aburaage, inari, and kitsune udon

I have decided to admit to myself that I am not good at blogging regularly. Admit it, get over it, and try to update at least more than one month a year. So hello again!

When I go out for sushi, my FAVORITE thing to order, hands down, is Inari. For those of you who haven't had it, it's fried tofu that has ben simmered in soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, then turned into thin pouches that are then stuffed with rice. It's sweet, salty, and filled with rice, so it has pretty much everything I love.

At various Asian markets, I have seen canned and refrigerated prepared aburaage that is just ready for stuffing with rice, but the ingredients are awful. Many have fish flakes, high fructose corn syrup, and/or MSG, all of which I avoid. (For the record, many restaurants make their own, so you can ask if you're concerned about these ingredients.) So I decided to try to make it on my own.

To prepare inari-style tofu, you "start" with aburaage, I say "start" because aburaage is deep fried, thinly-sliced tofu cutlets. You can make these yourself, but who wants to spend a bunch of time deep frying thinly sliced tofu? Not me. I bought it.

 I harbored secret hopes that the interiors would be pre-split, like pitas are, so that the "pouch" effect would be really easy to attain. This was not true. But also not something I had to worry about yet. I followed Just Hungry's methods for preparing inari, which first involves blanching the tofu, then patting it down with towels, to help get rid of some of the extra oil.

The next step was to slice them in half, then simmer them for a little while in a broth made of dashi (mine is always made from boiling kombu and wakame for a few minutes), tamari, mirin, and sugar. I don't have sake, so I just doubled down on the mirin. The thing I liked best about making this myself was being able to cut back on the sugar; I like it a little sweet, but some inari is too sugary for my taste.

 After they simmered and cooled in their own broth, I separated the insides (using the method recommended by Just Hungry--poking around in it with a chopstick) and stuffed several of them with rice. (Another thing I liked about being able to make it at home: brown rice!)

 I served the inari with nimono made primarily from butternut squash, more rice, and some sesame-garlic collards. This is Kevin's bowl; mine had a heck of a lot more inari pouches, but his looks daintier so we're going with that.

BUT I didn't use ALL the prepared aburaage for inari sushi. I saved some of it to make kitsune udon! "Kitsune" means fox, because in Japanese folklore, the trickster fox loves fried tofu. I agree with the fox. I followed this recipe from Just One Cookbook almost exactly, except no fish cake, obviously. And, as usual, gluten-free tamari instead of soy sauce.

I know the cropping is a little weird, but I wanted you to be able to see how our cat Molly creeped into the corner of the picture, lurker that she is. This udon was AMAZING, and we both went back for more.

nimono from just bento

I've used recipes from Just Bento in this blog before (like my post about the peanut-curry furikake recipe), and I also love the sister site (run by the same person, Makiko Itoh), Just Hungry. Itoh always marks when a recipe is vegan, and many of the non-vegan recipes on the site can be adapted easily.

This week I used her guide on how to make Nimono (Japanese "simmered dish"), and to go with it, used her guide on pickling sauces for quick-pickled veggies to pickle some radish and cucumbers on the side.

The nimono contains basically what I veggies I had to use up: sweet potatoes, black soy beans, radish greens, some celery, and the last of last year's yield of butternut squash. It was not very traditional (I pretty much think that being vegan means you go off-book when it comes to traditional Japanese food anyway), but was delicious! And, for the record, I chose the ama-zu sauce for the pickled veggies, which was ama-zing!

I just groaned out loud at my own pun, which is probably a bad sign.

Restaurant Thursday: The Dining Car food truck

I'm trying to give myself a few theme days of the week, just to help me come up with some ideas for posts. Thursdays this month will be posts about restaurants!

...but this first Restaurant Thursday post is kind of sneaky, because it's about a food truck. Like most major cities these days, Boston has a great food truck scene, for vegans too! I've already written about the Taco Party vegan taco truck, and I've had some things from Clover Food Lab (vegetarian, trucks and storefronts); there are certainly many more options around the Boston area.

