Tofu Green Curry, Spring Rolls and Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

Sunday night cooking at our house last night. I had spring roll wrappers and chopped veggies at the ready, a half block of tofu and 3/4 can of coconut milk leftover in the fridge and a gorgeous zucchini from the farmer's market. This meal was born, a blend of thai and middle eastern flavors. The zucchini pancakes were an old favorite, spiced up with a new dipping sauce, the spring rolls a new favorite I foresee making frequently in the future.

Tofu Green Curry

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

Spring Rolls

This recipe was adapted from Martin Yan's vietnamese rice-paper rolls recipe. The rolls turned out really well and the dipping sauce is one of the best parts.


- 2 ounces bean thread noodles
- shredded carrots
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
- pinch of ground black pepper
- 12 7 inch rice paper rounds
- Tofu, cut into strips
- Bell pepper, cut into strips
- soft tops of 12 red leaf lettuce leaves
- 3 green onions, trimmed and cut into thin 2 inch strips
- 12 cilantro sprigs

1) Bring saucepan of water to a boil, add bean thread noodles and turn off the heat. Let soak until softened, about 15 minutes (check package for precise directions on how to cook your noodles)


2) Gently toss the tofu, fish sauce, sesame oil, chopped cilantro and pepper in a bowl until the tofu is evenly coated. set aside.

3) To make the rolls:  Immerse rice paper round in warm water just until it begins to soften, about 10 seconds, then lay it on the work surface. Let stand until it pecomes pliable, about 1 minute. place a couple of tofu strips, in the center of the rice paper. Place lettuce leave on top. place bell pepper strips and carrot over the lettuce and top with a small mound of noodles, 3 to 4 strips of green onions and a cilantro sprig. Fold the right and left sides of the wrapper over the filling, then starting at the bottom, roll the wrapped and filling into a neat, compact roll. repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Makes 12 rolls

peanut dipping sauce
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring until incorporated. makes one cup.

Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

I adore zucchini pancakes and love pairing them with different dipping sauces. We are starting to see beautiful zucchini in gardens and at the markets and I couldn't resist making this today.

ZUCCHINI CAKES

1 - 1 1/2 lb zucchini
1 small white onion
1 egg
6 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper

- Heat oven to 200

- Using a box grater, grate the zucchini and onion. Set in a colander and let drain for awhile (30 minutes recommended).

- Squeeze out as much of the excess liquid as possible and lay the vegetables out on paper towels.

- Lightly beat the egg.

- In a large bowl combine the zucchini onion mixture, egg, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.

- On the stove top heat a skillet with oil over medium high heat

- Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the skillet and flatten. Cook on one side until crispy and brown then flip.

- Set cakes on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil and move to an oven proof plate to keep warm while finishing the rest.

- Continue this way until all of the batter is gone, adding extra oil to the skillet as needed

CURRIED DIPING SAUCE

8 oz. plain yogurt
2 Tbsp curry
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp harissa
salt

- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill until serving.

Garlic Scape and Tomato Pasta

I've been trying to come up with some new ways to use garlic scapes. I managed to go for a run in this ungodly heat and after a long, cold shower I was starving! Luckily I had some leftover, plain cooked pasta from a few days before, several garlic scapes, a couple of fresh onions from the Corner Farm and one last jar of canned tomatoes left over from last summer. This is a quick and light pasta that didn't even make me regret turning on the stove top!

GARLIC SCAPE AND TOMATO PASTA

Olive oil
2 garlic scapes, sliced
pinch red pepper flakes
2-3 small spring onions sliced
1 cup or so of crushed tomatoes
splash balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
parmesan
basil
pasta, either left over or cooked according to package

- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic scapes, pinch of salt, several turns of freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes and sautee until the scapes get nice and green

- Add the onions and continue cooking, turning down the heat if needed.

- Add the tomatoes and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Bring to a simmer and then turn down to heat through. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

- Add the pasta and toss with the sauce.

- Remove from the heat, chiffonade 8 or so leaves of basil and stir in

- Transfer pasta to bowls and serve with some freshly grated parmesan

Grilled Keftas with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce and a Cucumber, Tomato, Feta Salad

We were craving middle eastern last night and decided to revisit a recipe for grilled keftas (ground lamb skewers) and try out a yogurt-tahini sauce to bring to our friends' house for dinner. I threw together a quick tomato, cucumber, feta salad and served everything with pita, carmelized red onions and sauted yellow peppers. The keftas are an old favorite, the yogurt tahini sauce a new favorite, every bit of it was sopped up with pita!

Follow the link for the recipes...

Potato, Arugula and Herb Frittata

Potato, Arugula and Herb Frittata

- 2 small red potatoes, quartered and thinly sliced
- 1 small yellow or white onion, thinly sliced
- Approx. 2 oz. arugula, stem ends removed and leaves roughly chopped*
- 8 organic eggs
- large handful parsley
- 10-12 basil leaves, chiffonade
- some chopped tarragon**
-  Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Tabasco (optional)
*if you can’t find arugula, use spinach
** use whatever herbs you enjoy or have handy
 
Preheat the oven to 425
 
In a cast iron skillet (or other skillet that can go on top of and in the stove) heat 3 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat.
 
Add the potatoes and cook, stirring, for about 2-3 minutes
 
Add the onion, some salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until softened, about another 8 minutes
 
Add the arugula and cook until wilted, about a minute
 
Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk the eggs, herbs, salt and pepper
 
Once the arugula is wilted, add the egg mixture to the skillet
 
Cook for about 6-8 minutes, or until the center is starting to set
 
Put the skillet in the oven and cook for another 5 minutes (if you want, turn it up to broil for the last minute to get the top to brown a little)
 
Let cool slightly and serve with a dash of Tabasco if you like.

Radish Salad

Jason put together a new batch of lemon confit which is ready to try out. I went for a nice long, cool run this morning on the lake front and stopped by the Green City Farmer's Market afterward. To my delight they had icicle radishes (I haven't had any yet this season).

I was feeling a little peckish and wanted a late afternoon snack. I took a look around and decided to thrown together:

several radishes
1/2 minced confited lemon
1/2 oz feta

The radish and lemon confit on their own didn't exactly work, but with the feta it was delicious. I'm going to have to think of some mediterranean style feta and lemon confit combinations to try out!

Aitor's Gazpacho and Vichyssoise Soups

The men recently did some supper club cooking and Aitor supplied a trio of soups (red, white and blue for 4th of July!). The Gazpacho and Vichyssoise were absolutely amazing. The blueberry soup was delicious, but sweet, more of a dessert. Either way, they will all make appearances frequently through the summer. The recipes for the gazpacho and vichyssoise are below

AITOR'S GAZPACHO

6 ripe tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic
2 slices white bread
3 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
**dash hot sauce (optional)

-Put all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Pass soup through a colander and chill before serving

AITOR'S VICHYSSOISE

2 leeks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup thinly sliced potatoes
2 1/3 cups chicken stock
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 1/8 cups heavy whipping cream

- Sweat the leeks and onion in a sauce pan with the butter

- Once softened, add the potatoes, stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 30 minutes.

- Add to blender and puree until smooth. Chill. Stir in cream before serving.