Red Curry Cacophony

My curry craving tonight was fierce. And with a "bare" fridge, the prospects were looking dismal. No  soy sauce, no coconut milk, no sugar, no lime. That pretty much means no curry. But who says I have to follow the curry rules? How many people keep a back-up stock of coconut milk and a constant supply of Kefir lime leaves? How is anyone supposed to make a decent Thai curry on a whim?!

Here's how. You dance to your own tune, you float your own boat, you write your own recipe. Nothing about this is authentic and it won't taste like it came from a food cart right off a beach in Thailand. But oh my sriracha is this deeeeeelish! Sea salt, almond milk, maple syrup and lemon were damn good stand-ins for what an actual Thai recipe might call for, though you can't really call it Thai at this point anymore. As long as you have the curry paste, you can wing it. You just need salty, creamy, sweet and a touch of tart to make the magic happen.

Those close to me know I have a little bit of a thing for peanut butter, and it really (and I mean REALLY) does this dish justice. It was a game changer when I mixed it in last minute, so don't skip. Unless your allergic, in which case I don't know how you eat. Ever. Just kidding. PS: add tofu if you'd like extra protein.

This might not be the prettiest of pictures and it might not be authentic Thai, but your panel of taste buds will be the ultimate judge.

Red Curry Cacophony
Makes: 1 serving
Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2-1 T. red curry paste
1/2 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1/4 c. red pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 c. fennel or cabbage, thinly sliced
1 c. cauliflower, chopped into small pieces
1/4 c. green peas, from fresh or frozen
1/2 c. almond milk, unsweetened
1/2 tsp. maple syrup (or more to cut spice)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice, freshly sqeezed
1/2-1 tsp. peanut butter
1 tsp. chickpea flour
1/8 tsp. sambal or garlic chili paste (optional)
Salt to taste
1 green onion stalk, sliced

Directions

Heat a wok or deep skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add curry paste plus 2 tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt. Stir in pan until paste is smooth and thin. Add carrot, pepper and fennel/cabbage plus a couple more tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan if it's becoming too dry. Cook until vegetables just start to soften, 2-3 minutes, and increase heat slightly. Add remaining ingredients except for the onion. Be sure to really whisk in the flour and peanut butter so that they coat the veggies. When milk is starting to boil, reduce heat again to medium-high and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes.

Adjust seasonings to taste - if too spicy, add a little more maple syrup and/or almond milk. If too sweet, add a touch more lemon juice. If too thin, add a small pinch of chickpea flour. Garnish with sliced green onion and enjoy!

Funkalicious Fat Free Fried Rice

When I went through my little “raw” experimental phase a while back, I came out with some good lessons.

Some of these include:

1. I have a lot to learn about effective sprouting.
2. I should have spent the money on a square food dehydrator. Now I have to cut holes in wax paper around the center tube. I would make kale chips everyday if I didn’t have to do this stupid step.
3. Cauliflower is a beautiful stand in for rice.

So without going too much into the first two lessons, we’ll skip right to the rice. One of my absolute favorite types of recipe in the uncooked world is cauliflower “rice.” When pulsed in a food processor, cauliflower beads up and actually looks like rice. The texture is somewhat similar, but it takes to flavor extremely well. And when it’s all ground up, you don’t feel like you’re eating straight up fiber. You don’t get the side effects of eating straight up fiber either, which is nice for you and your loved ones.

 

Deviating from the raw theme, I cooked the pulsed cauliflower in this recipe. It beats waiting the 20 minutes it takes to cook rice and the hours it takes to cool it before reheating again in a frying pan. This is quicker, healthier and easier. And truth be told, I’m all about volume. I have a weakness for incredibly tasty food and therefore like to eat LARGE amounts of it, like any other person lacking self control. But think of 2 whole cups of cauliflower compared to 2 cups of fried rice. Such an easy way to trick your brain! Not to mention you’ve got boat loads more nutrients in the cruciferous cruncher than in the bland, bleached rice.

