Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce

Trying to eat seasonally, lately I find myself in a bit of a winter vegetable rut. I still have a long way to go before I consider myself a true locavore, but I have been eating a lot of winter squash, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, kale and other vegetables available in my area's winter. And although I consider all of those veggies absolutely delicious, my palate is ready for some new flavors.

Lucky for me, spring is here, bringing the very first new vegetables of the growing season. I recently picked up some wonderful local snow peas and decided to create a Thai-inspired noodle dish. Because the snow peas have such a delicate flavor, I decided not to cook most of this dish too heavily.

This dish makes a large quantity of noodles and sadly doesn't keep all too well past 2-3 days in the fridge, so I recommend serving it immediately to a big group of people. If you do decide to keep it for a few days, don't heat it up in the microwave. Simply allow it to come to room temperature and eat. Re-heating the dish overcooks the vegetables and makes the sauce taste a little funky. Or alternatively, you could simply boil up a small portion of noodles and drizzle them with the peanut sauce. The rest of the peanut sauce will store in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for at least 6 months.

And for the love of all that is holy, I beg you to use natural peanut butter. Any smooth brand is fine, but please don't use the highly processed, sugar laden and preservatives-added type of peanut butter. Not only does it add unnecessary fat, additives and a strange texture to your sauce, the extra sugar will really throw off the flavor.


Bain taitneamh as do bheil!


PREP TIME: about 35 minutes
COOKING TIME: about 10 minutes
SERVES: 10-15 people


INGREDIENTS:
Thai peanut sauce:
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 cup smooth natural peanut butter
1 15 oz can light coconut milk
1/4 cup tamari (regular soy sauce will work in a pinch)
the juice and zest of 2 limes
1 tablespoons sriracha sauce

For the noodles and vegetables:
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti noodles
1 large head broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3-4 cups snow peas, ends and strings removed
1 large cucumber, chopped into bite-sized pieces
sesame oil, for cooking


1/2 cup roasted & salted peanuts, roughly chopped.

DIRECTIONS:
Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions, or until al dente. Drain, toss with a little sesame oil to keep from sticking and set aside.

Bring a large saucepan full of water to a boil. Add chopped broccoli and cook for a few minutes, or just until broccoli turns a bright green. Drain immediately and set aside.

Prepare the peanut sauce: saute 3 cloves minced garlic in 2 tablespoons sesame oil until just browned, taking care not to burn. (Keep your eye on this pot-- garlic burns so easily!)

In a large bowl, combine sauteed garlic, peanut butter, coconut milk, tamari, the zest & juice of 2 limes and sriracha sauce. Whisk to combine. Adjust for your personal taste. Too bland? Try adding a bit more sriracha to spice things up. Too muddy? More lime juice will make a more zippy sauce. Needs salt? Add more tamari!

Drizzle the sauce over noodles, cooked broccoli, snow peas and cucumber and gently stir to combine.

Garnish with chopped peanuts and get ready to practice your chopstick skills!

Pesto Stromboli with Marinaria Dipping Sauce

Because I love all things baked and stuffed, you know I'm going to be wild about stromboli and its smaller cousin the calzone. I read somewhere that practically every culture has a version of a savory pastry: the empanada of Spanish and Latin American cultures, the Kartoffelkloesse (potato dumpling) from Germany, the many different types of jiaozi and wontons of Chinese culture, the British pasty, the Slavic pierogies. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get my point. (Side note: when I told my girlfriend about the culturally universal idea of a savory pastry, she asked me what I thought the American version of this pastry was. The only answer I could come up with was Hot Pockets. Any other thoughts, dear readers?)

And it makes sense that this type of food is so universal: who doesn't love savory fillings (and often cheese!) wrapped in a doughy shell? It's filling, comforting and a perfect on-the-go food.

I recently scored some pre-made pizza dough on super-sale at my grocer, which was the inspiration for this recipe. But it's easy enough to make your own dough-- check out this recipe from a wonderful food blog, 101 Cookbooks. And I must make a shameful confession to you now, dear readers: I don't own a rolling pin. But I improvised (quite nicely, I must say) with a wine bottle and got my dough to a satisfactory thinness.


