Teriyaki Tofu with Brussels Sprouts and Soba

I've been on a tofu hiatus lately. Its estrogen-mimicking qualities had me a little nervous, and I hadn't been craving it much anyway, so I took a tofu timeout. Then I was at the whole foods near work and some baked pressed tofu caught my eye. I can't remember the brand, but it's the kind that comes in thai, teriyaki, and lemon-pepper flavors. I usually buy regular organic extra firm tofu, and do the pressing and marinating myself. But don't kid yourself -- that process takes time. Ideally, you'd put the tofu in a bowl, cover it with a paper towel, rest a heavy can on top, and let the liquid drain out over at least half an hour. Then you'd marinate the tofu for half an hour more, replacing the plain liquid with flavor. But whole foods, the blessing that it is, carries ready-made-and-marinated tofu for only eighty times the price! Actually, this stuff was under 2 bucks -- not bad at all.

With the tofu flavored and ready to go, I was able to make this entire meal, start to finish, in 23 minutes. People, that's faster than our not-so-favorite thirty-minute-meal star. And it was delicious to boot! Even D thought so.

As always, I used what I had in the fridge, which last Tuesday night amounted to ten brussels sprouts. Feel free to substitute cabbage, bok choy, peppers, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, spinach, you name it. Just be sure not to overcook the soba; they're best when they still have a little bite to 'em.

Teriyaki Tofu with brussels sprouts and soba serves 3-4

• 1 block tofu (I used pre-marinated and baked, but feel free to start from scratch; I've included my teriyaki marinade recipe below.)
• ten brussels sprouts or about 2-3 cups of any other vegetable
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/2 an onion, sliced
• Olive oil
• 1/3 pound soba noodles (about half a package or a bit more)
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup teriyaki marinade (recipe below)

1. If tofu is not pre-marinated, follow my instructions above to drain and then marinate the tofu.Then chop tofu into a large dice.
2. Cook soba in well-salted water, according to package directions. do not overcook. Drain over the sink, rinse with cold water to stop cooking, and set aside.
3. chop brussels sprouts into 4-5 slices each, then break into layers with hands.
4. Over medium-high heat, add olive oil to a saute pan and when hot but not smoking, add tofu to the pan. Do not disturb much; turn each cube of tofu just once or twice, letting each side cook a good 2-3 minutes. This will develop a nice crust on the tofu. When tofu is browned on all sides, drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.
5. Add another Tbsp. of olive oil to the same pan, and toss in garlic and onion. Let cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, and then add brussels sprouts. Toss the mixture for about 3-4 minutes, until sprouts are cooked but still firm, and start adding teriyaki sauce by the spoonful, tossing to coat the sprouts.
6. When you've added a few spoonfuls of the sauce, add the tofu back into the pan and toss quickly to coat with the sauce. Add more if needed.
7. To plate: first arrange soba on the bottom of the plate; then add sprouts and tofu on top. Pour extra sauce overtop, if desired. Toss around to mix, and eat!

Teriyaki Marinade adapted from The Bold Vegetarian Chef

• 3 Tbsp. apple cider or sherry vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. cane sugar or brown sugar
• 4-5 dashes Tabasco sauce or 2-3 shakes of chili flakes
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
• pepper
• 1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil

combine all ingredients and stir or whisk to combine.
1. uh, yea. That's it!

Baked Stuffed Eggplant

This week, I was in North Carolina for work. I stayed in the coastal plains of NC, in an all-American town. By all-American, I mean the only things to eat were carbs and packaged food, and the most popular restaurants were Wendy's, Popeye's, Arby's, and other restaurants whose names are people. Get the drift? Needless to say, I was thrilled to touch down on the runway in the nation's capital, my mouth watering at the thought of cooking up some freakin' vegetables for dinner.

I was going to blog about cookies tonight, but the sheer thought of butter and sugar makes me shudder with memories of my daily intake earlier this week. (Though, to NC's credit, it's not every day that a waffle costs $2.65, a side of grits sets you back 35 cents (!), and breakfast for two with tip comes to 8 bucks.) In short, I can't think about sweet stuff right now, so I'll tell you instead about the stuffed eggplants I made this past Sunday.

Ahh, eggplants. They really are quite the controversial vegetable. No one seems to mind melanzane alla parmigiana, where the innocent little slices are fried to a nearly unidentifyable crisp, smothered with sauce and cheese, and baked into a casserole; however, unadulterated, aubergines are a vegetable that some people love to hate.

I have promised friends that I'll blog about a healthier version of eggplant parm sometime soon; for now, here's a great, easy fix for the eggplant sitting in your fridge. It's easy, healthy, and quite tasty to boot. Need I say more?