 

* Tofu Tip: A super convenient way to add tofu that actually has flavor is to buy pre-baked and seasoned tofu. My favorite kind is from Trader Joe’s and costs a whole 3 bucks. You don’t have to cook it, press it or season it. Just add it on top!

 

Funkalicious Fat Free Fried Rice

Makes: 1 huge serving

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

 

Ingredients

 

2 c. cauliflower flowerets

1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp ginger root, minced
1 tsp. jalapeno or Serrano pepper, minced
½ c. mushrooms, sliced
¼ - ½ c. veggie broth (homemade or bouillon)
¼ c. shredded carrots
¼ c. green peas, from fresh or frozen (thawed)
¼ c. yellow corn, from fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 stalk green onions, chopped
1-2 tsp soy sauce
Baked & seasoned tofu such as Wildwood or Trader Joe’s, cubed

 

Directions

In a food processor, pulse the cauliflower until completely crumbled and no large chunks remain, about 20-25 pulses. Be sure to NOT process into a puree. When you pulse the processor in short bursts, you’ll get lovely little rice looking beads. Remove and set aside.

 

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add garlic, ginger and jalapeno and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and ¼ cup of veggie broth to deglaze the pan (you don’t want burnt garlic!). Lower the heat slightly and cook until most of the liquid is gone, about 1 minute. Add cauliflower, remaining veggies and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. If pan is too dry or anything starts sticking to the bottom, deglaze the pan with another ¼ cup of broth. Add baked tofu at the end an any additional soy sauce to taste.

Sweet n’ Sassy Salad with Pickled Ginger and Pepitas

Every time I see a salad recipe, I think - really? Directions to make a salad? How hard can it be to throw ingredients in a bowl and top with a basic oil/vinegar dressing? Then I remember how salads have slowly become so second nature to me ever since I started this vegan venture. Not just lettuce or green salads, but bean and grain combos, shredded veggie slaws and the like. I never think to write up a recipe for them because they are truly a no brainer. Perusing through recipes on my own, I never stop to read the salad recipes. It isn’t until I make a crazy awesome, crunchy, yummy salad that I am possessed to make it possible for others to replicate the deliciousness.

This turned out to be one of those brilliant yet simple salads. Looking for a post-work snack yesterday, I was trying to avoid resigning myself bread, crackers or chips. But I didn’t want to work too hard for my snack. This came together so easily! Grape tomatoes are veggie manifestations of convenience, and sugar snap peas are effortlessly flavorful. Seeing as though I cannot make salads with fewer that 5 ingredients, something else had to be added.

Pickled ginger is typically used for one thing and one thing only: sushi. But it’s too delicious to be confined to this limitation. I tossed some in hoping it would mesh well with an Asian dressing and it worked! The pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds) gave it a rounded crunch in contrast to the severe crunch of the snap peas. So where do dulse flakes come in? Well Whole Foods had this sale once where you can buy one get one…yeah a lot of products in my kitchen start that way. Anyway, if you have some other kind of dried seaweed, the mild sea flavor gives the salad a lovely finish.

Just a note: I didn't actually make a dressing for this. I simply drizzled a little bit of rice vinegar on top, but if you are a fan of dressing, the one below should work nicely.

Sweet n’ Sassy Salad with Pickled Ginger and Pepitas
Makes: 3-4 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

Salad
4 c. romaine lettuce, rinsed and chopped
1 c. grape tomatoes, whole or halved
1 c. sugar snap peas, chopped
¼ c. green onions, chopped
¼ c. pickled ginger, chopped
¼ c. pepitas (preferably unsalted)
2-3 T. dulse flakes

Dressing
3 T. rice vinegar
½ T. soy sauce, low sodium or regular
½ T. agave nectar or maple syrup
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1/8 tsp. sesame or canola oil (optional)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients and toss well. Top the salad off with pickled ginger and pepitas. Reserve dulse flakes for noe.

Prepare dressing by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and stirring to blend well. Adjust flavors to taste - if you like a milder dressing, add more canola oil and skip the sesame oil. If you like tart dressing, skip the agave and lower the soy sauce. Drizzle your preferred dressing over salad and top with dulse flakes.

