shiro miso (white miso paste)
• 1 ½ tablespoons aka miso (red miso paste)
• 10 ounces dried ramen noodles (aka, chukka soba), freshly cooked (or any other Asian noodle you have - soba would be delicious)
• Fresh cilantro leaves, to garnish (optional)

1. Make the mushroom stock: Place the dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu a pot with the water.  Bring the water almost to a boil and then turn down the heat to maintain a simmer.  Cook for 5 minutes.

2. Remove the pot from the heat and let the stock stand for 3 minutes.  Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer and set the stock aside.

3. Make the soup: Heat 3 teaspoons of the toasted sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat.  Add the sliced cremini mushrooms and cook for about 20 seconds.  Drizzle in the remaining 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, then add the finely chopped garlic and crushed red chili flakes, and stir-fry for another 20 seconds.

4. Pour the mushroom stock through a fine-mesh strainer held directly over the pan.  (Discard the solids left in the strainer.)  Adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer, and separate the cooked noodles into 3 or 4 bowls.

5. Place the shiro miso and aka miso in a small bowl and ladle some of the hot stock from the pan into the bowl. Whisk the miso pastes and broth together until smooth, then add to the simmering stock in the pan.

6. Turn off the heat, then ladle the broth over the noodles in each bowl.  Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve immediately.

Miso Tempeh and Kale wrap/salad

Oh yum. That's all I have to say. And it's great for a quick dinner or healthy lunch. Double the recipe and have plenty leftover to take to work the next day. I found it at http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/07/kale-avocado-wraps-w-spicy-miso-dipped.html

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp white miso paste
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp agave or maple syrup
black pepper
2-4 Tbsp oil (I used olive)
1 package tempeh, sliced into 8 logs
1 bunch kale
1/2 cup red onion, sliced thinly
1-2 tomatoes, sliced, diced or cut into weges
1 small avocado, sliced or diced

Directions:
1. Mix miso, vinegar, agave (or syrup), a sprinkle of black pepper and 1-2 Tbsp of oil together to make dressing.

2. Heat another Tbsp or so of oil in a saute pan on medium heat.

3. Dip tempeh logs into dressing, then lay them into the hot pan. Allow them to cook for a minute on each side until all sides are carmelized, being careful not to overly blacken. Remove from pan and cool.

4. Remove kale leaves from stem and chop into small pieces.

5. Wash kale well. Run it under (or dunk in) hot water, then dunk it into very cold water. Then dry the kale in a salad spinner and/or with a towel.

6. Transfer kale into a dry bowl, toss with dressing and onions.

7. To serve, either make a salad of kale, tomatoes, avocado and 2 tempeh logs or put all of the components on a wrap (I used whole wheat tortillas) and enjoy.

Asian noodles with tofu and veggies

Step 1: Find a yummy noodle recipe (check - please note that while this recipe is called peanut noodles, the only peanut ingredient is considered optional. I used soba noodles and no peanuts.)
Step 2: Marinate and bake some tofu (check-ish... marinate pressed tofu for 30 minutes per side, then bake for 30 minutes at 400)
Step 3: Quickly cook up some veggies (check - steamed broccoli and snow peas, sauteed peppers and mushrooms)
Step 4: Devour

Fried Rice

My first attempt at fried rice. Totally winged it (wung it?). Turned out more like a stir-fry than fried rice, but good nonetheless. If you don't have a soy ginger sauce (I bought mine at Whole Foods), make your own sauce with soy sauce, ginger, garlic and any other asian flavors you'd like (or use a different sauce/marinade). Of course, feel free to switch up the vegetables to your liking.

Ingredients (all measurements are approximate):
2 cups broccoli (I used florets)
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans, cut up
1/2 small onion
(I'd totally meant to use carrots, but forgot)
1/2 block of tofu
Soy ginger sauce
sesame oil
2 cups cooked rice

Directions:
Press the tofu for 30-60 minutes, then cut it up and toss it with a little of the sauce/marinade. While that's marinating, heat the oil and saute the onion for a few minutes. Then add the rest of the veggies and the tofu. Once all of that is heated through, add the rice and a few tablespoons of sauce and cook until it looks and smells delicious.

Stir fry with Tofu

I grew up a picky eater. Anything that wasn't meat/potatoes or pasta, I wouldn't touch. Moved to Los Angeles, and that all changed. I started with Mexican. I wouldn't set foot in a Mexican restaurant before. But I start preparing a super basic Mexican dish at home - taco shell, ground turkey, lettuce, and cheese. I slowly upped the ante to include seasonings, then more veggies like peppers. Today, I'm a Mexican food addict.