Kevin is a beer guy. Like the way there are people who are really into wines, Kevin is into beers. One way I try to get this across to people is to explain what I call his "Beer CSAs." There are a lot of great small craft breweries in the greater Boston area, and a few of them do series where they try an experimental style of beer, which "members" can pay for up front, and then only the "members" get to try the beer. It's a cool way to fund small breweries' new ventures, and, for a beer snob guy like Kevin, it's also a way to be able to try beers that will never be released to the greater public--and may never exist outside of that one limited bottling. Among the breweries we love that do this in the area are Night Shift brewing, Mystic brewing, and Idle Hands brewing.

Night Shift doesn't serve food, but they encourage people to bring food to their bar/pouring room so you can stick around a while. To that end, they have a food truck there many nights of the week. When we've been in the past, it was usually a grilled cheese truck (sigh), but the last time we were there, it was the Dining Car! They don't have vegan meal options, but their signature side dish is Crispy Cauliflower, which is gluten free and vegan without the aioli.

Crispy Cauliflower and Kevin's "beer CSA" pickup

IT WAS DELICIOUS. We split this one little tray but could easily have each had one (or two) to ourselves. The cauliflower is breaded with corn flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, and fried to the perfect level of crispy-but-not-greasy-ness. I didn't miss the aioli at all.

Oh, and for those interested: Night Shift, Mystic, and Idle Hands are all vegan friendly. Sometimes Night Shift will make beers with honey (or oyster shells?!) in them, but they is always clearly labeled as a special beer, so it's easy to tell. Their process itself is vegan.

fava beans

Have you ever had fresh fava beans before? I have had them in restaurants, and have had canned fava beans (which are brown), but until last month I never had them fresh. My friend Michael at the Dazed and Infused blog and I split a CSA share from Waltham Fields Community Farm, a great organization in our city, and they had pick-your-own fava beans for a while. So I decided to try them! They turned out to be more labor intensive than I'd thought.

First, you pick them and bring them home and wash them:

Clean and shiny. THEN you remove the beans from the pod (which is inedible unless it's really young):

But wait! You're not done! The beans have a thick coating that is not pleasant to eat, so you have to PEEL EACH BEAN.

Unpeeled, half-peeled, peeled. It is really hard to peel them raw, so you blanch the beans, then slit the skin, then poke each bean out. And only THEN can you actually prepare the beans.

I cooked them with some garlic, olive oil, and a splash of cooking sherry, then mashed them to top some toast (pictured below with a salad).

They're tasty beans, but I didn't think they were worth all that work! From now on I will probably only buy prepared fava beans, either at restaurants or in a can.

roasted cabbage slaw

I really love roasted cabbage, so when I found this Kitchn recipe for Roasted Cabbage Slaw with Hazelnuts and Lemons, I had to give it a try.

Soup, sandwich and slaw! I love all the colors on this plate. They call for half red cabbage and half green, but all I had was a lot of red, so mine is especially purple/pink.

The slaw itself was decent, and didn't require as much chewing as normal cole slaw because the cabbage was softer, but I'm not sure I roasted/broiled it long enough to really get a good roasted flavor. I didn't let any of it blacken, since I was afraid of burning, but next time I'm going to wait till the edges are charred to pull it out of the oven.

One thing I like about cooking is how much chemistry and science are involved; if I had been taught real-life (okay, fine, just food-related) applications of science in school, I would've liked it better. Like beets, the color of red cabbage depends on the chemicals around it--acids in the recipe (like lemon juice) make it pinker, while more basic ("basic" as in the opposite of acidic, not as in "easy") ingredients keep it darker purple/bluish. You can see the chemical reactions in action in the picture below, which is the step at which I added the lemon juice, but had not yet stirred it in. See how the lower edges of the slaw in the bowl are a more blue-purple? You can tell where I sprinkled on the lemon juice, because it's where the cabbage starts to turn more pink. (Mostly at the top and right of the bowl.)

This all reminds me of that T-shirt that says "Baking is Science for Hungry People." Science is really cool when you can eat it!

pho (and happy birthday, Mom!)

Today is my mother's birthday! Happy birthday, Mom!