Optional: You can pump this up by making a faux sea creature salad by mashing up some chickpeas, mixing with veganaise, green onions, pimentos and seaweed flakes (dulse or kelp). If you’re an omnivore, feel free to top with some kind of sustainably captured sashimi. Not advocating…just sayin.

Springtime Udon Bowl

Springtime in Arizona feels a little different than the rest of the country because the temperature change involves the 70s, 80s, and 90s which are not typically numbers associated with this particular equinox. However, the blossoms, smells and flavors help remind us of the lovely transformation going on everywhere else. On my morning runs, I’ve been almost overwhelmed by the smell of citrus blossoms and almost injured by the rogue oranges covering the sidewalk. Spring is light, lovely, and inspirational. Most importantly it’s a sign of abundant produce starting to clutter tables at farmers markets. Time to grease up those elbows and fight your fellow hippies for that last bunch of pea tendrils!

Stir fry is a terrific way to catch seasonal flavors. It’s versatile, delicious, fast and easy to prepare. Having been out of town all weekend and unable to cook, I was itching for a stove session. I hadn’t even looked inside my produce drawer in 4 days so I had no idea what was in stock. This of course made the plane ride that much longer, because I couldn’t distract myself with dinner details… what to prepare first, how long it might take, spices I haven’t used in a while, etc. I seldom travel without concocting a recipe at some point out of boredom.

I did know one thing though: despite my eagerness to cook, my arrival time plus the transit home put me in my kitchen at about 8:45 pm and I did not want an elaborate or difficult dish. The source of this recipe was one from which most of my best meals originate and one regular readers will be familiar with – kitchen cleansing. Getting rid of the last cup of beans, the last leaves of spinach or that last handful of pasta. Taking an oddball combination and slapping a good dose of garlic on it.

Most people feel lucky to find a $5 bill in their jeans pocket, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of local chard in my refrigerator that I had totally forgotten was purchased on impulse last week. Not a typical ingredient in Asian cuisine, I thought chard would stand in nicely for bok choy. The other ingredients here could be replaced with any number of veggies typically found in stir fry: snow peas, red pepper, mushrooms, etc. But the combination I used produced such a fresh, springtime taste that I highly recommend taking some seasonal picks that wouldn’t normally end up in a stir fry and seeing how they mesh with standard stir fry flavors: garlic, ginger, soy sauce with a little sweet ‘n spicy touch. You could use rice here as well, but udon noodles are more fun to eat.

Springtime Udon Bowl
Makes: 1 serving
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredient

1-2 tsp. Sriracha
½ tsp. cornstarch
½ T. brown sugar, agave, or raw sugar
½ - ¾ T. soy sauce or tamari
¼ c. water

1 tsp. coconut oil
2 T. shallots, sliced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1 medium celery stalk, chopped
½ c. green beans, chopped
4-5 swiss chard leaves, chopped, stems and leaves & divided
½ c. purple cabbage, chopped
Fresh cilantro

2 oz. udon noodles (about ½ ” thick stack of dry noodles)

Directions

To make the sauce, whisk first 5 ingredients together in a small bowl and make sure cornstarch is well dissolved. Set aside.

Heat a wok or skillet over medium high heat and melt coconut oil when pan is hot. Reduce heat to medium and add shallots, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry for about 30 seconds or until fragrant and add celery, green beans and chard stems. Cook for 3-4 minutes until vegetables become translucent, adding 2 tablespoons of water (or sake or mirin if you have it) at a time if pan becomes too dry. Increase heat back to medium high and add chard leaves and cabbage and cook until chard begins to wilt, 2-3 minutes. Finally add stir fry sauce and cook until thickened, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.

While the stir fry is cooking, bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Cook noodles 5 minutes or until tender. Drain and mix in with vegetables when done. Top with fresh cilantro.