Baked Stuffed Eggplant makes 2 servings

• 1 eggplant, halved
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes
• 2 cups spinach, arugula, or other green, chopped
• handful kalamata or greek olives, pitted and halved
• 2 Tbsp. capers (optional)
• several button mushrooms, rinsed and quartered (I used about 5 small ones)
• 1/2 cup or more crumbled feta cheese
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• fresh parsley, optional
• olive oil
• parmigiano reggiano

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a sharp knife, slice into the eggplant meat along the outer rim of each eggplant half, about 1/2 an inch from the skin.
3. Slice the meat of each half (still intact) into strips, then cubes; carefully slice each cube out of the skin, leaving a 1/2-inch thick cushion of meat on each eggplant skin.
4. In a large pan over medium-high heat, sweat garlic and onion with plenty of salt.
5. Add mushrooms and sundried tomatoes; cook about 4 minutes, til mushrooms are sweating and mixture is fragrant.
6. Add eggplant; saute another 2 minutes.
7. Add spinach, olives, capers, herbs, and pepper; toss around the pan until spinach begins to wilt.
8. squeeze lemon into pan; remove pan from heat.



9. Transfer mixture to eggplant shells, dividing evenly between each half.



10. Top with crumbled feta cheese, and grate some parmigiano overtop.
11. Bake at 350 until shells are tender,about 25 minutes.
12. Serve hot or warm.

Make-your-own Mexican Dinner

D and I were both very excited at the thought of turkey burgers, but you can't make turkey burgers when the grocery store is out of turkey. hmm.

After a few moments' hesitation about what to make my very hungry and over-studied cohabiter, I settled on mexican. Now, before you get too excited, this isn't Diana Kennedy, from-under-the-adobe-flap Mexican (though I love Kennedy's cookbooks, especially this one, and need to make some of her recipes soon!). This is Americanized Mexican food with just a few twists to make it more authentic. And you know what? It's pretty damn good. Because we're kosher, we do either the meat inside or the cheese on top. But please, don't hold back. A little cotija cheese and sour cream never hurt anyone.

Whether you're cooking for an army of hungry people or just a few grumbling stomachs, make a mexican buffet, and you'll be sure to please the folks around your table.

**I'm sorry that my pictures only show some of the featured items (no chicken or guac); I wasn't much in a chicken mood (especially since they were boneless breasts, which I don't so love), and didn't want to make D wait to eat while I photographed. I like to think I'm at least considerate enough to not stand between D and food.

Here's my spread -- and feel more than free to vary these dishes according to your eaters' picky habits.

Flour tortillas (I like spinach flavor) Hot, Tangy Chicken Spanish Rice Smoky Refried Beans Guacamole Salsa Salsa Verde

Hot, Tangy Chicken

• 4 boneless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
• salt and pepper
• or 1 tsp. coriander (dried)
• 1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. hot sauce

1. marinate all ingredients for at least 45 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
3. Put 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and turn the heat on medium-high.
4. Scoop marinated chicken into pan, reserving liquid.
5. Saute for 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through and browned.
6. Add liquid to the pan and cook until reduced to 1/3, about 5 minutes.
7. Transfer to an oven-safe pan and leave, covered, in the oven, to keep warm.

Spanish Rice

2 cups basmati rice (can be brown)
• 2 3/4 cups water
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (be careful!)
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 Tbsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. coriander
• 1 tsp. salt

Put 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
1. Add diced onions, jalapeno, and garlic, and sweat (until translucent), about 2 minutes.
2. Add spices and bell pepper, and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add 2 1/2 cups water, turn the heat to high, cover pan, and bring to a boil.
4. When water is boiling, add rice, and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
5. If after 15 minutes most of the liquid has evaporated, add an extra 1/4 cup and cook, stirring constantly.
6. After most of the liquid has evaporated, cover pot, turn off the heat, and allow to steam for 5 minutes. Then fluff rice with a fork.

Refried Beans

Smoky Refried Beans

• 2 cans black beans
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. pimenton, or smoked spanish paprika
• 1 tsp. salt
• cotija cheese, optional
1. Drain beans and rinse through a few times.
2. Blend beans and 1/8 cup water in food processor or blender until mostly smooth (though some little bits won't hurt).
3. Add oil, pimenton, and salt; pulse a few more seconds til blended.
4. Add more water if needed; you're looking for a smooth consistency that's not overly thick, but not runny either.
5. Put bean mixture in an oven- or microwave-safe dish and cover.
6. Bake in the oven at 350 until warmed through (about 15-20 minutes), or nuke in the microwave for ten-ish minutes until hot.
7. Top with crumbled or grated cotija cheese and a bit of hot sauce, if you wish.