Pho is one of those things I never think I'll like. "Noodles and barely-cooked vegetables soaking in broth? Give me a stir fry instead." But twice now, I have made pho just to see what the fuss is about, and both times I thoroughly enjoyed it! Obviously the ingredients you use play a big role in how it tastes, but the dish is simultaneously light and hearty, and different every time you make it.

The broth, I have been told, is the most important part of good pho. Since the whole point is to just toss everything into broth, the broth makes or breaks the dish! My favorite recipe so far is one from Emily Ho at the Kitchn. You char onion halves and ginger over an open flame (Kevin was afraid I'd burn myself when I did this over our gas stove, especially since our kitchen tongs weren't very cooperative in holding an entire half onion, but there were zero pho-related casualties!) before boiling them with spices and veggie stock. I think a top-quality veggie stock is in order here; I always use my own.

While I make the broth, I also cook noodles and chop the veggies that will go in. I just always use the veggies in my fridge, not really the ones in any recipe, but I do find necessary the lime and herbs (cilantro and/or basil and/or mint) to finish it. I also like to sauté up some sliced tofu in tamari, sesame oil, and whatever seasoning strikes my fancy, but you can go with just plain tofu if that sounds like too much work.

Same bowl, different pho

Put noodles in a bowl, top with the broth, add all your veggies, and you have tasty vegan pho!  I like eating it with chopsticks because then I can feel like I got it in a restaurant.

Here's something ridiculous, though: I never feel comfortable saying it out loud, since I worry it sounds like I'm swearing. (It's pronounced "fuh.")

vegetable stock from scraps

With this entry, we are officially halfway through Vegan MoFo! I'm pretty proud of myself for posting every day so far, and now that I know I'm capable of posting so regularly, I won't have an excuse not to update at least once a week after VeganMoFo ends.

Today I want to post about vegetable stock. Historically, I have not been the biggest fan of soup, but I've finally started to appreciate it, especially after the tooth extraction fiasco. The first ingredient you encounter when making a soup recipe is almost always stock or broth of some sort. I've gone back and forth between using water with a little soy sauce, which is only useful if your soup has many flavorful herbs and spices already. But if you're making a simpler soup that doesn't call for large amounts of herbs and spices, stock is what gives the soup a real depth of flavor.

I've been using Rapunzel's salt-free bouillon cubes, because that is one of the few brands whose veggie stock doesn't contain nightshades or mysterious "spices." It's fine, but the flavor isn't rich or complex. I also tried Imagine's No-Chicken Broth, which is flavorful, but it is absurdly salty. And I think the "spices" gave me a bit of a rash, so they maybe contain nightshades. And none of the packaged substitutes compare with real, homemade veggie stock.

Veggie stock recipes usually call for some whole carrots and whole onions and whole celery sticks, but the first time I made it, I didn't want to waste precious vegetables in case my veggie stock was a failure. So I looked more into the scrap method of cooking veggie stock, and let me tell you, it is the greatest thing ever. Save the ends and peels of vegetables when you're cooking with them. It's like composting, but you should save the scraps in the freezer, because otherwise they'll decompose. I recommend one of those gallon-sized ziploc bags. Every time you chop a vegetable, put the parts you don't cook with into the plastic bag. The only caveat is that you have to wash your vegetables really well so you don't get dirt in your broth. And if you don't eat organic, I'd maybe think twice about putting in peels from the higher-sprayed vegetables (celery, potatoes, carrots, peppers).

So! Save veggie scraps, freeze them in a container (like a ziploc bag). When the container gets full, remove from freezer. Dump them into a large stock pot. (It's called a stock pot for a reason!)

The general rule is that you add twice as much water as you have scraps. I use a gallon-sized plastic bag. 1 gallon = 16 cups, but there's a lot of space between veggies, so I wouldn't say there's a full gallon. If it were a full gallon, I'd need 32 Cups of water, but I put in about 20-24 Cups. Anyway, it's not a precise science. The less water you use, the deeper the flavor of your stock. Obviously, the smaller your container of frozen veggies, the less stock you'll be making.