Roasted Kabocha Rolls with Teriyaki

I know, I know - what is it with these oddball vegetable recipes being posted lately? Celery root, kabo-what? This is a venture, people. You will see things that are hard to pronounce. The need to cook kabocha arose from sheer curiousity. I had heard of kabocha squash. I had seen it. I knew it was Japanese. That was the extent of my familiarity with kabocha. I had never tasted it (or so I thought), but it comes up from time to time in publications that highlight seasonal cooking and other cooking magazine articles featuring another funny named, mysterious produce stranger. Strolling through the food store, kabocha caught my eye. It was time to see for myself. Of course when it came time to slice it open, I couldn't find much inspiration from the kabocha void online. Many recipes called for butternut or kabocha, but very few that made kabocha seem like it contributes something special...so does it taste the same as every other orange globe? I started to get the feeling that the void was simply because this tastes exactly like your average winter squarsh.


Wrong! Well ok, it has to taste similar otherwise it couldn't be a winter squash. Though I "thought" I had never tasted it,  I hadn't realized in what context I had met kabocha prior to this discovery. Have you ever ordered tempura at a Janapese eatery, taken a huge bite of the orange half-moon shaped piece and thought, "hmmmm, kinda tastes familiar but I'm not sure what it is?" - It's kabocha. A lovely, lovely winter squash that is sweet, silky, starchy and full of indulgence. How has it taken me so long to suck it up and buy one? The name alone is enticing, and now that I'm familiar with the taste, I'm hooked. As I mentioned earlier, there was a shortage of recipes available that could give me some direction as to how to incorporate kabocha into a meal, so I went with the classic roasting approach. This is how I test almost all new foods because there is something about a hot air bath at 450F that brings out the true character of any food.


How I came up with rolling these in chard is a long, internal and not entirely logical thought process. Without elaborating on the actual idea, these were spectacular. Because picking at food before a meal is done runs in my blood, I of course tasted the squash right right out of the oven. I had to physically recover from the sheer pleasure of kabocha mouth - sounds like a contagious disease, but I promise it's nothing of the sort. Though this will be contagious. Wrapped in chard,  the edgy green onions and burst of cilantro gave it added punch and good contrast. The avocado was just a "duh" kind of ingredient. Can't explain it.

Roasted Kabocha Rolls with Teriyaki
Makes 4-5 servings

Prep time: 45 minutes

Ingredients 

For the squash
1 small kabocha squash (about 1.5 lbs) seeded, cut into wedges and peeled
1 T. olive oil
pinch of salt

For the teriyaki
1/2 c. soy sauce or tamari
1/4 c. water
4 T. fresh ginger, minced and divided
3 T. vegan or raw sugar
1 T. arrowroot powder or corn starch

For the rolls
1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed with whole leaves in tact
1-2 avocado, diced
4-6 green onions, thinly slice
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 450F.

Brush olive oil onto each slice of squash, sprinkle with salt and lay onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Flip pieces over and roast an additional 15 minutes or until squash is brown and tender. Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the teriyaki sauce. Combine soy sauce/tamari, water, 3 tablespoons of ginger and sugar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook 5-7 minute or until reduce by 1/3 to 1/2. Mix arrowroot or cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and mix into sauce. Heat until desired thickness is reached (be careful with arrowroot as it overcooks very easily and will become gloppy if it cooks too long). Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble, line of leaves so that the seams where the stem was removed now overlap. Place 2 slices of squash in the center, top with a tablespoon of avocado, a pinch of green onions and another pinch of cilantro. Drizzle the filling with as much teriyaki as desired. Starting from one end of the leaf, roll edge over filling and continue to roll until opposite end is reached.

If you're not a pro at rolling chard leaves, it might look sloppy but it will taste lovely!

Five Spice Tofu Spinach Salad with Miso Dressing

It’s not often that I write a recipe for one, but the odds of me cooking for one are high. Now the odds of me making a ginormous, delicious salad....those are odds you don’t wanna mess with. While I say over and over how undervalued and underestimated good salads are, I really do think they are the bees knees and next to perfect. I don’t have that heat obsession that most people have - where any food that isn’t served hot isn’t perceived as filling. Learn a thing or two about fiber and you’ll learn your lesson about salads being filling. What I like most is that they are a hodgepodge of wonderful ingredients in a creation that at best is a reflection of your persona or at worst a compilation of stragglers in the fridge when you’re too lazy to hit up the food store. Sometimes it’s not one or the other, but both.

