Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

Pardon the terrible photo-- I tried to clean it up, but it's still not very good! There wasn't much light!

Okay, this is NOT a low-fat recipe, but, hey, once in a while you have to have peanut sauce!

I want to apologize for not blogging much these last few weeks-- been a bit overwhelmed with things, including family stuff (all good!). I must confess that I have not been cooking anything very exciting. I hope that will change soon!

This recipe is adapted from one in Bon Appetit magazine, so it's a good example of using a recipe idea and utilizing what you have in the house or garden to make a new dish.

What inspired me to make it was finding some viable kale still growing in the garden after the snow melted! The original recipe called for zucchini, but I had butternut squash, which I think is a better color contrast anyway, and I like the melty richness of it. I thought the sauce needed a bit more zest, and made it accordingly, thinning it out a little more, as well.

The cooking method for the veggies was a bit strange-- grilling. I used my oven's broiler instead, with good results. My kale was nice and small and tender, so it was pretty good cooked that way. If the kale had been older, I think I would have stir-fried/braised it in a pan with some oil.

We all loved it, and I hope you will, too!

Printable Recipe

NOODLES WITH PEANUT SAUCE AND BROILED KALE AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Servings: 8

This was a big hit with DH and my friend Holly. If you prefer, you can have all the ingredients heated and serve the dish hot instead of at room temperature.

1 cup chunky peanut butter
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbs unseasoned rice vinegar
2-3 Tbs soy sauce (to taste)
2 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbs chopped peeled fresh ginger
3 cloves, garlic, peeled
1 Tbs Thai or Vietnamese hot chili sauce (no fish), such as Sriracha
12 oz dried udon noodles or egg-free (flour and water) Chinese noodles (gan mian or ji mian) or spaghettini
1 1/4 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices, about 1" x1/2"
12 oz small, tender, green curly kale, stems removed, cut into wide slices
oil in a pump sprayer
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts

Blend the peanut butter, water, brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic, and chili sauce in blender or food processor until smooth, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if too thick. Set aside until ready to serve. This sauce can be made 1 day ahead, in which case cover and refrigerate; then bring to room temperature before serving.

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain the noodles in a colander, running hot water over them. Set aside in the sink to drain..

Place the squash pieces in one layer on a large cookie sheet, spray lightly with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil about 3" under the heat source until the squash tender and slightly charred, on both sides. Add the kale on top of the squash, spray with oil, and sprinkle with salt. Broil briefly until the kale is tender and a little brown around edges. Watch it carefully-- it doesn't take long!

ALTERNATELY, you can stir-fry the kale in a bit of oil until tender.

Toss the drained cooked noodles, green onions, and peanut sauce in large bowl. Divide noodle mixture among 8 bowls. Top noodle mixture with squash and kale. Sprinkle each serving with chopped peanuts. (This is served at room temperature.)

Servings: 8

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 501.1 calories; 37% calories from fat; 22.6g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 325.6mg sodium; 969.8mg potassium; 65.8g carbohydrates; 7.7g fiber; 11.8g sugar; 58.1g net carbs; 17.1g protein; 11.1 points.


Enjoy!

Cute!

Saturday we visited our favorite little Asian Grocery store in Nanaimo, BC, and I couldn't resist what the Washington Post called the "cuteness quotient" of the baby bok (or pak) choy.

Baby bok choy is simply a miniature, immature version of the larger bok choy, but I like the texture better, and, as that particular article stated: "Cuteness quotient aside, baby bok choy are more tender and incomparably milder than big bok choy." Perfect for the soup recipe I had in mind. (See below.)

And, like other members of the brassica (cabbage) family of vegetables, bok choy provides lots of vitamin C, calcium, vitamin A, and glucosinolates, which may help prevent cancer.

So, this green vegetable is more than just cute.

Here's an easy, traditional home-style Chinese soup that showcases these little beauties!



