Glass noodle salad (peanuts, sweetcorn and sprouts)

I was making tofu salad from my last batch of homemade tofu, we needed something else, this was quick and complementary. I have made versions of this many times and always get frustrated with how the dressing fails to coat the noodles and the other vegetables etc get all clumped down the bottom of the bowl. I was actually quite pleased with this one, so here it is. Think key things are: slightly undercook the noodles and drain them well; don't skimp on the sauce; make veg / additions small and/or clingy so they stay in among the noodles as much as poss.

4 bundles of glass noodles
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh lemongrass
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp light miso
2 tbsp rice vinegar (or lime juice)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp mirin
2 tbsp peanuts
1/2 cup assorted little beansprouts (used lentils and alfalfa)
3/4 cup frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
1/4 cup coriander, chopped (or a mixture of coriander and mint)

Put the noodles in a pan of boiling water and simmer for about 5 min, until the bundles loosen and the noodles become bendy but not soft - make sure they are al dente. Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking quickly.

While the noodles are cooking you can start preparing the other ingredients: toast and crush the peanuts, defrost sweetcorn, wash and chop coriander, ginger, lemongrass. Put ginger and lemongrass in a small bowl with the peanut butter, miso, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and mirin and whisk together with a fork. Check for consistency (should be runny but thick) and taste for sweet-sour-saltiness and modify.

Put the noodles in a serving bowl, add the peanut butter mixture and toss well with a spoon and fork so the noodles are all coated. Add the toasted crushed peanuts, sweetcorn, beansprouts and coriander (and/or mint), toss again and serve immediately.

Sprout, watermelon radish and orange salad

An unusually bright, crisp and cheerful winter salad, inspired by the contents of the CSA.

1 punnet mixed salad sprouts
1 medium watermelon radish, peeled, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 large orange, pith and peel removed from the outside
1 tbsp white miso
1-2 tsp marmalade
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Put sprouts in a salad bowl. Slice the radish (it's so pretty!) and add to the bowl. Cut off as much peel and pith from the outside of the orange as you can, then cut out the segments, leaving behind the separating membranes. Add the orange segments to the bowl. Squeeze the juice out of the remaining orange into a small bowl, then add the remaining ingredients and whisk with a fork. Add the dressing to the bowl and toss. Eat right away.

Basic stir-fry

It's been killer-hot for a while now, so we've got a little tired of only eating bread and salad and have been running through our repertoire of quick-hob-cook, simple dinners.  I used to do quick stir-fries like this often, don't know why I stopped, they're good:

(for 2 people)

2 portions of noodles or rice (any kind will do: have done with udon noodles or sorghum noodles recently - for a real quick-cook obviously noodles are quicker than rice)
1 1/2 tbsp veg oil plus 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
sesame seeds
firm tofu, ~1 cm dice
1 onion, finely sliced (or 3 spring onions, roughly chopped)
some combination of peppers, mushrooms, carrot, courgette, all finely sliced into matchsticks or so
spinach / chard, roughly chopped
beansprouts
fresh coriander, roughly chopped
soy sauce
sweet chilli sauce
lime juice

Really, anything goes on this one - all it takes is veggies and a pan.  First, get the rice or noodles cooking - keep an eye on them and drain when done - do this in parallel to prepping and cooking the veg.

Heat the oils together over a med-high heat, then add the garlic and ginger.  Stir fry a few minutes then add the onion and any harder veg like carrots; also add the sesame seeds.  Fry a few more min then add softer veg like courgette, pepper or mushrooms; also add tofu.  Next add the green stuff that cooks really quick - beansprouts, spinach, chard and stir fry for a few more minutes.  At the last moment you can stir fry in an egg if you like: clear a space in the pan and break the egg into it, then move the egg around against the hot pan as it cooks to break it up and mix it into the veg.  Turn off the heat and add the coriander, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and lime juice to taste (more can be added at the table).

Either serve the stir fry over the rice / noodles or mix the rice/noodles into the stir fry in the pan and re heat a little.

Summer rolls

The weather has eased off a bit these last few days, but it's still been hot.  We've been eating a lot of salads (exciting salads, with lettuce from Mike and fried fresh garlic (from ECO), courgette (from my secret garden) and tempeh, and so forth, but still just salads), there have been a few nights late getting back from work / play and not feeling like cooking, and Monday we went for awesome dumplings and edamame/fresh tofu/mustard greens @ Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown after investing in a tent @ Hilton Tent City (both were wonderful places).

So anyway, Tuesday S bought a summer roll for lunch and we were like: these are really good, why haven't we made them for ages?  And last night I got home and he'd started prepping them - yesssss.  They are the soft, rice paper wrapped rolls often seen in Vietnamese food places, filled with fine white noodles, tofu and fresh herbs / veggies.  I've seen them called fresh rolls as well, but 'summer rolls' seems really appropriate for right now.

(made about 8)

For the rolls:
8-10 circular rice noodle sheets
1 portion fine white rice (or bean) noodles, cooked until done (few minutes), drained and run under cold water to cool
1/4 cucumber, chopped into large matchsticks (or raw courgette)
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped into large matchsticks, steamed until just tender
2 pieces dry or firm tofu, sliced into pieces similar to the veggies
beansprouts
lettuce
fresh coriander
fresh mint

For peanut dipping sauce:
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 in piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp tamarind paste
1-2 tsp soy sauce

To assemble the rolls, fill a large bowl with hot water.  Take a rice noodle sheet and immerse in the water.  Soak for a few seconds, until it is soft. It will become quite fragile, so remove it carefully and spread out on a flat board. Put a ~rectangular pile of noodles in the middle of the circle. Arrange cucumber, tofu, carrot, coriander, mint, lettuce and beansprouts in ~a line along the middle of the noodle pile (any combination will do really, at a minimum you probably want carrot, cucumber, tofu and coriander). Then roll it up: fold up one side, tuck in the ends, then roll and close as tightly as you can. The rice sheets will be a bit sticky and it should hold together reasonably well.

To make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl until well combined, then add water until a good consistency is reached.


These were really good - exactly right for these warm nights, simple, quick, and just as good as any I've eaten anywhere. I packed some up in a box lined with lettuce leaves and that seemed to help stop them from sticking.