Marsha
Jul 13th, 2007
Jul 13th, 2007
Summertime culinary adventures
The veggie-loving part of me loves this time of year, when farmer’s markets and roadside produce stands are teeming with red ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, and all sorts of late-summer goodies. Today I was determined to take advantage of this bounty, and resolved to do sometime that involved both my home-grown green beans and basil (not my own, alas–my basil hasn’t flourished this year). Here’s the result.
“Spicy Tofu with Thai Basil and Coconut Rice Cakes,” from Vegetarian Suppers, by Deborah Madison.
- I used regular basil (which is what I had on hand) instead of Thai basil.
- I put no heat in the tofu (we do encourage Sylvia to try mildly spicy things every once in a while, but for this dish it was easy enough to offer sambal on the side).
- I did not let the coconut rice cool to room temperature, cut it into slabs, then pan fry the slabs. I’ve done that before–and it’s quite delicious,–but I didn’t have time for that today. Instead I used a tool that I bought several years ago yet hadn’t used until today: one of those metal rings to mold food. Pretty much every chef on the original (Japanese) Iron Chef series used a ring for at least one dish in each “battle”–that’s where I first saw them and thought, “I must have one of these things!” Well, I bought one, and it sat buried in a drawer of kitchen gadgets (e.g., melon ballers, can opener, tea egg, tiny ladles). I used it to mold the rice on the plate, and though I didn’t get the tidiest result (probably because I didn’t pack the rice in firmly enough), I think the result looks nice.
Green bean and carrots with walnuts, sunflower seeds, and dresssing
- The green beans are from my garden; the carrots are not. I blanched them for about four minutes.
- The dressing is “Asian Miracle Dressing,” from Vegan Lunch Box, by Jennifer McCann. I’ve been reading McCann’s Vegan Lunch Box blog for over a year now, and when she published a book of recipes recently I had to get it. It’s a terrific book, suitable for anyone regardless of his or her (non)vegetarian orientation. She’s published some recipes at the main blog and others at a recipe-specific blog, but most of them are available only in the book. This one is online, though, so you can try it yourself. I think it’s excellent and will probably be using it on most fresh vegetables and salads for the next several months.
The toy sheep was provided by Sylvia. She insisted that it go in that exact spot on the table, right next to the plate. Who am I to argue with that?
Oooh, I’ve been looking for a new dressing recipe, thanks for the tip!
I hope you like the recipe. I really love it–we’ve used it about four times in the last week and a half.
Check out the Vegan Lunchbox cookbook, if you can. As a vegetarian, you’ll probably like several of the recipes in there!