So I'm attempting to do the same thing with Asian cuisine. I started with a basic stir fry with noodles recipe. After a few runs with that, I've taken the next step:



Ingredients
2 whole carrots, sliced
1/2 block tofu, small slices
1 cup broccoli
1/2 large zucchini, sliced
1/2 large summer squash, sliced
1 cup snowpeas, chopped
2 cups bok choy, shredded
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 cup brown rice/rice medley
Rice vinegar
Soy sauce
Olive oil

1. In a wok, heat a few tbsp of oil. Add carrots; cook for 5 minutes. Add tofu and cook for another 5.
2. Add zucchini, squash, snowpeas, and pepper. Cook until veggies have softened, about 15 minutes.
3. Coat mixture with vinegar to taste.
4. Add bok choy and cook until wilted.
5. Serve on top of rice and coat with soy sauce.

Maybe one of these days, I'll make the leap to actually go to a restaurant! (Stop snickering, I'm proud of myself :) )

Stir fry rice noodles

Another attempt to broaden my horizons...

From Vegetarian Times:




Ingredients
6oz rice noodles/sticks
Olive oil
2 eggs
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups asparagus, sliced in 1" pieces
2 1/2 cups snow peas, 1/2" strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup veggie broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 green onions, sliced

1. Soak rich noodles in a large bowl of hot water until soft and drain.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Whisk eggs in a bowl with pepper. Pour eggs into skillet and cook 1-2 minutes and flip. Cook 1 minute, then tranfers to a cutting board. Cut into strips.
3. Heat more oil in the skillet. Add asparagus and snow peas. Cook 3-4 minutes and add garlic. W
4. Whisk broth and soy sauce in a bowl and add to pan. Bring to a simmer.
5. Add rice noodles and cook until liquid is absorbed. Mix in egg strips and onions.


I found this dish actually a little bland, but I guess it was ok for a newbie to Asian cuisine like me.

Asian Tempeh

I wrote once before about our regular stir fry, which we used to make with the marinated Asian tofu from Vegan with a Vengeance. But when I wrote about it, we were trying it with some store-bought marinated tempeh, which was pretty good. Then I decided to make my own marinated tempeh, which is now the go-to stir fry protein in my house. It’s modified from the tofu marinade recipe:

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

a healthy shake of red chili flakes

2 cloves of garlic, grated or minced

1” of ginger, grated or minced (or a healthy sprinkle of dried ginger)

1 package of tempeh

Mix up all of the marinade ingredients in a casserole dish or shallow bowl. Cut the tempeh into whatever size/shape pieces you’d like (simple cube-ish pieces are my pick) and marinate it for 15-30 minutes, flip and then another 15-30. Add tempeh and any extra marinade to your stir fry veggies when they still have a few minutes left to cook, so that the tempeh has a chance to steam.

Serve over rice, soba or udon noodles with any sauce you'd like.

Soba soba soba!

This recipe was given to me by a friend who knows I'm not very open to Asian cuisine. I thought I'd give it a try:



Cooked soba noodles
1 cup cubed tofu
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup shredded carrot and broccoli

1. Fry up the garlic, carrot, broccoli and tofu in oil.
2. Once tofu has browned, add spinach. Cook until wilted.
3. Add vinegar, soy sauce, and honey to the noodle and toss to coat.
4. Toss veggie mix with noddle mixture and serve.

I liked it! I really liked it! One step closer to an open palette...

Udon noodles with shiitake in miso broth

Let me preface this by saying I don't like mushrooms. Now, let me tell you that this is one of my favorite new recipes. That's how good it is.

From Veganomicon.

Cook up a pack of Udon noodles (I think soba would be great, too... might try that next time). Meanwhile slice (or cut smaller, like me) a bunch of shiitake mushrooms and a red onion. Cook 'em up for a few minutes, add garlic and ginger. Add 2 cups of water and a few tablespoons of miso, bring to a simmer. Add a head of chopped up kale and let it wilt. Then, add the drained noodles and let it all cook together for a few minutes. Sprinkle with a little bit of soy sauce and serve. Yum!

Oh, and don't let the word broth make you think it's a soup. That was a mistake I made, but the broth is really just a thin sauce for the noodles and veggies.

I happen to have the best husband ever...

I had requested a double order of Lion's Head meatballs. One for us and one for a healing coworker. Now, if you have any affinity for pork this recipe is a must try. The Asian flavors are just incredible with the meat. We usually use soy milk as the recipe requests, but this time we substituted rice milk which worked great.

It might work with tofu too. The texture might turn out odd, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be tasty.

As a bonus Jon put together a side of Swiss chard cooked with garlic, ginger, and some homemade yellow curry paste, finishing it with some sambal and a bit of chicken stock. Yum!

Bonus number 2: a zippy bottle of reisling. Hooray!

Asian for dinner, again....sweet!

A favorite recipe source in our house (second to the vegetarian edition of course) is Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. The recipes are easy, but the flavors are quite complex. Lots of bang for the buck.
Last night's dinner (and an awesome lunch to blog by, reheated very well): a simple asian soup and super nummy fried rice.
Check our the uber-local (approximately 0.004 food miles) swiss chard, snow peas, and thai chilies.

Posted via email from virtuallymeg's posterous