Oodles of Noodles (and a sauce!)

This recipe was recommended as an ideal accompaniment to a side dish I was making. Simple to make, tasty to eat. And another opportunity to use our wasabi powder (because, seriously, unless you're making a lot of sushi rolls, how else are you to use-up the can of powdered wasabi?).

     Noodles with Mirin
     from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

• 8 ounces noodles (somen, linguni, or whole wheat spaghetti)
• 1/2 cup mirin (or sweet sherry)
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 Tbls vegetable bouillon powder (1 1/2 cubes)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2/3 cup fresh or frozen snow peas or green peas
• 2 tsp powdered wasabi mixed with 2 tsp water
• chopped scallions

1. Bring a large covered pot of water to boil and add the pasta.
2. While the pasta cooks, bring the mirin, 2 cups of water, bouillon powder, and soy sauce to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add the peas and cook briefly, until they are tender but still bright green. Stir in the wasabi paste.
3. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and transfer it to a serving bowl. Pour the peas and sauce over the pasta and toss well.
4. Top with chopped scallions and serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. (To serve at room temperature, allow the finished dish to sit for 12 to 20 minutes. To serve chilled, refrigerate for at least an hour.)

I'd say this counts as one of my sauces/dressings, no? What are we on now...?

Curried Corn & Peppers

It's high summer, which means... You said it: CORN! It's too good not to buy, but once home it can feel overwhelming, having to whip up continuous batches of corn cakes and breads...

Here's a tasty option I discovered this weekend that's even easier (for me) than loading up a giant pot of boiling water:

Curried Corn and Peppers
from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home from the The Moosewood Collective

• 1 cup chopped scallions
• 1 red or green bell pepper, diced
• 1 Tbl butter
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cut corn
• 2 tomatoes
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Saute the scallions and bell pepper in the butter on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and the corn. Chop the tomatoes and add them to the skillet. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are thoroughly heated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The cookbook suggests this is a dish that can "play many roles," and they suggest it as a filling for an omelet or burrito (both sound good to me) or as a side accompanying flavored rice dishes or a stuffing for pita bread. 

A Saucy Side of Green & Gold

This was a good side dish,  but you have to like the taste of sesame (which it so happens I do). I liked the contrasting colors. Substituting the orange for the lime was done out of necessity (started cooking before I realized we'd used-up all the limes) but it worked out well. Still, I look forward to the slightly sharper bit of the lime juice the next time I make this one.

     Broccoli and Carrots with Lime Citrus Dressing
     from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

• 2 carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 3 stalks broccoli, heads cut into florets, stalks (if using) peeled and sliced on the diagonal

     Dressing

• 1 Tbls dark sesame oil
• 1 Tbls soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• 3 Tbls fresh lime juice (I substituted freshly squeezed orange juice)
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• dash of chili oil, Tabasco, or other hot pepper sauce (optional)

1. Bring about 2 inches of water to a rapid boil in a covered pot. When the water boils, add the vegetables, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes, until tender but firm.
2. While the vegetables cook, mix together all of the dressing ingredients. 
3. Drain the vegetables, plunge them into cold water, drain again, and chill until ready to serve or serve at room temperature.
4. Just before serving, toss the vegetables with the dressing.

 Counts as number 7 toward my 2012 goal of 24 sauces/dressings!

Red Lentil Soup

My copy of Moosewood is secondhand, and over this recipe the previous owner wrote in "****". Who am I to ignore four stars? I had most of the ingredients on hand, so I made it for lunch. My three year old wasn't so interested, but my husband and I loved it. Four stars indeed.

Red Lentil Soup from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

• 1 1/2 cups red lentils
• 6 cups water
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped [I substituted garlic scapes from my CSA]
• 2 slices fresh ginger root, each about the size of a quarter

• 2 medium carrots (1 cup grated)
• 1 cup canned tomatoes, or 1 medium fresh tomato, chopped (undrained)
• 1 small red or green bell pepper (1/2 cup finely chopped) [I left these out]

• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 2 Tbls olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• pinch cayenne
• 2 Tbls fresh lemon juice
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• dollop of plain yogurt (optional)

     Sort and rinse the lentils. Put them in a soup pot with the water, bay leaves, garlic [scapes], and ginger. Cover and place on high heat.
     Prepare the carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers, and add them to the pot. Bring to a boil, stir, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 mins, until the lentils are tender.
     While the vegetables simmer, saute the onion on medium heat in the olive oil in a heavy skillet for about 10 mins or until browned. Add the cumin, coriander, and cayenne and saute for another minute, stirring to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat. When the lentils are tender, remove the bay leaves and ginger from the soup pot. Stir in the sauteed onions and the lemon juice. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Top each bowl with a spoon of yogurt, if desired. 

I served this with the carrot herb salad from the same cookbook, using cilantro instead of parsley, and adding the teaspoon of cumin noted as a variation.  Seemed to make sense, serving them together;  if you use a food processor it's no more trouble to grate ten carrots than two.

Carrot & Parsley Salad

Once upon a time I made this before. This weekend I made it again. So there you have it. 

Yes, it counts.

Carrot and Parsley Salad
from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

• 3 1/2 cups grated carrots

• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped (about 2 cups)

• 1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

• 3 Tbls fresh lemon juice

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/2 tsp salt 

• freshly ground pepper, to taste

Combine the carrots, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a serving bowl and toss well. 

Variations

• Add 1 Tbls of chopped fresh mint
• Add 1 Tbls of chopped fresh chives
• Add 1 tsp of ground cumin

We enjoyed it the first time and we enjoyed it again. Nice way to use extra parsley for those times you buy an enormous bunch of parsley but have no idea why you did it. Crazy person.

When You Fancy a Simple Dessert

It's a lovely idea:  fruit as dessert. It's fancy because the fruit is exotic and attractive. It's simple because, hello, cut up some fruit and voila! All in all, this recipe's a winner.

from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: 

Inside-Out Mango

• 1 ripe mango
• 1 lime

Slice the mango and turn each side inside out (if you don't know what I mean, see this video at 1:30). 

Squeeze the lime over the mango. 

Serve with spoons.

This would be especially good after a spicy meal.