Fettuccine Pad Thai

Again, this recipe is from "One-Dish Vegetarian Meals" by Robin Robertson. One thing I really like about this book is that the recipes are practically vegan. A lot of vegetarian cookbooks put so much cheese and butter in their dishes that you might as well just eat the rest of the cow and get it over with.

Fettuccine Pad Thai

12 ounces fettuccine
2 Tbsp safflower oil
8 oz extra-firm tofu, drained, blotted dry, and cut into 1/2-inch strips
2 Tbsp tamari
1 small red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 bunch scallions, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tomato, cut into eighths
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Cook the fettuccine in a large pot of salted boiling water, stirring occasionally, until it is al dente. Drain and place in a bowl. Toss with a small amount of oil and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Splash the tofu with 1 tablespoon of the tamari, stirring to coat. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Reheat the skillet over medium heat with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the bell pepper, scallions, and garlic and stir-fry until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato, brown sugar, vinegar, and the remaining tamari. Cook for about 3 minutes to blend the flavors. Add the fettuccine and tofu and toss gently to combine and heat through. Divide among individual plates, sprinkle with bean sprouts and peanuts, and serve immediately.

My notes: I used 16 ounces fettuccine because I was lazy and wanted to use the whole package. I didn't have safflower oil, so I used olive oil. This might've been a mistake because it got too hot and the smoke alarms went off in my house (which is quite a normal occurrence when I'm cooking -- Jeffrey calmly walked out of his room and into the kitchen to say, "Dinner must be ready!"). I actually love tofu, so any chance I have to eat it, I take it. The tofu stuck pretty badly to the pan, so that was a pain. Tamari is expensive soy sauce -- I think it's geared towards people who can't have gluten. I just used soy sauce. I think it could've used more garlic and I don't know what the deal was with the tomato. It seemed a little odd. Next time, I'll put in zucchini or carrots instead. I was lazy and put the bean sprouts and chopped peanuts in with the whole dish and mixed it all together. This was delicious and even the kids were scarfing on the tofu -- I guess anything's delicious if it's fried. The sauce was very subtle and the noodles were super yummy.

Thyme-Scented Mushroom-Rice Soup

So for my first vegan meal, I tried something out of the cookbook "One-Dish Vegetarian Meals" by Robin Robertson. I'm keeping a log of my recipes so that I can make the ones I like again and remember to avoid the yucky ones.


Thyme-Scented Mushroom-Rice Soup

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks (white parts only), chopped
1 celery rib, including leaves, chopped
1 cup long-grain white rice
5 cups vegetable stock or water
2 Tbsp dry white wine
1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
1 bay leaf
12 oz white mushrooms, sliced (about 3 cups)
2 Tbsp minced fresh Italian parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice, stock, wine, the dried thyme if using, and the bay leaf, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in the mushrooms, parsley, and the fresh thyme, if using. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes longer, or until the rice is tender. Remove the bay leaf and serve hot.

My notes: I had never cooked with leeks before and I was a little scared because I'd heard they were so hard to clean. It turns out that they were super easy and not dirty at all (or my cooking is so bad that I just eat dirt and don't even notice). My celery didn't have any leaves on it, so I had to leave that part out. I don't usually like cooked celery, but this recipe called for so little that I could barely taste it. I bought some vegetable stock and it really made the dish extra flavorful. I used dried thyme because I'm too cheap to buy fresh. I did manage to find the bay leaf after cooking, so nobody choked to death! I used 16 ounces of mushrooms because I love mushrooms. I'm pretty sure my parsley was from Mexico and not Italy, but it still added a nice freshness to the dish. I forgot to add the salt and pepper, but it didn't need it because the broth was so flavorful. Maybe it's because I added in extra mushrooms, but this much thicker than a soup. Also, it took a lot longer than it stated for the rice to be completely tender. It was delicious and I will definitely make it again. It would be perfect alongside a tossed green salad and some hearty whole-wheat bread.

Lightening Up for Spring

The calendar says that it's spring, though the snow on the ground makes me think otherwise.

I've decided to lighten things up by going flexetarion -- you know, a flexible vegetarian. Actually, my goal is to go vegan, but I'll take whatever baby steps I can muster.

Time to go to the store and get some veggies!

Letter Karma

I wrote a letter to my nephew and he didn't just write a letter back -- he sent a whole package!

He mailed us a box full of fabulous gifts for the kids and a nice long letter.

Who knew that a letter could inspire such wonderfulness?

Joys of Letter Writing

So far two people have written me back!

I got a letter from the woman who inspired me in my letter writing quest (I wonder how many people have written her back now that February is halfway through) and I received a letter from my mother.

Yay friend! Yay mom!

So fun to get real mail for a change.

Single-Handedly Saving the USPS

The other day I was at Costco and the cashier asked me, "Do you want to buy some stamps before the price goes up?" I was in my Costco-free-sample stupor, so I readily answered, "Sure!"

What I didn't realize is that since this is Costco, I didn't get just one book of stamps, I got FIVE books of stamps. There's 20 stamps in a book -- so I just purchased 100 stamps.

What am I going to do with 100 stamps? I keep in touch with friends and family through email and Facebook. I pay all of my bills online. I haven't used a stamp in years!!!

Then one of my Facebook friends said that she was doing a letter-writing project for the month of February. Every day this month, she is writing one letter -- a total of 28 letters.

Writing a letter a day is a little much for me, so I decided to write two letters a week for the whole year. That's a little over 100 letters for 2013 -- a great way to go through my stamps!

I've been trying to catch up on the weeks I missed in January, but so far I've written 11 letters. One thing I've realized is that since it's been so long since I've sent anything snail mail, I don't have anyone's address! So if you get an email or Facebook message from me asking for your address, that's why.

So that's my plan to single-handedly save the US Postal Service.

Raspberry Deliciousness

Alice-Grace wanted to make raspberry ice-cream:

Frozen raspberries
Milk
Ice cubes

But she forgot to add any sugar and the raspberries were a little tart, so we added it in later with more milk and it turned into a raspberry milk shake. It was still really good.

I got my blender because a friend said that it did a good job of chopping up raspberry seeds, but that doesn't happen with this blender. I was picking seeds out of my teeth all night. I guess it's time to get some cheese cloth or something.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

My kids love microwave popcorn, but I hate all the crazy chemicals in it. It just tastes weird. If I'm going to eat cancer-corn, I at least want to eat it in a movie theater, not in my own home. So here's a recipe for homemade microwave popcorn:

1/4 cup popcorn kernels
1 tsp olive oil
Salt

Put popcorn kernels, olive oil and salt in a regular brown paper lunch bag. Fold over the top and seal with a piece of Scotch tape. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Done!

The original recipe called for 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, but it soaks all through the bag and makes a mess. Of course, after we pop ours, we cover it with melted butter just to make sure it's not healthy. Yum, yum!

Soup -- Hold the Froth

Today we made Bacon Cheddar Potato Soup. We mixed the ingredients in the blender, but didn't heat it up in the blender. This way it wouldn't get all aerated.

Bacon Cheddar Potato Soup
Milk
Potatoes, baked
Cheddar cheese
Onion
Dill
Rosemary
Salt
Bacon, cooked and crumbled

It was delicious. Nigel commented that it was faster to make this soup from scratch than it was to mix up the dehydrated potato soup mix we had in the cupboard. It was way yummier, too.

Though I do have a big burn mark on my arm from cooking the bacon. Stupid bacon.

Ah, Ice-Cream

Today I came home from work and my daughter had made a big batch of vanilla ice-cream. It was delicious. Thank you, new blender.