This recipe is written a little differently than others. Most ingredients lack measurements, because it’s totally up to you. In fact, I almost feel silly putting this up since you could substitute half of this for something else. But if this recipe gets your vegan juices flowing, my goal is accomplished. I typically choose a themed salad when making it as a main course, in this case - Asian. Sauteed tofu is all the protein you’ll need and if you add some cooked brown rice on top, this fill you further than a gritty burger. If you’ve never cooked with 5 spice, it’s a wonderful tool in the kitchen that encompasses all five flavor regimes: sweet, sour, astringent, bitter and salty. If you like Pho, you’ll definitely like the 5 spice blend. If you’ve never heard of Pho before now, quite reading and find a Vietnamese noodle shop.

I’d like to throw a tofu tip to the non-veg heads or novice cooks out there: be smart about flavor and don’t under cook the cubes. Once you’ve seasoned tofu, cook it at medium-high heat and WAIT until it’s brown. So many people tell me they can’t get tofu to taste like anything. Those are somehow the same people who enjoy moo muscle marinated in jungle juice for 4 hours. Tofu needs the same TLC, the same flavor saver - soak tofu in something saucy and spicy for an hour. In a pinch, a quick marinade (like this recipe here) can be very effective. Just make absolutely sure you cook it relatively slowly until golden brown. No white patches. No soggy spots. Tofu doesn’t have to be flavorless flab

5 Spice Tofu Spinach Salad with Miso Dressing

Serves: 1
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5-10 minutes


Ingredients

For the Tofu
2-3 oz Tofu
1 tsp Soy sauce
1 T. Rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. Chinese 5 spice
1/4 tsp. White pepper
1/4 tsp. Chili or sesame oil
2 T. Leeks
Cooking spray


For the Dressing

1 T. Warm water
1 tsp. Miso
2 tsp. Rice Vinegar
1/4 tsp. Sriracha
1/4 tsp. Agave

For the Salad

Large handful of spinach
Small handful arugula (optional)
Bit of cilantro, chopped
Couple of basil leaves, chopped
Carrot, thinly sliced
Cucumber, thinly sliced
Pickled Radish, thinly sliced
Broccoli, lightly steamed
Roasted Cashews


Directions

Slice tofu into 1/4-12 inch thick slices, about 2. Place on paper towel and pat dry. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and throw in tofu. Stir to completely coat with marinade. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray and add tofu to pan, reserving any remaining marinade. Saute stirring frequently until all sides are golden brown. At the last minute pour any leftover marinade in pan and remove from heat. Or just remove tofu from pan into leftover marinade.


Combine all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.


Combine all salad ingredients on a large plate or in a large bowl. Top with tofu and drizzle miso dressing over the top. Enjoy!

Sassy Sushi Rice & Lazy Sushi Salad

Just because I don’t eat fish, doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the fresh taste of a well wrapped roll chalked full of crisp vegetables and dunked into a muddy swamp of wasabi and soy sauce. What is sushi without the raw fish you might think? Well few of you may know that sushi actually refers to the rice, not the fish – it literally means “seasoned rice.” So there. Seasoned rice is vegan rice and just as important to perfect as any other tuna topped tidbit. With a good batch of rice, you can have just as much fun on sushi night without the guilt of supporting overfishing and/or unsustainable fish farm operations… Sorry had to put in some kind of plug to remind myself of why avoid it.

