We went to the store last night after work and got another load of grub. A little embarrassing but, I have a recipe I have wanted to try from over at Authentic Deliciousness’ blog, which called for parsnips. I have to be honest, I had never seen a parsnip before, I knew nothing more about them than that they are root vegetables. So at the store, the labels are not exactly in the spots they should be, as I ended up with a rutabaga, Googled ‘parsnips’ when I got home, and well, it wasn’t one, so I Googled other root veggies to identify this one. Since it is a root vegetable I think it will work for this meal. And hey, we get to try rutabaga right?
Anyways, I was planning on making VeganYumYum’s Pan Fried Tofu, Kale, and Stir-Fried Noodles, but ended up going a different way with it. What I hadn’t realized when I picked out this recipe was that it was simply tofu, kale, and noodles with a sauce. That would not fly in my house, as I mentioned earlier, we are pretty picky when it comes to tofu. And the sauce, while pretty good, was missing a bit of something, and only called for ¼ teaspoon of hot chili sauce, I mean, come on! I also like to buy my greens organic and there was no organic kale available, so we got red chard. So I changed up the sauce a bit, added more veggies, and cut the tofu in half.
Tofu & Veggie Noodle Stir-Fry
1 tsp coconut oil
½ package firm tofu, pressed, and cut into small chunks
1 bunch of chard, cut into bite sized pieces
½ red bell pepper, diced
¼ onion, diced
1/2 cup broccoli, cooked
½ cup snap peas cooked
½ package of rice stick noodles
Sauce
¼ cup water
¼ cup shoyu (or other soy sauce)
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1-2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp rice vinegar (seasoned or unseasoned would work, I used seasoned)
1-2 tbsp agave nectar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp stone ground brown mustard
1 tsp or more hot chili sauce (I would start with this depending on how spicy you like things, I used 2 tbsp, but I’m a spice freak)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Press tofu and cut into small chunks.
Whip together the sauce. Reserve half the sauce for the stir-fry, and marinate the tofu in the other half of the sauce for about a half hour. You can use this time to chop and cook the other veggies.
Cook rice noodles according to package directions, set aside.
In a large skillet, heat a couple of tablespoons of water. Add bell pepper and onion and cook until translucent.
Heat coconut oil and add tofu, stir-frying over medium high heat until tofu crisp. Add cooked broccoli, snow peas, and remaining sauce.
Add chard in small batches, covering with a lid to help with the chard.
Serve over hot rice noodles.
Well, my Mom is coming for a visit today, haven’t seen her for probably six months or more, so I’m pretty excited. I’m also taking her out to lunch. Now this might not mean much to you all out there, but this is the first time I have ever been able to afford to take her out, when I was in college it was always the other way around, so I’m proud to take her to the tea room here in town she likes. They aren’t the most vegan friendly place, but if all else fails I can munch on their amazing sweet potato chips and have a nice pot of Earl Grey tea. As I’m sure you could tell by the picture of the groceries with the two boxes on it, we are fans of the Earl Grey.
‘Til next time!
8 comments:
It's funny that you mentioned tofu, noodles, and kale wouldn't fly in your house - it sounds like a perfect combo to me! The stir-fry you ended up with sounds just fine with me too - tofu with maple syrup or agave is always good - but I'm not as tough as you when it comes to spicy stuff! I'm trying to train myself slowly, and I aspire to eventually become a spice goddess like you.
Ruby - Haha! It was the fact that it was mostly tofu and not much else, that is why I didn't think I could sneak it by Brett without adding some stuff.
Don't try too hard to become a spice freak, I do it at my own risk sometimes. I like things so spicy, that I have given myself heartburn! :-)
earl grey is my favorite
Don't feel bad. I'd never had parsnips in my life until last year... now I can't get enough of 'em!
Don't sell yourself short on the "random musings" - I thought your last posts were engaging and interesting and I really enjoyed your back and forth with Happy Herbivore. Personally, I am one of those evangelicals you mentioned, but I'm sorry that both of you have had such bad experiences in the past. No one should ever tell someone else to stop living/die because their belief system is wrong - where's the kindness in that?! I do believe that we're all entitled to our own beliefs, even if we disagree. Kudos to you!
That looks SO good! Please be my personal chef *begs*
Ha ha the name of that root vegetable sounds so extravagant, I'm sure it was a fancy substitute for pasnips(which I have never had either) ;)
So nice to hear about your mom and I know exactly what you mean about finally being able to "give something back". Hope you had a nice day!
And about your last post, I was about to comment, but honestly... my English is too bad to really express exactly what I think. And it's frustrating to rewrite a sentence five times and still not having it say exactly what you intended to say. But I enjoy reading your musings nevertheless =)
Pleasantly - I thought my favorite was a blend of organic Darjeeling and Mint tea (iced), but this Earl Grey is quickly winning out.
Chocolate Covered - Nice to hear that parsnips are good. We tried rutabaga last night and we're not really fans.
Monika - Thank you, I truly appreciate your comments. I'm glad I didn't offend you to the point where you stopped visiting my blog. And truly, thank you. What your comments do is to keep me from generalizing my bad experiences onto my opinion of Christians as a whole. I cannot believe that all Christians are bad when faced with evidence to the contrary, it helps keep me in my place and from jumping to conclusions about groups of people that I try to urge others not succumb to. So you really do have my sincerest thanks. I think that individuals like you, open and accepting, caring even when your beliefs are being attacked, paint a very positive image of your faith.
Lizzy - Brett was saying when dinner was cooking last night that it sounded 'gourmet'. Isn't that funny, that because of lack of familiarity that something like a tuber is considered 'fancy'? :-)
I had a very nice visit with my mom, thank you; I'll be blogging about it soon.
I am honored that you were willing to take the time to try to comment on my last post. I can't imagine trying to express my opinions about a complex topic in a different language, I imagine a lot of the meaning and point would be lost along the way. I'm so glad that people enjoy my musings, I had always wondered how others would take my views, people who don't necessarily think like me, which is of course, not the case with many of the people I have contact with, most of them tend to be at least fairly like minded to myself, and I always fear groupthink. So far I have not been threatened or called a 'crazy', my opinions have been willingly pondered, and even those who may not agree are still respectable enough to say they believe I have the right to say how I feel. It is times like these when I feel that all hope for humanity has not been lost, so long as there are even a few out there, willing to be critical, willing to accept other conceptions of reality with kindness, there is hope that things may eventually get better. :-) I am truly impressed with the intelligence, openness, and willingness to contemplate the uncomfortable, the topics that would be unsavory 'company conversation', and especially with someone you have never met personally. It shows that human beings are indeed intelligent, empathetic creatures.
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