Use Your (Soba) Noodle

I’m sure you’re tired of me going on about how I enjoy noodles. Well here’s another favourite that’s been kicking around my recipe collection for 10 years. From a 2000 edition of Cooking Light magazine, I bring you Soba with Sesame and Tofu. Quick to prepare as it’s all raw. I’ve reprinted the recipe in its entirety; however, I do not use sugar where it’s called for; instead I substitute either agave or honey (your choice).

Soba with Sesame and Tofu
(recipe from Cooking Light magazine issue August 2000)
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chili oil or vegetable oil
1-1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
4 cups cooked soba (about 8 ounces uncooked buckwheat noodles)
2 cups sliced peeled cucumber
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 cups cubed firm tofu (about 12 ounces)

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
Cook the sesame seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat 1 minute or until toasted.
Combine the sesame seeds, noodles, cucumber, and onions in a large bowl; toss mixture gently.
Divide noodle mixture evenly among 4 bowls; top with tofu and sauce.

Hot or Cold?

After all our hot weather this morning was cool and then some fine drizzle started. My plan was to go with a cold dish for tonight using tofu and noodles, but when I needed to close the windows and put on a pair of socks, I decided to go hot for dinner instead.

I enjoy the spice combination in this dish, and use sambal oelek as the chile paste with garlic the recipe calls for. Keep in mind this is a recipe from Cooking Light magazine, which is why certain ingredients are specified as they are e.g. "reduced-fat firm tofu". I say go full fat or go home. The minute products start to eliminate fat they tamper with the original food aka process it further and by reducing/eliminating fat they need to add other ingredients/chemicals/additives, etc. in order to make it taste good. Stick with food in its most honest, original state and you're on the right track. Additionally, I use brown long-grain rice or brown basmati rice.

Red Curried Tofu
(recipe from Cooking Light magazine March 2001)
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
2 1/2 cups vertically sliced red onion
1 cup yellow bell pepper strips
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon chile paste with garlic
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (12.3-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped dry-roasted cashews

Prepare rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

While rice is cooking, heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Stir in curry, coriander, turmeric, and salt; cook 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and the next 4 ingredients (soy sauce through tofu). Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve the tofu mixture over rice, and sprinkle with cilantro and cashews.

Repeat

I don't know how it happened, with all the meal ideas out there I ended up making the same meal as I did back on July 6 - Greens with Soba Noodles (see blog of July 6 for recipe). I guess you can't go wrong with lots of fresh veggies, soba noodles, and an Asian-style dressing. The protein in the July 6 recipe came from cashews, but tonight I went with raw tofu. It was still tasty, but I noticed the diced tofu soaked up a considerable amount of the dressing so it wasn't as "well-dressed" as usual. However, still every bit as satisfying and lots of leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Soup for Supper

I find Miso Soup prepared with noodles to be a satisfying dinner option. Not too heavy; yet filling. The noodle options are various, but I do prefer the brown rice vermicelli noodles here - and of course a great option to lay off the gluten. To prepare the noodles, just put as many as you like (I usually use half a package for the recipe) in a shallow dish and cover with boiling water from the kettle. Let soak for just a few minutes until the noodle strands separate then rinse in cold water (if you care to reheat the noodles you can either run hot water over them or add them into the soup pot when the soup is ready to warm them through). Any leftover noodles can be stored, covered, in the fridge.

Miso Soup
6 cups of water
12 ounces of tofu, cut into a 1/2-inch dice (I typically use the Silken tofu, which is very soft, but feel free to use firm or extra firm tofu if you prefer)
3 carrots, thinly sliced diagonally
A few "glugs" of Tamari
Wakame or Kombu seaweed, about a 3-inch strip (Just take some scissors and cut the strip into small bits)
Miso Paste (I prefer the dark, genmai miso - but use your favourite)
A couple of green onions, sliced diagonally

In a pot, bring the water to a boil; add the tofu, carrots, tamari, and wakame and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Put a tablespoon of miso paste in the bottom of your soup bowl and add a little soup broth and stir to dissolve, then ladle in the soup, top with the noodles and scatter some sliced green onions on top.

The reason I put the miso paste in the soup bowl and not the soup pot is so any leftover soup can be kept in the fridge, and reheated when needed (adding the miso in the soup bowl again). You would destroy all of the nutritional properties of the miso by heating it if you had put it in the soup pot.

Ninja Rice Bowl

Sometimes I have the best intentions of what I'm going to make mid-week, but then when I get delayed either by work or by transit (or both), the task of preparing a meal that has a number of different components seems like a daunting task. Tonight was such an event. I had planned to make the Ninja Rice Bowl from the cookbook Refresh, which calls for preparing three different sauces, but time got away from me and it turned out I didn't have some of the ingredients on hand. As I had already marinated the tofu cubes in the morning, I went ahead with part of the recipe and provided some improvisation for the rest. So here's my version of the Ninja Rice Bowl (serves 2):


Marinate a package of tofu (cut in cubes) in a mixture of 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, 5 teaspoons of sunflower oil, and 1/2 cup of tamari. (Let marinate for 1 hour or up to 5 days in a sealed container in the fridge).