Cover, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium-high, so it doesn't boil over, but so that it stays at a hearty simmer. Let it cook for at least an hour, then check the veggies. They should all look pretty lifeless at this point. If they still look like they have more flavor to impart, let them cook longer.

Turn off heat, and let it cool so it won't burn you in the next step, which is to strain the soup. I set a large strainer in a bowl, then pour the stock through the strainer. I lift the strainer out of the bowl, and what's left: veggie stock! However, if you don't have a large bowl or strainer, or you don't want to lift up the whole pot of stock, you can use a slotted spoon or smaller strainer to fish out all the veggie pieces from the pot itself. The point is to remove all the veggie pieces. You can then compost them or throw them away, knowing that you have used all parts of the vegetable, and really got your money's worth out of all of those veggies.

Now you have lots of veggie stock. It keeps 3-4 days in the refrigerator, but will keep forever in the freezer. I divide it up into 2 Cup or 4 Cup portions, then freeze them.

4-Cup containers. (These are yogurt-sized containers.) Look at the gorgeous color! (You can also see a 2-Cup container of frozen beans to the left of the stock. I'm big on saving money and on cooking and freezing things ahead of time.)

Ideally, if you know you're planning to make soup in the next 3-4 days, move the stock out of the freezer and into the fridge 6-8 hours in advance. If you're like me, though, you don't know what you're going to make for dinner until you start making it. However! I have a simple solution: almost every cooked soup recipe calls for you to saute some vegetables before you add the stock. So, if you want to make a soup but all your stock is frozen, here is a cheat: Take the stock out of the freezer just before you chop the veggies and set it on the counter. Proceed with your recipe. Toward the end of the veggies' sauteing time, dump the (frozen) stock in with the veggies. If the stock won't come out of the container, run the container under warm water for a second; it should separate the stock from the container.

Frozen stock amid the veggies for the gluttonous vegan's smoky sweet potato soup! It looks silly, I know. Stir to get the frozen stock to touch the bottom of the pan. Cover, wait 5 minutes. It will have started to melt; once the bottom of the pan is covered in water you can proceed with the rest of the recipe while the rest of the stock melts in.

Homemade veggie stock is very easy, and it makes multiple meals' worth of delicious, rich stock--from stuff you would have thrown away otherwise! In terms of veggies, almost anything goes. You really can't get enough of almost all members of the onion family: onion, garlic, leeks, scallions, etc. It's also good to have some sort of scraps from one of the sweeter veggies (carrot, sweet potato, hard squash). Mushrooms are good, too, and any stems from fresh herbs, or used bay leaves. Basically, any vegetable is game for stock except veggies from the cruciferous family, because they are very strong-tasting and long boiling times make them smell funny. So leave out broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage. Also, for the same reason, leave out asparagus. Taste-wise, beets are fine, but know your veggie broth will turn purple or even black if you use them.

choose-your-own quinoa salad

Due to some renovations in our building, we haven't been able to use our oven or stove for 8 days. We went out for dinner once last week, but neither of us are keen on going out too often, so I've been making all of our meals using our rice cooker and toaster oven. This is not much fun, let me tell you. But I do feel pretty inventive, and I'm definitely using the rice cooker to the utmost of its abilities! So far I've made pasta, soup, paella and quinoa in the rice cooker. You may hear more of my rice-cooker meals if we don't get the gas hooked up today, but I'm really hoping we do. It doesn't help that for the last week, I've been craving warm, stove-cooked meals, since Boston's been looking like this:

We can finally see the sun today, though, thank goodness. Anyway, while I've been wanting warm meals in the evenings, I usually have cold food for lunch, including leftovers, sandwiches, and salads. One good lunch salad I've picked up from the boyfriend is a simple, easily customized quinoa dish. Before I moved in and took over on the cooking, he used to make it each weekend so he'd have something to eat throughout the week. I get bored of having the same food every day, so I make it a little less often (or in smaller amounts), but it's a good staple to have, especially if you have a busy week ahead (or a week without an oven/stove...) and want something that will fill you up.

