Soy-Mirin Tofu Over Rice with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

I stumbled across this recipe at VeganYumYum and just had to make it. I love tofu and am up for making just about anything that involves it! An added plus - this meal was insanely easy to prepare! I've copied the recipe below.

Soy-Mirin Tofu Over Rice with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1 Block Extra Firm Tofu, pressed, cut into small squares
• 1 tbs Canola or Peanut Oil
• 2 tsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Mirin
• Broccoli, steamed
• 1 Carrot, peeled and shredded
• Peanuts, crushed (optional)
• 1 Cup Dry Brown Rice

Peanut Dressing

• 1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
• 1/4 Cup Water (or coconut milk if you have it!)
• 1 Tbs Sugar
• 1 Tbs Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
• 1 tsp Hot Chili Oil
• 1 Pinch Salt

Start cooking your rice. Mix sauce ingredients until smooth (be patient, it’ll look like hell at first) and set aside.

Pan fry tofu in the oil over high heat in a non-stick skillet until browned on both sides. Drain and return to hot pan (turn off the heat). Mix soy sauce and mirin together and pour over tofu, mixing well. It will bubble up and form a light glaze.

Plate rice, add broccoli, tofu, carrot, and crushed peanuts. Drizzle with sauce and serve.

Note: if you don't have mirin, use a combination of cooking wine and sugar.

Pie and Cupcakes!

I never thought that summer would be exhausting. Working full time and taking a 5 credit course is more draining that I thought it would be. I figured I could handle it easily, but I was wrong. I find myself with no time to do the one thing that I used to find enjoyable: I don't cook. I just took my first test though and decided to take the day off for once. The result? A strawberry rhubarb pie and some coconut cupcakes!

The lattice top for the pie proved to be harder than I thought. I ended up just rolling out a whole sheet and slapping it on top - next time I will get it though.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I got the recipe from epicurous.com and I have copied it below.

Ingredients
For crust

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling

• 3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
• 1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Directions

Make crust:
Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter flass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes (Yields about 24)

Isabel and I were going to make a coconut cake using fresh coconut but our coconut was... fermented. So then we decided to make coconut cake using store-bough sweetened coconut but then we forgot to put the coconut milk in to the cake so we just made normal vanilla cupcakes instead and topped them off with some toasted coconut.

The cake recipe is Paula Deen's 1-2-3-4 cake recipe and the frosting is her 7 minute frosting.

1-2-3-4 Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

  

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups sifted self-rising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool completely and then frost with 7 Minute Frosting (recipe below).

7 Minute Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. (If this happens, it could cause your frosting to become grainy). Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Toasted Coconut

Heat the oven to 350. Spread the coconut out in a thin layer. Toast for 2 minutes and then in 1 minute intervals until lightly browned.

Assembly

Frost cooled cupcakes and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Soba with Shiitake and Cabbage

These delicious Korean noodles are good cold too!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 5 tsp gochujang
  
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 lb dried soba noodles (buckwheat noodles - you can find them in an Asian grocery store)
• 1 lb shiitake mushrooms
  
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, minced

Directions

• Combine water, soy sauce, brown sugar and gochjang together until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
  
• Prepare pasta as directed.
  
• While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet until hot. Take the pan off the heat and then add in the ginger and garlic. Return to heat and add in sliced mushrooms. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 - 7 minutes or until the mushrooms turn a darker brown color.
  
• Add cabbage, carrot and green onion, and saute until veggies become crisp-tender. Add the sauce and mix thoroughly, until heated through.
• Add cooked noodles to the vegetable mixture and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds for garnish. Serve immediately.
  

Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta

A quick, delicious meal that I will never get sick of!

Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 lb of dried pasta, any kind. I used cavatappi.
• Container of cherry (or grape) tomatoes
• 1 small - medium sized block of goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 a bunch of parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
  

Directions

• Cook the pasta according to directions on the package.
• Drain (reserve some pasta water) and then add the tomatoes, goat cheese, parsley, olive oil, and salt and pepper (to taste). If too dry, add some of the pasta water.
• Serve!