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What to Do with Leftover Chinese Food

On Thursday (?) we ordered Chinese food.  Jon got General Tso’s Tofu and I got steamed veggies and tofu (yes, I am one of those).  Of course we didn’t finish it all, so we had a bunch of left overs.  Today we reused them- we stir fried the steamed veggies and tofu medley with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil to add some flavour and texture, and threw themin some broth composed of veg broth, garlic, fresh chives, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  If I had srirarcha sauce.. I would.  Then we added in some soba noodles and called it a day.  Jon pan fried his General Tso’s tofu, and it heated up very nicely!  Oh yeh, and I had a fried egg on top.

Soba Noodles with Veg and Tofu
Serves 2
Leftovers: Broccoli, sugar snap peas, tofu- whatever veggies you want to use up, kale and mushrooms and baby corn would work nicely.
Soba Noodles
Vegetable Broth- 3 cups
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, grated and peeled
1 Garlic Clove
Fresh Chives
Sesame Oil

Sautee left over veggies and tofu in Sesame Oil, add garlic and ginger, and cook until flavours are absorbed (Note: If you are using tofu that has already been coated in sauce and fried, set this aside and cook on its own in a pan over high heat), set aside. Cook soba noodles, drain, and set aside. Cook broth- throw in veg broth, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and chives. Cook for about 10 mins so flavours meld together. Add in tofu, veggies, and noodles. Fry an egg in some oil, and baste with veg broth, cover and cook a few minutes. Arrange noodles and veg in a bowl, top with egg, and garnish with chives.

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Weekend Eggs

It’s Day 2 of being snowed in (see below).  The outdoor cat is inside, hiding out under the couch, and there is one very pissed off Weiner dog, who has resorted to peeing on the front porch due to his abhorrence of the snow.  Nevertheless it’s Saturday, which means EGGS.  I did another baked egg today, but went the extra mile and whisked the egg whites, thus making the egg light and airy, almost souffle like.  Today I baked my egg with spinach, garlic, and fresh chives, topped with pecorino, bread crumbs and olive oil.

Fluffy Baked Egg
1 ramekin

1 egg
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Pecorino, shaved
A couple fresh chives, chopped up
1 clove of garlic
Handul of fresh spinach
Salt and Pepper
1/2 tbs Bread Crumbs

Preheat the oven to 400, grease a ramekin with olive oil and line with spinach.  Separate the egg yolk and egg white, whisk the white until stiff.  Drop the egg white into the ramekin, and drop in chives and garlic, and egg yolk.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs, drizzle with olive oil, and arrange shaved pecorino on top, saving some for after baking.  Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes- the white should puff up and become golden from the cheese and breadcrumbs.  Remove and garnish with pecorino, eat with crusty bread.

Photo by Debbie

Jon took a photo of the snow every half hour and compiled a time-lapse photo, click here to see it.

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Hot Dog Fest X

Last year, Jon and I began a tradition: Burger Fest.  As vegetarians, we like to eat healthy- it’s one of the reasons we are vegetarian, after all.  However, there are times where we feel that people equate vegetarianism with a boring, healthy diet.  Take plane food for instance, yes it’s horrible, but if you ask for the veg option you get this tray of healthy stuff.  At first it’s great, but then you realize that for an app are two pathetic looking carrot sticks, and for desert: a naff whole grain piece of cardboard that is meant to pass for a cookie.  Meanwhile, your fellow passenger who got the chicken entree has some cheese and crackers as an app, and a chocolate brownie with ice cream for dessert.

Burgerfest is a celebration of being vegetarian, but still eating indulgently cheesey, greasy (veg) burgers once in a while.  Last year for example, Jon had fried onions, 2 patties, facon swiss cheese, mushrooms, barbecue sauce etc.  This year Burger fest falls on a Friday- 16th April.  While musing about how Burger fest can’t come soon enough, we thought “What About Hot Dog Fest?”  So we planned out our hotdogs and made a go of it.

It was our first Hot Dog Fest, and probably the last due to one major revelation:  I don’t think I really like Hot Dogs. It just wasn’t the same as Burger Fest.  Our downfall may have been the jumbo hot dogs, or the fact that we used hoagies instead of hot dog buns.  As a result, we ended up so full from the bread and in a soy-coma.  Nonetheless, our toppings were creative and delicious, so here they are..