I came across a great idea for sushi in Vegan Lunch Box, an excellent cookbook containing fun vegan recipes that are mostly kid and picky-eater approved while also maintaining a pretty impressive nutritional profile. Though I love a good sushi happy hour, I have to admit to feeling a little iffy about eating so much nutritionally void white rice. Quality sourdough bread or prefect baked baguettes invoke the same sentiment – so delicious, but not much going on apart from the addictive properties of processed foods. So I set out to make a healthier rice to roll around some seaweed, but doesn’t that almost seem to betray sushi tradition? Absolutely. Real sushi chefs would shake their heads and spit on my alternative. Whatever - they butcher fish, I butcher recipes.

This rice was so good I forgot it was healthy. I like chewier rice, but the texture didn’t even remind me that this was a nutritionally superior version. The trick to any rice intended to be used for sushi is twofold: 1) use the right rice; 2) get the seasoning right. Black, brown or white, the rice you use must be short grain or sticky rice. None of this medium or long grain business – save those for your curries. The seasoning is simple, but you can’t over or under do it. “Seasoning” makes it sound more complicated than it is. The seasoning is simple sugar dissolved in rice vinegar with a tiny pinch of salt poured over warm rice. Using too much will give you gloppy rice, but using too little will give you tasteless rice. So you just have to keep tasting while you make it!

 The wonderful thing about all of these ingredients is the freedom you have to make your own concoctions. Make a maki, make a hand roll, or be lazy and just throw them in a bowl to make a salad like I did for lunch with the leftovers. Use whatever you have on hand or try a fun new ingredient you’ve never tasted before. This is open to any and all preferences to whoever decides to step up to the countertop. Make a night out of it – have some people over and let everyone bring something and choose their own edible destiny for the evening. Just provide some good sake.

A few tips: when you prepare the rice, make sure the vinegar mix is at room temperature before you mix it into the rice, and make sure the rice is still warm. However, the rice must be COOL before actually uniting it with nori. Lightly steam or blanch any vegetable that is super hard in its raw form. And no matter what – no matter how poorly you roll or how sloppy you cut your veggies – always eat it! Never throw away good sushi. That’s the rule.

Sassy Sushi Rice & Lazy Sushi Salad

Makes about 2 cups
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Prep: about 2 hours (with cooling time)

Ingredients

For the Rice
½ c. Brown rice, short grain or sticky variety
2 T. Amaranth
2 T. Red quinoa
2 T. Rice vinegar
¾ tsp. Sugar
½ tsp. Salt

For the Accompaniments
* All of these are optional – be creative.
Asparagus
Avocado
Carrot
Cucumber
Pickled radish
Radish sprouts
Summer squash, green or yellow
Sweet potato
* These are a must.
Nori sheets
Seaweed flakes or seasoning (dulse, kelp, bonito, etc…)

Directions

For the rice: Bring the rice, amaranth and quinoa to a boil in 1 ½ cups of water. Lower the heat and simmer until rice is tender, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a stainless steel or type of large mixing bowl. While the rice is cooking, mix the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Heat mixture in microwave in 10 second spurts, stirring in between heat waves until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool to room temperature before mixing into rice. When the vinegar has cooled, stir into rice and mix well. Set rice aside to cool (but do not put in refrigerator.

For vegetables of choice: Cut avocado, carrot, cucumber, radish, squash and sweet potato into 5-6” matchstick pieces. Blanche asparagus, carrots, or sweet potato and plunge in ice water to stop cooking.

To prepare a sushi roll: Lay a sheet of nori, shiny side down, on a bamboo sushi mat. Makes sure to keep your hands moist or wet while handling the rice, as it gets very sticky – keep a small bowl of water in easy reach. Place about ¾ cup sushi rice (more or less to preference) in palm and form into a loose ball. Press the ball all over nori, spreading the rice into one thin layer. At this point, you can either flip the sheet over for an inside out roll or lay your veggies on the rice for a regular roll. Place 3-4 pieces of each desired veggie and a few sprouts on top of rice or nori. Pick up nearest side of the sushi mat and fold nori over the vegetables. Be sure to press the mat both evenly and very tightly as you roll forward, sliding the mat inch by inch as the nori rolls underneath until you’ve reached the end. If you are making an inside out roll, sprinkle the seaweed seasoning on the outside over the rice. If you are making a regular roll, cut the roll into 6-8 pieces and lightly sprinkle seaweed seasoning on top of each piece.

