Sesame Noodles and Tofu

I found this on mothering. It has a nice Thai taste to it. I use it with chicken, any veggies, and rice, also. I do think it tastes best with yummy fried tofu, especially the packaged already fried tofu from Jay International. I ALWAYS use less peanut butter than this. I think peanut butter can be really variable in texture so it's hard to give exact amounts. I start with about 1/2 cup and add more if I think it needs it. Also, I use garlic/ginger paste instead of them separately. It just takes too long to mince those things, I think. The dressing is the important part and could probably be used in countless creative ways.

Serves 3-4
Dressing
Smooth Peanut Butter (organic, without sugar); 1 Cups
Soy Sauce; 1/2 Cups
Water; 2/3 Cups
Fresh Ginger; 4 Tablespoon, peeled and grated
Medium Cloves Garlic; 4, minced
Red Wine Vinegar; 4 Tablespoon
Asian Sesame Oil; 3 Tablespoon
Honey; 4 Teaspoon
Red Pepper Flakes; 2 Teaspoon
Noodles
Dried Thin Linguine; 1/2 Pounds
Scallion; 8, chopped
Red Bell Peppers; 1, thin sliced
Yellow Bell Peppers; 1, thin sliced
Sesame Seeds; 6 Tablespoon
Tofu
Block of tofu, cut into 3 slices horizontally and then cut into triangles
2 tbsp peanut oil

Make the dressing: Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

Make the noodles: Cook pasta in a 6 to 8 quart pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain in a colander, then rinse well under cool water.

Pan fry the tofu with the 2 tbsp peanut oil over medium high heat.

*Add pasta, scallions, bell peppers, and sesame seeds to dressing, tossing with tofu to combine. Serve immediately.

Slow-cooker Minestrone

I haven't made this yet, but it looks yummy! It says prep time is only 20 minutes and it serves 6-8. The quantities are a little strange, surely you could fudge it with what you have, if you don't have a kitchen scale. (Nerd that I am, I do have one!)

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 slices bacon, finely diced bacon (discard rinds)

2 ribs celery, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

1/4 c. olive oil

8 c. chicken broth

1 c. canned chopped tomatoes

2 T. tomato paste

5 oz. cabbage

4 oz. green beans

2 oz. macaroni

salt and pepper

10 oz. canned kidney beans, drained

1. Heat oil in large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, bacon, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer to a slow cooker and add the broth. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Put on the lid and cook on the Low setting for 4-5 hours. About 2 and 1/2 hours before the soup is done, thinly shred the cabbage and cut the green beans into 1-inch pieces, and add along with the macaroni.

3. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans and cook a few more minutes until they are heated through. Ladle into bowls. Garnish with shredded basil leaves and grated Parmesan.

Pad Thai

This is one of my very favorite recipes. The prep of the noodles takes a little time but it's so worth it.

Serves 2-3
1/3 of a 1 pound package of clear rice noodles (very thin ones are easiest to use)
Quartered lime
1 Tablespoon Sriracha Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce (Tiparos, from Jay International)
1 Tablespoon Sugar
Just under a pound of cooked meat of any sort (I mostly use tofu or chicken)
Cooked veggies (I use broccoli and carrots)
About a handful of bean sprouts
2 chopped up green onions
2 Eggs
About a handful of chopped peanuts
2-4 cloves of chopped garlic
Oil for frying (I prefer peanut)

Submerge noodles in a bowl of hot tap water. Cover and let sit at least 15 minutes and no more than 20 minutes. Combine Sriracha sauce, fish sauce, and sugar in a cup and have it ready. Put heat on medium. Fry garlic in wok for a few seconds. Add noodles and a little water if they need to be softened up a bit. Add sauce mixture. Move noodles aside and scramble eggs in the wok. Mix scrambled eggs with the noodles. Throw in cooked meat/veggies and cook long enough for them to heat up. Add about half of the sprouts and green onions. Serve on plates and garnish with limes, the rest of the sprouts/green onions, and chopped peanuts.

When it comes to the sauce, all that's important is the 1:1 ratio. So often I will double the amount of sauce to make the dish spicier. But the way it is, Alex can eat it--it's spicy but not too spicy for her. I then add more hot sauce just to mine. There are probably a lot of different hot sauces besides Sriracha that would work with this recipe, too. It's not exactly like Pad Thai at a Thai restaurant but it definitely satisfies my desire for Thai food.