These are a great entree for the hot weather. It is delicious at room temperature and can hold well if you want to make ahead. They are very flexible too, if you want to add other veggies or use another protein source (cooked chicken, shrimp, etc). I was lucky enough to get some fresh, homegrown Thai Basil from my mother this weekend!

Summer Rolls (to make 8)

For Sauce:

1/2 onion, finely minced

1 large clove garlic, minced

sirracha, to taste (I only add about 8 drops as my little ones are heat sensitive!)

1 tsp vegetable oil

6 Tbs water

2 Tbs creamy peanut butter

1 Tbs Hoisin sauce

2 tsp tomato paste

1 Tbs soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

For Rolls:

2 oz bean thread noodles (vermicelli)

1 Tbs rice vinegar

12oz extra-firm silken tofu

Potato starch

1/4 cup peanut oil

8 rice paper rounds

bibb or iceberg lettuce (ribs cut out)

approx. 1/4 cup  chopped cilantro

approx 1/4 cup Thai basil, cut in strips

shredded carrot

Cook onion and garlic in vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat until golden. Whisk in remaining ingredients and cook 1 minutes. remove from heat.

Cover noodles with boiling hot water and let soak 15 minutes. Drain well and pat dry between paper towels, then toss with vinegar in a bowl.

Slice tofu into 8 planks and dredge with potato starch and a sprinkle of salt. Fry until golden in the peanut oil over medium high heat. Remove from pan onto a plate with paper towels.

Place a dampened paper towel on your work surface and have everything ready to fill the rice papers. Soak the rice paper in water for about 1 minute or until pliable. Be careful when you pick it up not to rip it.

Place the wrapper on the paper towel and put a piece of lettuce on the bottom third. Spread with some of the peanut sauce. Add a plank of tofu, basil and cilantro and some of the noodles. Fold the wrapper up and over the filling. Fold in the sides then put some carrot along the crease and fold the rest of the way (see the pictures in my previous post). Transfer finished roll to a plate covered in paper towels. Be careful that they do not touch each other or they will stick together.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve with peanut sauce for dipping.

This was a lovely surprise for me when I returned from a long day at a craft show!

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Elizabeth was at the Milford craft fair yesterday.  The rest of us were “enjoying” the rain.  After a morning of home repair, it was time to think about dinner.  Normally I would make nachos and miso soup, a delectable combination.  But with the rain we had the time for something more adventurous.  The silver lining is that now the bathroom sink runs freely, the kitchen cabinet door is back on, the piano bench is repaired, the hall light fixture is ½ fixed, and I finally got the picture printed that Elizabeth asked for about 2 months ago.

Pad Thai

This recipe is based on that posted by the MY-Thai Oriental Grocery.

 Sauce – Prepare first so that it can sit in the fridge for an hour.

 ½ cup Palm Sugar

¼ cup tamarind concentrate

¼ cup fish sauce

½ cup water

½ teaspoon salt

Mix the above in a saucepan, heat covered on low for 45 minutes.  Uncover and turn off the heat while you go back to the grocery for overlooked ingredients.  Heat on medium uncovered for about 15 minutes until viscosity is noticeably increased, but thinner than maple syrup.  Put in the fridge. 

Pad Thai Ingredients

 200 g of thin Thai Rice Noodles, soaked in water for at least 1 hour, then drain in a colander

2 tbsp sliced green onion stalk

2 tbsp sliced green onion

2 eggs - our kids asked for extra egg

Slices of bean curd – I used 5 oz of inarizushi-no-moto (seasoned fried bean curd) from a Japanese grocery. 

2 tbsp chopped garlic

2 cups bean sprouts  (I went to 5 stores before I found bean sprouts.  Unreal.  How can an Asian grocery call itself Asian and not have bean sprouts?) 

3 tbsp smashed-by-a-4-year-old peanuts.  If you don’t have a 4 year old and a mortar and pestle, crush peanuts will suffice. 

3 tbsp canola oil

lime, used as a toy for about 20 minutes, then washed and sliced.

Heat a big skillet on medium heat

Saute the garlic in the oil for about 2 minutes till it is golden

Add the eggs, sauté

Add the rice noodles and the sauce.  Stir until the noodles absorb the sauce.

Add the green onion, bean sprouts, bean curd, and some of the crushed peanuts.  stir, stir, stir. 

Serve garnished with bean sprouts, bean curd, crushed peanuts and lime.