To prepare a lazy sushi salad: place a ½ cup of sushi rice into a serving bowl. Top with desired vegetables as prepared above. Sprinkle with seaweed seasoning, drizzle a little soy sauce on top and finish it off with a generous pinch of sprouts. A dollop of wasabi can be applied as desired.

Spicy Black Bean Stir Fry

I tend to go crazy at the grocery store when I’m low on produce. Meaning I grab everything that looks ripe, leafy, vibrant, and/or colorful. When I get home and unload, I want to eat everything immediately. In general, I have a hard time focusing on just one item in a dish and leavening behind so many others. It’s as though the sheer variety visually and mentally impairs me from honing in on a single type and I experience a temporary sense of veggie paralysis. You might call this indecision…semantics. The indecision is how recipes like Hodgepodge Pie are concocted in my kitchen.

Sunday lunch was another episode of indecision combined with an intense craving for crunchy vegetables after a hot mid-morning jog. I couldn’t pass up a single thing in my crisper, so it all went in the wok. Ok - I passed on the chard after having just made the rolls, but I threw down most of what I had in this delicious stir-fry. Stir fry is such a simple dish that I almost feel stupid posting a recipe for it. I hate reading stir-fry recipes, because they all sound the same to me. I had forgotten how useful they were when I was just learning to cook. I don’t care who you are, you can make this regardless of your cooking know-how. Pick and choose your own veggies to throw in, add a little soy with a small pinch of sugar and be careful with the chili paste.

Spicy Black Bean Stir Fry

Serves 2
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 tsp. Canola oil

2 Green onions, chopped, white & green parts separated

1 T. Fresh ginger, minced

1 T. Garlic, minced

½ c. Carrots, thinly sliced

½ c. Chinese mushrooms, chopped (shiitake, oyster or other)

¾ c. Zucchini, sliced into ½ moons

¾ c. Cauliflower, chopped

½ c. Yellow corn, fresh or frozen

2 tsp. Tamari or soy sauce

¼ c. Water, divided

1 c. Black beans, cooked or canned

1 c. Black or brown rice, cooked (optional)

1 tsp. Sambal oelek, or chili garlic paste*
1 tsp. Sugar or agave nectar
½ tsp. Soy sauce

*Sambal oelek is a very spicy chili paste. Start with one teaspoon and add more if desired.

Directions

Heat wok on stove over high heat. When pan is hot add oil and lower heat to medium-high. Add white parts of onions, ginger and garlic and fry for 30-45 seconds or until fragrant. Add vegetables, soy sauce and 2 T. water, increasing heat back to high and stirring frequently. Toss vegetables to coat and cook until just tender and liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.


Add black beans and remaining ingredients to the hot wok along with the other 2 T. of water. Cook until liquid has evaporated, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over vegetables.

Spicy Teriyaki Tempeh Stir Fry

Teriyaki….this was an undecided and hesitant vegan exploration of the well-known goopy goodness. Teriyaki seems so basic...because it is. Basic can be ok, but for a chef that tends to get carried away with complex ingredients and grandiose cooking techniques, it is borderline dull. It doesn’t ring bells of Japanese authenticity such as, say, Ohitashi or Bakkake Udon. At its worst it poses as a cop-out during times of indecision or reluctance to venture out at an Asian fast food chain. In its better moments it's a boon for both the inexperienced chef looking with immesnse bottle-opening skills as well as the busy body who aims for something convenient. I see the pros and cons, but it's hard to shake the perception of this sauce as either doing the molasses mamba out of a bottle or slimed all over a fast food order from Samurai Sam’s. What’s so great about Teriyaki?

