On the road

Hello there everyone, just want to warn anyone who follows that this blog will be on hiatus-probably for a year (unless you want to read posts about making instant oatmeal in hostel kitchens…)
If you want to check out my photos etc while I travel, go to www.aroundthere.wordpress.com . Not much to look at yet, but soon enough.

can’t think of a bad pun…

Just a regular old dinner dish, wanted to share. I have a thing for these noodles made out of tofu, but you could just use any other kind of noodle if you prefer.

Mustard Tamari Stir Fry (serves 2)

 

2 tsp canola oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup snow peas, destemmed

1 cup broccoli florets, blanched

2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks

1/2 cup baby corn

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 package tofu noodles (or about 4 oz noodles, cooked, drained and set aside)

3 Tbsp tamari

3 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 Tbsp arrowroot or corn starch

(1) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until onions begin to soften. (2) Add carrots and cook for about a minute. (3) Add broccoli and peas and cook until crisp-tender. Add corn and cook until heated through. (4) Stir together tamari, mustard and corn starch. (5) Add noodles to the pot, toss to mix, then add sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens (it won’t be like a paste, but it will be less like salad dressing when it’s done).

it’s a date

I had some dates left over from all that raw “baking” the other day, and thought I ought to do something productive with them. I like using them in baking because they add sweetness but it’s not that over the top saccharine sweetness that you get with plain old sugar, and they also add some moisture to things like cookies. So I started with the dates as a base and went from there to make up some cookies.

Date Coconut Cookies (2 dozen small cookies)

1 packed cup pitted medjool dates

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine (or if you have it, 1/2 cup coconut oil)

1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp agave syrup

1/2 cup coconut flour*

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup flaked coconut

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (2) Place dates and chocolate in a food processor and process until finely chopped and well mixed. (3) Add agave and margarine and process until well combined. (4) Add flours, baking soda and salt and pulse until well mixed and holding together. Add coconut and pulse until fully mixed. (5) Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfulls onto the baking sheets. (6) Bake for ~12 minutes, until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and let sit on the baking sheets for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

 

*I had some of this coconut flour left over too, but you could use regular flour instead (probably more like 3/4 cup wheat flour). Coconut flour is nice just because it adds some extra nutrition to whatever you’re baking, but it also soaks up more moisture so you have to be careful when switching proportions.

fun with asparagus

For one I just wanted to keep all the sides as salad-type dishes so I wouldn’t have to worry about them coming off the stove at just the right moment, but also I wanted to do something different than the normal grilled or roasted asparagus, so I decided to try making an asparagus salad, and keep it very simple. You can obviously make this with another kind of oil, but avocado oil gives it a little something special (and goes well with lemon), if you ask me.

Asparagus Salad with lemon dressing (serves 8-12)

3 bunches asparagus, tough ends removed and cut in half

2 Tbsp avocado oil

3 Tbsp lemon juice

zest from one lemon

1/4 tsp salt

(1) Drop asparagus in boiling water and cook for about a minute, until crisp-tender. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. (2) Stir together oil, juice, zest and salt. Toss with asparagus. Chill until ready to serve.

 

See what I mean about keeping it simple?