1. Tater tots, Facon, Monterrey Jack Cheese, Fresh Chives and Spicy Mayo (above)

2. Trinidadian Salsa (Carrots, Fresh Cilantro, Lime, Green Chili, Garlic), Grilled Feta, Black Olives, and Smoked Paprika (above)

3. Chili, Onions, and Mustard (below)

4. The Deconstructed Corn Dog: Hush Puppies, Mustard and Ketchup (below)

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Vegetables en Papillote over Israeli Couscous with Almond-Parsley Pesto

Guess what? En Papillote means I stuffed a bunch of vegetables in some foil (didn’t have parchment paper, but foil works just as well) with a bit of butter, lemon, olive oil, and white wine, wrapped it up so it looked like a shiny cornish pasty, and bunged it in the oven for 20 minutes or so. But it sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Apparently it is a good way to cook because the flavours meld together and the juices steam the veggies. I like it because there isn’t any washing up. I sound just like my mum.

The trick of cooking this way is to combine ingredients that have roughly the same cooking time.  I parboiled the sweet potatoes beforehand, but  I had to reuse that pot for the couscous anyway.  As for the spinach- I used that as a layer on which the veggies sat in the foil in order to prevent burning.  Then i decided to throw them in the dish because I love spinach, but as you can tell spinach has a different cooking time, hence the yucky overcooked color of it.  The Almond Parsley pesto isn’t necessary, it definitely overshadows the nice flavor combination of the veggies, but I wanted to use up some parsley.

Vegetables en Papillote over Israeli Couscous with Almond-Parsley Pesto
Serves 3

1 packet of Israeli Couscous- I used that Near East Brand with a basil spice pack
1 Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 Onion, sliced into thin strips
1 Clove of garlic
1 Tomato
1/2 cup Cauliflower
1 cup Spinach
5 Mushrooms
Pecorino Cheese
2 Tbsp Butter
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 tsp White Wine
1/2 Lemon, juiced

Pesto:
1/4 Cup Almonds
1/2 Cup Fresh Parsley
1 Clove garlic
1 tbsp Parmesan
1 tbsp Goat Cheese
1/2 Lemon, Juiced
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Boil the cubed sweet potato until half cooked, remove from heat.  Cut foil into three rectancles, 12 inches long.  Fold in half and oil the surfaces a bit.  Arrange Spinach in about 4-5″ circles.  Divide sweet potatoes among three foil circles, and place thinly sliced onions, shaved garlic, diced tomatoes, small cauliflower florets, and chopped mushrooms in each circle.  Drop a blob of buter on top, drizzle with olive oil, lemon and white wine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring the folded bit of the foil over so there are now three open sides.  Roll the open sides so to create a half moon parcel of foil.  Cook in the oven for about 25 mins at 400F.

Meanwhile, cook the couscous and create the pesto.  Grind almonds, parsley, and garlic together in a mortar- or using a food processor.  Add in olive oil, goat cheese, lemon, and parmesan.  Season to taste.

Remove parcels from the oven and arrange over couscous.  Sprinkle with pecorino and eat alongside the pesto if desired.

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Lemony Wagon Wheels with Goat Cheese, Spinach and Sun dried Tomato

This is a simple pasta dish, make it with something like Orecchiette or Wagon Wheels (I can’t remember their fancy Italian name).   Use whatever greens you want- Rappini, Kale, Spinach or Dandelion.  Fresh parsley works will, but could be substituted by fresh oregano if you have that on hand instead.

Lemony Wagon Wheels with Goat Cheese, Spinach and Sun dried Tomato
Serves 4 Hungry Beasts

Pasta for 4
Juice of 1 Lemon
1-2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
Handful of fresh Parsley, chopped
Fresh Spinach
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10 Sun dried tomatoes, chopped up
2 ounces of goat cheese
Red Chili Pepper flakes

Cook pasta. Place spinach or greens in a strainer, rinse, and then pour over boiling water from a kettle to wilt. Once pasta is cooked, add in Spinach, sundried tomato, garlic, olive oil, lemon, and fresh parsley. Mix well, season with cracked pepper and crushed sea salt, pour into a serving bowl and top with red chili pepper flakes and goat cheese blobs.