You can use any grain for this, really, but we like quinoa because it's so high in protein. The body takes longer to digest proteins than other kinds of food, so you'll be fuller longer.

Because we change up the flavor of ours every time, instead of a recipe, I'll give you the components. Think of it as a Choose-Your-Own Quinoa Adventure!


This one has balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sage, rosemary, cranberries, lots of black pepper.


Choose-Your-Own Quinoa Salad

• Quinoa. If you're eating this as your entire lunch, you're going to want to bet on almost 1/2 C (dry) quinoa for each serving. So if you want it to last you all week, go for about 2 Cups of quinoa or a little more. Boil 2 parts water, then add 1 part quinoa, cover and reduce the mixture to a simmer (so, for two cups of dry quinoa, that's 4 cups of water), the way you'd cook rice or other grains, for 20 minutes or until all the liquid has ben absorbed. Put all the quinoa in a big bowl, and add the remaining ingredients.
• Vegetables. To keep up the "salad" aspect of this dish, aim for at least 2-3 cups of veggies. Carrots, celery, onions, and some kind of chopped green (spinach, chard, kale) are good go-tos for any combination of other ingredients, but you can vary your veggies by what you have and what you feel like eating. You can just add them to the cooked quinoa raw, or, if you're like me and prefer your veggies a little softer, toss them into the pot in which you're cooking the quinoa during the last 5 minutes of cooking, so they soften a bit.
• Liquid. I think 1/4 C oil and 1/4 C vinegar are pretty essential, but you can use any kind of oil and vinegar you want, to help vary the dish. Sometimes I use balsamic, sometimes apple cider vinegar. Sometimes I use olive oil, othertimes sesame oil for an asian flavor, and sometimes canola oil so the other flavors in the dish can shine. Add more of either ingredient to taste after you've finished adding all the components. You can also add a couple tablespoons of soy sauce or coconut milk or orange juice or any other liquids at this stage; the quinoa will soak up additional liquid as it cools.
• Seasonings. Herbs and spices! You want at least a tablespoon of (dried) herbs and/or spices, and up to 1/2 C fresh. I like sage and rosemary for a fall-tasting one, or dried ginger and garlic for asian flavors, or curry powder for an Indian taste. Italian seasoning and herbes de provence are good blends, too. Add 1/2 tsp salt and up to 1 tsp pepper, then adjust to taste.
• Protein. Optional, but tossing in some beans, cooked tofu, olives, or toasted nuts can give you more interesting textures, and help keep you fuller longer.
• Fruit. Also optional, but I love adding dried raisins, currants, or cranberries to contrast with the vinegar and salt.

Mix it all up in a large bowl, and then keep it in the fridge. If you are making it to eat the same day, try to let it sit for at least 30-60 minutes to help the flavors develop.

This one (eaten at my desk at work) has Asian veggies and flavors--bok choy with carrots, celery, and scallions, seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, rice vingar, and some teriyaki-cooked tofu.

I didn't invent any of these, but all are awesome

So all of you bloggers and blog-readers may have noticed that I am not participating in "vegan mofo" ("vegan month of food"). I cannot find the time to update every day... but I am enjoying everyone else's posts! My readers should definitely check out some of my favorite vegan blogs (see links at right>>>>>); most of them are participating and doing a great job ^_^

Anyway. Everyone has a tofu quiche recipe. I myself have tried quite a few vegan quiches, some tofu based, some chickpea based, and of all of the ones I've tried, the following recipe remains my favorite. It's not innovative or inventive, and it would never fool someone into believing it is anything other than tofu. But it is simple, easy, and delicious, especially sice you can adjust the herbs and veggies to whatever you're in the mood for or have in your kitchen.
Tofu Quiche

1 9- or 10-inch pie crust
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cups chopped veggies (I like broccoli and mushrooms, but you could go for anything)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs, or 2 tsp dried herbs
1 lb (one block) Tofu
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
2 Tbsp tamari
1/2 tsp turmeric (for color)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Preheat over to 350.

In a medium pan, saute the onions in the oil until translucent. Add the other veggies and cook until tender.