Everything. Salty, sweet, and hugs food perfectly. Not to mention you can whip it up in about 5 minutes. There are many Teriyaki recipes out there to choose from, though they vary a bit. Regardless of the small nuances here and there between recipes, there are really just two key components essential to the salty-sweet flare of many Asian sauces: soy sauce and sugar. Working at the Indonesian restaurant in Madison, I learned very quickly that sugar is the secret to the deliciousness of most Asian cuisines. And so, soy sauce and sugar are the key players in most versions of Teriyaki. Presumably water is an easy ingredient to come by, so with those three things you're half way there. Garlic, ginger and cornstarch complete the Teriyaki Team and if you don't have those in your kitchen, get them immediately. I chose a simple recipe based on the ingredients at hand and the ease of preparation. With a few tweaks, I was very pleased.

Customizations: For one, I added Sambal Oelek, another Indonesian staple. It takes hardly a teaspoon to break a sweat, so this red chili garlic paste is deceivingly spicy. I used just under a full teaspoon in the whole batch which was perfect. Sweet sauces don’t do much for me, but a mouthful of something sweet and spicy sauce will make my eyes roll in the back of my head. Has anyone seen What About Bob? I hope some of you recall the dinner scene. The second tweak was my sad attempt to make myself feel better about using so much sugar and salt in one sitting. The recipe initially called for brown sugar, but I used turbinado sugar which is raw and unrefined. Its granules are much larger but dissolve all the same. Why not throw in an extra nutritious punch? It made me feel better, especially since I wasn't willing this time around to sacrifice taste to use the low sodium soy sauce. Another way to make this just a smidge healthier is to use less oil when stir-frying and replace with water which deglazes and steams instead. In the end, when you add a thick sauce anyway, it won’t affect the taste at all unless you’ve over-watered your wok (wow, I sure hope those last few words are what people remember me by).

Once again, I’ve used the boil-then-fry method for cooking tempeh with fabulous results. The addition of a handful of sweet, thin green beans and vibrant red bell pepper was perfect. I am very much averse to mushy, overcooked vegetables so I tend to eat them al dente (crisp to the bite) – take care to add the veggies later in the game or they were sog up in no time. When adding the sauce at the end, you won’t need to remove the wok from heat, but you’d be safe turning the burner off so that you don’t overcook the cornstarch. Otherwise you'll end up with gloppy gastro nightmare. I served this over brown rice and decided it’s true what they say – sugar and spice is very nice.

Spicy Teriyaki Tempeh Stir Fry

Serves: 3-4

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the Sauce
¼ c. Tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
1 c. Water
2-3 T. Sugar, brown or turbinado (raw)
1 T. Ginger, freshly grated or minced
1 Large garlic clove, minced
½ - 1 tsp. Sambal Oelek or red chili garlic paste
2 T. Cornstarch
¼ c. Cold water

For the Tempeh
1 Package Tempeh, cut into small strips or cubes
1 ½ c. Water
½ tsp Onion powder
½ tsp Garlic powder
1 T. Soy sauce

For the Stir Fry
1 ½ T. Canola oil
2 Green onions, white and green parts chopped and divided
2 tsp. Ginger, freshly grated or minced
2 c. Green beans, ends trimmed and cut in half
½ Red bell pepper, chopped
½ c. Water (or as needed)

Directions

For the Sauce: Combine the first 6 ingredients in a small sauce pan, adjusting the spice level by using more/less Sambal Oelek. Heat mixture over high heat and boil until sauce has reduced slightly, 4-5 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and cold water. Add to sauce and stir constantly until reaches desired thickness. The sauce should be fairly liquid still, because some will evaporate in the next cooking stage.

For the Tempeh: Combine all tempeh ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down slightly and keep at a rolling boil until tempeh has absorbed most of the water. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the Stir Fry: Using a stove-top wok or large skillet, heat canola oil over high heat. Add white part of onions and ginger, cooking until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tempeh to the pan and toss around to coat all sides. If necessary, add ¼ cup of water if pan becomes too dry. Cook until tempeh starts to brown. Add green beans and red pepper to the pan with another ¼ cup of water. Let cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are al dente (crisp and tender, but not mushy), about 2 minutes. Stir in ½ c of the teriyaki sauce and turn burner off. Stir until sauce has thickened and completely coated vegetables and tempeh. Serve over brown rice.