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Potato and Leek Soup

Potato and Leek Soup is one of my favourite soups, ever.   It’s simple to make, serve with some cheesy toasts and fresh parsley.  Last night I also made goat cheese, onion, mushroom and sun dried tomato tartelettes, I had left over mushroom and onions which I arranged on top of the soup, they were sauteed with lemon and thyme so gave the soup a nice acidic dimension.

Potato and Leek Soup
Serves 4

2-3 Large Leeks
6-7 Small Red Skinned Potatoes
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 tbsp Dried Herbs: Oregano, thyme, basil, sage, rosemary
1 Cup Milk
3 Cups of Veg Broth
2 tbsp White Wine
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Butter
1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley

Clean leeks and chop  into 1 cm rounds.  In a large pan, heat olive oil and butter, once butter melted, add leeks over medium heat.  Cook until soft, but not browned.  Add Garlic, herbs and white wine.  Once wine has evapourated, add potatoes, broth, milk, and chopped up parsley.  Simmer over low, don’t bring to a boil.  Cook covered about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft.  Season to taste and blend.

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Poached Egg over Hashed Green Squash

I don’t know the difference between zucchini and green squash, I had assumed they were the same thing but for some reason they are sold separately at the supermarket.  I will have to have a look in my Food Lover’s Companion later! The point is, this dish will work with zucchini… but if zucchini is the equivalent of green squash, then that goes without saying.  This might be my new favourite egg dish, it was so yummy.

Poached Egg over Hashed Green Squash
Makes 1 Serving

1 Egg
1 Zucchini/Green Squash
1/2 Small Onion
1 Clove of Garlic
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
Fresh Parsley
2 tsp of herbs- sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil.
Red Chili Pepper Flakes
Pecorino Cheese, or Parmesan Reggiano
1 Tbsp Bread Crumbs

Grate Zucchini, place in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze so to drain liquid.  Saute onions in olive oil and butter until soft, add garlic (sliced thinly) and dried herbs.  Cook a few minutes and add in zucchini and bread crumbs.  Meanwhile, poach eggs.  Once the zucchini has started to brown, stir in parsley and remove from pan, arrange on a plate.  Place poached egg over the hashed zucchini, and sprinkle with some Pecorino cheese and Red Chili Flakes.  Eat with crunchy toast.

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Brief Hiatus

Hello beans! Great news, I am going on a road trip.  We are even going to sin city.  Right after all that, I will be paying for my sins at hell, aka back to work in Blackstone VA.  So there will be a lag for about 2 weeks, though I will post some pics of food I ate on my travels in a week or so.  Look for a guest post by Jon, describing how to make his delicious facon wrapped potatoes that he created on New Years. 

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Lima Bean Paste and a Sandwich to go with it

Lima beans are good, they are fun to dissect.  For lunch I steamed them and mushed them up with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and some red chili pepper to make a yummy paste perfect on crusty bread with some pecorino.  EAT YOUR BEANS.

Lima Bean Paste
1 Serving

Handful of Lima Beans
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 Small clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp Red Chili Pepper flakes
Fresh Basil, chopped small.
Salt and Pepper

Steam Lima Beans. Mush up and add all ingredients above. Season to taste.  Perhaps assemble a sandwich, like so:

Sandwich with Lima Bean Paste, Fake Ham, Pecorino Cheese, and Fresh Basil.

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Juicing All Day Every Day

Jon got a juicer for Christmas.  So far he has juiced: Strawberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Mango, Cranberries, Apple, Melon, Oranges, Grapefruits, Pears, Kiwi, Broccoli (that was not such a good outcome), Lettuce, and Carrot. 

For those of you who aren’t in the know- I have given up alcohol during the week, meaning no wine Monday through Thursday.  Today it’s Wednesday, and I had a beer.  I decided beer doesn’t count since I am physically unable to have more than one nowadays.  Over the  weekend we took juicing to a whole other level… the Juice King made Strawberry and Pear Juice with a bit of a Pomegranate Grenadine and Malibu Coconut Rum.  I know, it’s such a girly drink, well guess what, I am a girl- so suck it.

Instructions: It’s just like making a potion (!!!).  Bung all the fruit in your juicer, add some alcohol, shake with ice. Drink up!!

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