In a large bowl, crumble the tofu and add the herbs, lemon juice, tamari, salt, turmeric and nutritional yeast (if using). Add more salt/pepper to taste. Stir in the veggies.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust, pressing it here and there with a spatula or the back of your spoon so that it's flat. Bake for 40 minutes, allow to cool for about 5 mins before serving.

Yum! Also in the brunchy/tofu category, my boyfriend made me Tofu Benedict a couple weeks ago! He made a vegan hollandaise sauce and we used the Yves brand of canadian bacon.
I never actually had eggs benedict before I went vegan, so I don't know if it tasted "authentic," but it tasted good!

I'm still on a mission to make every cupcake in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. My only problem is that I am afraid to attempt the filled cupcakes. There are a bunch I can make before I have to get that far, though. Including:
Green Tea Cupcakes (with special thanks to Bazu for helping me find the matcha)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing

Finally, this is not food, but it is also awesome: a picture of the kitty my roommate and I are fostering! His name is Ziggy and he is staying with us until december. I was iffy on the idea of having a cat, even temporarily, but then I met him:
ADORABLE.

a garden entry (aka a couple ideas for a glut of zucchini)

This is my garden:
It is a basil plant whom I have named Gary Snyder (I name food plants after literary figures). Gary and I have been cooking together for a while now, and I find him to be quite impressive.

But I was lucky to be able to visit my family's homestead in Upstate NY, where my father has raised a much fuller, organic, composte-fed garden:
Parsley, Basil (don't be jealous Gary Snyder), Chard!
Tomatoes!
Potatoes!
Butternut squash!
Buttercup squash!
Broccoli
Wheat!
And oh, wait, what's below all this green stuff...?
Yellow Squash!
And of course, zucchini. That's my father, holding his biggest find yet. His garden makes me wish I had a lawn. Carrying any/all of these things on the train home to boston would've been impossible, but the thought of that zucchini made me decide to work (store-bought) zucchini into every recipe I've made lately, from
a simple chick pea pasta
to (even simpler) veggies covered in peanut sauce (my default "healthy" snack [I make an approximate 2:1 ratio of sauce to veggies])
to Heidi Swanson's Lemon Chick Pea Stir Fry (can you tell I've also had quite a bit of chick peas around lately?).

BUT the [vegan]creme-de-la-creme of zucchini-containing recipes I made lately were my Veggie Gyoza - aka Potstickers!
30-40 dumpling wrappers (thanks, Super 88 Market!)

1 box silken tofu (Mori-Nu, for example)
1 small zucchini, grated
1 small carrot, grated
2-3 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 cup spinach, chopped or shredded (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1-inch knob ginger, minced
2-3 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar or 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 Cup say sauce/tamari
salt and pepper
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients (except the wrappers) and stir savagely until it is one big mush.
Take a wrapper.
Put on 1-2 Tbsp of the filling.
Wet the edges of the wrapper with a bit of water. Crease one side of the wrapper so it bunches nicely. Repeat until you run out of filling. At this point, you have three options: 1.) freeze the potstickers for later use. 2.) Steam the potstickers for 10 minutes, or 3.) the more-work-but-more-tasty way: lightly oil a pan and fry the postickers, flat side down, no stirring, on medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes, or until slightly browned. Pour 1/4 cup water into the pan, cover it quickly, and cook for 5 minutes, until all the liquid has turned to steam. Serve with a 2:1 mixture of soy sauce and vinegar, with a touch of mirin/sugar (if you like).

I froze about a bazillion of these when I made them, so I'm sure you'll see them again.

And let's be honest, you are all just reading this far because you were hoping for a chicken update. Fear not! The chickens are doing well. The pullets are now full grown, grumpy hens:
And the rooster and old chickens are doing well, though apparently the rooster may have some chickeny version of pneumonia. Poor fellow!
I'll be visiting NY again sometime this month; I'll try to refrain from too much chicken news, but I'll let you know if Rooster's pneumonia clears up.

ALSO, in good news, this whole "quitting the 9-5 to go back to school" thing means I will probably have a little more time to update this blog! Hopefully we'll be back to once a week starting this month.