Guacamole

• 4 avocados, halved and scooped into a bowl.
• 1 lime
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed or chopped
• 2 Tbsp. onion, chopped or mashed
• 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 a jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (more or less to taste)
• salt
1. Are there really instructions to this "recipe?"
2. Mash avocados, garlic, and onions in a big bowl (best to mash with a mortar and pestle, but I don't have one...).
3. add tomatoes.
4. add salt to taste.
5. add lime to taste.
6. add jalapeno....you get the drift.
7. Mix it all up and EAT!

I bought both salsa and salsa verde, but each is made relatively easily when you have the time: try this recipe from Simply Recipes, this one from Good Eats, or this salsa verde recipe, also from the much-abhored but also-very-useful Food Network.

A couple tips on serving this feast:

• Tortillas can be heated inside tin foil so that they stay soft and warm, then used as wraps to make burritos.
• Alternatively, cut each into quarters, and toast them in a dry frying pan until they crisp up a bit, then use them as you would nan with indian food, to scoop up some rice, beans, chicken and sauce.
• One last possibility is to fill them in advance, roll them, line them side by side in a pan, top with salsa and cheese, and bake, enchilada style. The possibilities are endless!

  

Vegetable Galette

Few things showcase the rustic nature of fruits and vegetables better than a galette. Essentially a freeform tart, a galette has a hand-folded crust that is folded half way into the center, leaving some of its innards exposed. A galette is by definition slightly asymmetrical, but more beautiful for its imperfection, in my opinion.

I most like galettes with thinly-sliced fillings. If slices are more like chunks, it becomes quite unweildy and difficult to eat. However, packed with thin slivers of apples, spices, and brown sugar, or layered with red peppers, yellow squash, onions, and goat cheese, a galette is both easy to eat and oh-so-delicious.

The key to a good galette is to make sure that the exposed part stays moist in the oven. To do this, there are two tricks: first, add a little extra liquid or fat to the middle. Two, cook uncovered until the galette crust starts to turn golden, then cook covered for a bit so the inside has a chance to steam. I've covered both of these bases in the recipe below, but PLEASE, pretty please feel free to improvise. if you don't like onions or goat cheese, throwsome feta, greek olives and tomatoes in instead. Alternatively, use pears and gorgonzola. Wow, I just figured out what to make this weekend.

Vegetable Galette

Basic Flaky Pie Crust from The Pie and Pastry Bible (© 1998 Cordon Rose, Inc.)

• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
• 1 1/2 cups + 1 1/2 tablespoons pastry flour or 1 1/2 cups (dip and sweep method) bleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (for savory recipes, use 1 1/2 times the salt)
• 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 tablespoons ice water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• (Optional)1/8 teaspoon baking powder (if not using, double the salt)

1. Divide the butter into two parts, about two thirds to one third: 6 Tbsp. and 3 Tbsp.
2. Cut the butter into 3/4-inch cubes. Wrap each portion of butter with plastic wrap, refrigerate the larger amount and freeze the smaller for at least 30 minutes.
3. Place the flour, salt, and baking powder in a reclosable gallon-size freezer bag and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
4. Add the larger amount of butter cubes to the flour mixture and process for about 20 seconds or until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
5. Add the remaining frozen butter cubes and pulse until all of the frozen butter is the size of peas. (Toss with a fork to see it better.)
6. Add the lowest amount of the ice water and the vinegar and pulse 6 times.
7. Pinch a small amount of the mixture together between your fingers. If it does not hold together, add half the remaining water and pulse 3 times.
8. Try pinching the mixture again. If necessary, add the remaining water, pulsing 3 times to incorporate it. The mixture will be in particles and will not hold together without being pinched.
9. Spoon the mixture into the plastic bag.
10. Holding both ends of the bag opening with you fingers, knead the mixture by alternately pressing it, from the outside of the bag, with the knuckles and heels of your hands until the mixture holds together in one piece and feels slightly stretchy when pulled.
11. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap, flatten it into a disc, and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, preferably overnight.
12. If crust refrigerated overnight, set it out at least half an hour before rolling.

Galette

• 1 red pepper, julienned
• 1 onion, finely sliced into thin rings
• 1 yellow squash or zucchini, sliced into thin slivers or using a mandoline
• 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes
• 1 log chevre or soft goat cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Flour rolling surface; roll out crust into a circle 14 inches in diameter.
3. Spread a thin layer of goat cheese over the crust, using about half of the log..
4. Layer julienned vegetables in a decorative pattern on the crust, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.
5. Fold border inward, pleating and tucking in when necessary.
6. Dot the exposed filling area with chunks of goat cheese. (I actually ended up spreading goat cheese over the whole top after taking these pictures, and I like it better that way.)
7. Bake galette uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until crust starts to turn golden. Cover loosely with tin foil and bake another 15 minutes, until innards are soft and cooked through.
8. Serve warm or at room temperature.