Cook some brown basmati rice.


Make a marinated sundried tomato paste by combining 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of each of the following dried herbs: sage, tarragon, basil, oregano, thyme, and marjoram. Add 1/2 cup of reconstituted sundried tomatoes*, finely chopped, and using your immersion (stick) blender, mix together.


Slice some green onion and celery, and grate some carrot (use as much or little of each as you prefer).


To assemble: place rice in bowl, arrange vegetables around the inner edges of the bowl; spoon the marinated sundried tomato paste on top of the vegetables; arrange the marinated tofu in the middle of the bowl and top with some broccoli sprouts.


*to reconstitute dried tomatoes, place the sundried tomatoes (not the ones packed in oil) in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 20 minutes or until soft. Remove tomatoes from the water and proceed with your recipe. Note: I typically keep the "tomato water" for adding to soups and stews. There's lots of flavour to be had here. It will keep in the fridge for a few days or, alternatively, you could freeze it until ready to use.

Dragon Rice Bowl

After enjoying a lazy Saturday, I didn't want to have to go to too much trouble for dinner. I decided to try making the Dragon Rice Bowl from the cookbook "Refresh". I only purchased this cookbook recently so am trying to work my way through some of its recipes.

Rice: Prepare some brown basmati rice (this is where I'm always thankful we have a rice cooker - it does a great job with no assistance from me).

Marinated Tofu: Cut a block of firm tofu into thick slices and marinate in 2 ounces of unfiltered apple cider vinegar, 3 ounces of tamari, 1 ounce of water, and 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil. Marinate for at least one hour or it can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. You don't have to cook the tofu - it can be served as-is or cut up in cubes to add to a salad or wrap.

Thickly slice a zucchini and 2 large tomatoes (try to remove the seeds as best as you can). Grill the veggies and the marinated tofu on the BBQ, brushing the veggies with a little olive oil and sprinkling with some Kosher salt. Grill on both sides ensuring you get those lovely char marks that scream "barbeque".

Miso Gravy: In a saucepan mix together 4-1/2 tablespoons of spelt flour, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 3/4 cup nutritional yeast. Whisk in 1-1/2 cups of vegetable stock to make a paste. Put the saucepan over a low heat and let it come to a boil; then simmer for 30 seconds. Take it off the heat and add 1/3 cup sunflower oil, 1-1/2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons of miso paste, and 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt and whisk until smooth.

To assemble: put the rice in the middle of a bowl, top with a 4-ounce ladle of miso gravy. Arrange the grilled veggies and tofu around the inner edge of the bowl and put some chopped green onions and chopped cilantro in the centre of bowl. Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds.

I'm glad I made the miso gravy to give it a try, but will likely swap it out for another sauce in future. I'm not a big fan of nutritional yeast at the best of times although I know it's a great source of B Vitamins -- the taste takes a bit of getting used to. I thought with all the other ingredients in the gravy, it would have done a better job of masking the taste of the nutritional yeast. Still, the meal was enjoyable and I will make it again (with a substitute for the miso gravy).

Anything Goes

Wholesome, tasty, and satisfying. That's how I describe tonight's dinner. It was a Quinoa and Tofu Salad Meal chock-full of veggies of every colour and texture with an Asian inspired dressing. Of course this dish is high in protein with both tofu and quinoa, but for those who aren't fond of tofu - you can forego it and still have a good amount of protein courtesy of the super grain, quinoa (I've had lots of people ask me how to pronounce it, and it's "keen-wah"). To cook it, you basically treat it like you do rice as far as technique goes. Put it in a pot and cover with water (about a 2:1 ratio - so that's two parts water to one part quinoa). Put in a pinch of salt (use a good salt - like unrefined sea salt and not the bleached white table salt you grew up with that clogs your arteries!). Put the pot on a high heat to boil, then stick a lid on it, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 15 or so minutes just until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Then turn off the heat and let it steam a few minutes. To make this salad, I then dump the quinoa onto a cookie sheet and spread it out so it cools faster. To construct the salad, I first mix my dressing ingredients together in the bottom of a large bowl (any home-made dressing is good), then add in the cooled, cooked quinoa, some firm tofu (if using) cut in cubes, and lots of veggies. Anything goes! Feel free to take this opportunity to use up the veggies sitting in your fridge that aren't quite enough to make anything else. You know what I'm talking about. The one carrot you have that got lost under the big head of cauliflower, the half a red pepper looking all discarded in the back corner of the veggie drawer that you're only going to throw out in a few more days when it's garbage night, the two stalks of celery that you forgot were there and can't think of anything else to do with anyways. You get the picture. Tonight I used (up) carrots, green onions, cucumber, red pepper, radishes, bean sprouts, and lettuce. Clean and chop/slice all your veggies and add them to the big salad bowl already holding the dressing, quinoa, and tofu. Some fancy tossing action and you've got yourself a great dinner and wonderful leftovers to take to work tomorrow.