Feed Me Meat, Please!

This vegan thing is getting out of hand. Even when I'm making lunch for just myself with an assortment of easy forms of nourishment such as pate and cheese and baguette at hand, I opt for cold soba noodles with kale and tofu. I said No to Manchego. I said No to Gouda with cumin. I said No to Terrine de Campagne. I think I'm coming down with something, and I seriously hope it's not a case of veganism.

I made these earlier this week when I was working from home. I then proceeded to MSN my colleague to tell him that my lunch was better than what he just had in the cafeteria. Yes, I'm popular at work. Somehow I was thinking of this, my workday lunch, on a Sunday afternoon. I won't analyse it too much, but I will share the recipe with you.

Soba with Kale and Tofu for 1
90 g soba noodles
50 g tofu, cut into small cubes
oil
1/3 c blanched kale (frozen)
1/2 Tbsp peanut of sunflower oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 small red chili, chopped
chili flakes (optional)
fish sauce (optional)
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 very small red onion, sliced finely or 1 green onion, chopped

Bring a small saucepan with water to a boil. While water is boiling, warm oil in a pan to saute tofu.
In a small bowl, add all ingredients except cilantro and onion. Mix. Kale will sill be frozen.
After noodles have cooked al dente, drain them and toss in the bowl with sauce. The warm noodles and the frozen kale will counteract one another, stopping the cooking of the soba and thawing the kale.
When tofu has an adequate crust, remove from heat & drain. Add to noodles & toss.
Garnish with onions and cilantro.

As I type this, I'm watching a Wallonian family cook eel on TV. Maybe this will inspire me to eat an animal again. This vegan thing is scaring me. Even if it is tasty.

More Dosas

I went to the Indian place around the corner this weekend for the masala dosa. Every Saturday, they have dosas, ildy, vada, and sambar. In short, they have a South Indian breakfast.

Dosas are like large crisp crepes, made out of lentils. This one was filled with spicy potatoes & had chopped red chili rubbed on the inside. A vada is a fried lentil mixture. Normally, I like the ones shaped like donuts but these were masal vada. They looked like falafels. Not what I was looking for but they made my brunch buddy happy. Ildy are steamed cakes of rice and lentils, served with a sambar, a lentil like soup/sauce. Both dishes came with coconut chutney.

You might be noticing a large amount of lentils in this meal. I'm still not sure if this vegan thing is working well for me. I see a large piece of beef in my near future.

Out Before I'm Even In

After having only recently joined The Daring Kitchen, I think it's time for me to quit. The rules are simple: you make a prescribed dish once a month, following the recipe given. This should have been my indicator that this club is not for me. Instead, I was intrigued by the idea of belonging to a group of cooks around the world, united by one taste for one month.

I couldn't participate in August due to my vacation plans and furthermore, I didn't find the recipe all that alluring - even if it's from the chef of El Bulli. The month before that, I refused to participate because the key ingredient was skate. After having seen rays on a dive, I refuse to promote the fishing of these beautiful creatures. I'm also opposed to cod, the suggested substitute. So here I am, in September, preparing for the challenge.

Dosas. In theory, fantastic. I consulted with my Indian Friend J (IFJ), and he gave me some ideas. Then I read the recipe. The recipe that I have to follow. It calls for spelt. This is where I bow out & say "No, thank you". I was fine with the vegan meal. I was fine with preparing the 3 components of dosa, filling, & sauce. But somehow, following a recipe for Indian food taken from a trendy restaurant in Toronto seemed wrong. Don't get me wrong - Fresh has good food and some amazing lemonade. Although I think their noodle bowls are great, I just don't know how inspired I am to make them at home.

IFJ says that there's a place down the street that has super-crispy dosas on Saturdays. In the meantime, I made my own. The dosas are out of chickpea flour, the filling is a potato marsala (I cheated & used my Grandmother's favourite curry mix), and the chutney, again, I cheated & used grated coconut. The result: interesting, and certainly a healthy basis for the steaks I had later that night. I won't be repeating the recipe but I certainly have been inspired by it. I will be going to the Indian place down the street tomorrow for good dosas.

Vegans Don't Drink Wine

The not-so-secret life of the workaholic is: he works. We had agreed to go grocery shopping today to buy meat and fish but something came up. I made it to the market on my own this Saturday, and while I am mobile on my own, shopping's way more fun with him. So I'm at home with frozen shrimp and ground beef and a whole lot of fresh veggies. I made a vegan dinner for the second night running, and part of me believes that this is somehow a good thing. Healthy. Environmentaly responsible. Promoting my reclusive nature. All bonuses.

Tonight was just soba noodles with broccoli & tofu in a miso glaze. Soba noodles were cooked, rinsed, drained & sprinkled with sesame oil. Broccoli was cut, steamed covered in a sauce of soy, ginger, garlic, chilli & a bit of starch to solidify. Tofu was sliced & coated in a mixture of miso, wine, sugar, chilli. Then it was broiled. This vegan thing is easy. And it doesn't taste that bad. The problem is: wine is made from yeast & is therefore not vegan. The workaholic vetoed this vegan thing immediately. But being a yeasto-vegetarian - that's just fine.