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S BABY BOK CHOY, MUSHROOM AND DEEP-FRIED (OR OVEN-FRIED) TOFU SOUP
Serves 4

This makes a wonderful light lunch or supper. This recipe is adapted from a recipe in my book "Authentic Chinese Cuisine for the Contemporary Kitchen".

5 cup light vegetarian broth (see here)

1 and 1/2 lb. baby bok choy (Nai Yu), washed, dried, trimmed and sliced in half vertically (get the kind that are only 2-3" long for this recipe)
6 dried shiitake or Chinese black mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for 1/2 hour, stemmed, and sliced (save strained soaking water)
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 Tbs. oil
9/ 1 1/2-inch cubes of commercial deep-fried tofu
(OR you can use 3/4 lb. firm tofu cut into 1 by 1 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch triangles, pan-fried until golden in a little oil, or Oven-Fried as instructed below the recipe)
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
2 1/2 cup cooked gan mian or ji mian (plain, thin Chinese flour and water noodles), or spaghettini
dark sesame oil, for garnish

If using the commercial fried tofu, pour boiling water over it, let stand for a few minutes, then drain it and squeeze out as much water and oil as you can. Cut the cubes in half.

Have a large soup pot containing the broth heating at a simmer.

Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat. When hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the bok choy, dried mushrooms and fresh mushrooms. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add these vegetables, along with the remaining ingredients, including the mushroom soaking water and the fried tofu, to the pot of broth. Let it simmer for a few minutes, until everything is hot. (You don't want to overcook the bok choy!)

Divide immediately between four bowls and pass the sesame oil to sprinkle over each serving. Serve with a spoon and a fork!

BRYANNA’S OVEN-FRIED TOFU

Use firm tofu. Cut the block in half crosswise, then each half in thirds horizontally. Then cut each piece into triangles. Place these on dark oiled cookie sheets and spray the tops with oil from a pump sprayer. Bake at 500 degrees F 5-7 minutes per side, or until golden and puffy. These may be frozen for future use.

Enjoy!

Noodle Making at the Legendary Noodle (photo by Nick Procaylo, The Vancouver Province)

When we got back from Whitehorse, we stopped off in Vancouver for a couple of days to visit relatives. We were dying for some Asian food (the Chinese restaurants in Whitehorse are not vegetarian-friendly, unfortunately), so we had lunch one day at the Legendary Noodle on Denman St. (Here's a map.)

It's a small, snug place (I read it described as a "hole in the wall"!), but nicely decorated. We sat where we could watch the noodle maker. He had the dough already made and covered on his countertop. When an order came in he would cut off a chunk of the dough and start stretching and folding, stretching and folding, until, about 30 seconds later, miraculously (or so it seemed) there would be thin noodles! They would be plunged into boiling water for another 30 seconds and then mixed by the chef with whatever vegetables, sauces, etc. make the dish. Talk about fast food!

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS ARE JUST ONES I FOUND ON YOUTUBE-- THEY ARE NOT FROM LEGENDARY NOODLE! BUT THE TECHNIQUES ARE THE SAME. BCG

Here's a short video showing the technique for making the dough:



Here's a short video in which you can see how the noodles are formed:



The prices are amazingly cheap, the portions generous, and the menu has quite a few vegetarian options. We started with a cold peanut-noodle salad with spinach, and some vegetarian steamed dumplings, chock full of greens and green onions with some smokey sesame oil. So delicious and fresh that I forgot to take a picture before we ate them all! Sorry! (They just list the pork dumplings for the big plateful on the menu, but we just asked them to substitute the vegetarian ones-- no problem.)

For the entree, My husband had noodles with peanut sauce, nicely spicey:



I had a stir-fry with lots of vegetables and thin slices of tofu (vegans, ask them to skip the scrambled egg). It was so tasty in a subtle, smokey way:



If you eat there (and they have a restaurant on Main St. and one in Richmond, too) try the Legendary Noodle house tea!



It comes in a big glass and it's green tea with an assortment of exotic dried fruits (goji berry, longan, etc.) and chrysanthemum flowers. It's fruity and fragrant and delicious!


Enjoy!