 I served this with raw string beans on the side. 

My dish only remotely resembled this:

This is a yummy but easy recipe to whip up on a busy weeknight. Adjust the spicy-ness to your own taste. You can also vary the veggies however you like. Broiling the tofu gives it great texture and so much less fat than frying!

Peanut Noodles

1 block of extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3/4 lb thin spaghetti or fresh chinese noodles (I used Nasoya brand fresh noodles, 2 9ox pkgs)

4 Tbs soy sauce

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 Tbs olive oil

broccoli

napa cabbage

1/3 cup peanut butter

2 Tbs maple syrup

2 Tbs rice vinegar

1 Tbs water

1 Tbs sesame seeds

1 clove garlic, pressed

1/8-1/2 tsp chili paste

2 scallions, thinly sliced

In a small bowl mix together 3 Tbs soy sauce, peanut butter, maple syrup, vinegar, water, sesame seeds, garlic, and chili paste. Stir until smooth.

Preheat broiler. In a bowl, mix 1 Tbs soy sauce with ground ginger. Add tofu and toss gently to coat. Spray a pan with pan spray and spread out the tofu. Broil for 5 minutes, stir/flip and broil for an additional 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and saute the vegetables (I used broccoli and napa cabbage, use whatever your family likes).

Heat a pot of water to boiling and cook noodles/spaghetti. Drain noodles and return to pot with peanut sauce. Toss to coat. Fill bowls with noodles and top with cooked veggies and tofu. Sprinkle with scallions.

This is my most busy season for work. I am a crafter and this is the time of year when everyone frequents shows and does thier holiday shoppping. I have been happy to be working but it means less cooking! So I have been falling back on my all time favorites; things that are easy to cook and that I know how to make without looking at a recipe. Here is a list of what I turn to when I am over-worked:

Bolognese (my husband only had to boil pasta last night, the sauce came out of the freezer!)

Pasta with Vodka Sauce- this one is so simple I could do it blindfolded!

Noodles with veggies and tofu

good ole hamburgers and hotdogs- we fire up the grill even in the snow!

and when I am really stuck we give in to simple frozen raviolis or chicken nuggets (I like the Ov Tov brand). Not my first choice but sometimes there is little else to do.

I promise to get back to posting soon, I know I have cooking to do for Thanksgiving so look for my awesome no-dairy coconut milk pumpkin pie recipe!

Here is a delicious marinade that doubles as a sauce for noodles. I like to make it in the morning and let the chicken marinate then cook on the grill.

Peanut Soy Marinade

1 Tbs ground corriander

1/2 tsp pepper

1 chopped onion

3 cloves garlic

1/2 c soy sauce

1/4 c lemon juice

1/2 c peanut butter

1/4 c molasses

1/2 c oil (peanut or vegetable)

up to 4 lbs chicken

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Use 1/2-2/3 as marinade for the chicken and reserve the remainder for noodles.

You can use chicken breasts whole, cut into chunks for kabobs or bone in chicken. Cook on the grill.

To make peanut soy noodles, cook spaghetti or rice noodles then add reserved marinade and toss well.

I like to serve this with marinated cucumbers and grilled red peppers. It is also good as a salad, using whole chicken breasts on the grill then slice them and place on  abed of lettuce with grilled veggies.

Noah (10) despite not feeling well, ate his dinner.

Eitan (8) ate well, though took more than he could eat.

Lilian (5) enjoyed the chicken, was luke warm on the noodles.

Jethro (2) enjoyed mixing his dinner with his lemonade….

Last night it was way to hot to cook, but as we had just come home from two weeks away I needed to make something healthy for dinner. On nights like these I turn to things that are easy and don’t require much prep time. I like Fortune Yakisoba Stir Fry Noodles for a quick meal.

So I took a block of firm tofu and cubed it. Heated up a little bit of oil in the wok and fried the tofu until it started to brown, I added about 2 tsp of soy sauce and then I took the tofu out of the wok. Into the wok went cut up head of broccoli with a little bit of water, I covered it and let it steam a bit. Meanwhile I snipped open the noodles (which are fresh not dehydrated) and put them in the microwave for one minute to loosen them up. After the broccoli was cooked I added the noodles and one of the flavor packets (the kids like the teriyaki flavor the best and I like that it has no MSG) and tossed it all with the cooked tofu. It was a simple meal and took only about 15 minutes from start to finish. The kids all ate well, included my two year old.