I chose to make both the pesto and marinara sauce for dipping, but if you're in a hurry, you can always use store-bought versions. Above all, this recipe just begs for experimentation. Feel free to substitute different veggies and cheeses in the stuffing. Even the pesto is open to interpretation-- traditionally it's made with pine nuts, but if pignolias aren't your bag (baby), feel free to use walnuts or almonds or any other mild nut. Like a garlicky pesto? Throw in another clove (or two!). People often add Parmesan cheese to their pesto, but I chose to omit it. With all the cheese and olive oil in this recipe already, I really didn't want to make it that much more rich and heavy. This recipe only calls for a thin layer of pesto on the dough, so you will probably end up with extra. I like to freeze my extra pesto in an ice cube tray, that way I have little frozen cubes of green-y goodness on hand at all times that I can use to liven up recipes!

For a vegan stromboli, simply omit the mozzarella.


Bain taitneamh as do bhéil!


PREP TIME: about 25 minutes
COOKING TIME: 20-25 minutes
SERVES: 8-10



INGREDIENTS:
For the stromboli and filling:
1 pound whole wheat or multigrain pizza dough (if bought frozen, allow to completely unthaw)
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin ribbons
14 oz white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thickly
1 large handful baby spinach, cleaned and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 large ball fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into rounds
olive oil, for cooking
flour, for rolling out dough

For the pesto:
2 cups tightly packed basil leaves, washed and stems removed
1/2 cup raw pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/4 cup olive oil

Marinara dipping sauce:
See recipe here.


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the marinara dipping sauce and allow to simmer while you assemble the stromboli. (Recipe here)

Prepare the pesto: place basil leaves, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and pulse to combine. Slowly drizzle the olive oil through the top of the food processor. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and pulse until you have a fine paste, adding olive oil as needed to thin. Set aside.

In a mid-sized frying pan, heat up a little olive oil. Saute mushroom slices until they are crispy and slightly browned around the edges. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough until it's approximately 15" by 12". Spread a thin layer of pesto over the flattened dough, avoiding all the outer edges of the dough. On top of the pesto, evenly spread the pepper slices, sauteed mushrooms, spinach leaves and mozzarella slices.

Carefully fold the dough up in three sections, the way you would fold a piece of paper to put into an envelope. Seal the fold and the edges with a little olive oil.

Place the stromboli sealed edges down on an oiled cookie sheet and brush the top with a little olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.


Serve slices of the stromboli with bowls of marinara sauce for dipping, a big leafy salad and a glass of red wine.

Breakfast Carrot Cake

I have a huge weakness for carrot cake. For me, it doesn't even count as a dessert item because it's got a vegetable in it. Am I right? Anyone?

Ahem, anyway. I still love it, regardless of it's nutritional status.

But sadly, I am allergic to walnuts and carrot cakes are often baked with tons of those suckers. They're also, much to my chagrin, often full of fat and calories too.

I'm no baker, so when I happened across this recipe from the Whole Foods blog, I knew it was a perfect recipe for me to adapt. I eliminated the walnuts, of course, and substituted steel-cut oatmeal for rolled oats. I think they give the cake a wonderfully chewy texture that makes them just perfect for breakfast (or lunch or dinner, if you're so inclined...). I didn't have the powdered ginger the recipe called for, so I used fresh ginger and it was so zippy and good! I substituted raisins for the currants, but I think dried cranberries or cherries would be delicious too. I specified Grade B maple syrup because I think it has a more complex flavor than Grade A, although that would work just fine too. And just because I can't help myself, I topped the cake with a little vegan maple cream cheese frosting. You can use it regular cream cheese too, if you like.

I enjoyed a thick slice of this for breakfast this morning myself without a shred of guilt. The oats really helped it stick to my ribs until lunch time! And because there are no added oils or processed sugar in this recipe, you can feel good about this heartier version of my dessert favorite.


Bain taitneamh as do bheil!


PREP TIME: 45 minutes
COOKING TIME: approximately 1 hour 20 minutes
SERVES: 8-10 people


INGREDIENTS:
Natural cooking spray
1 cup steel-cut oatmeal
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
1 cup Grade B maple syrup
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

for the frosting:
8 oz. vegan cream cheese (I like Tofutti brand myself)
1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil a (9-inch) square baking pan with cooking spray and set it aside.

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add steel-cut oats, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Oats are done when water is absorbed and they are just slightly chewy.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. In a second large bowl, combine carrots, cooked steel-cut oats, maple syrup, raisins, coconut, vanilla and ginger. Add carrot mixture to flour mixture and stir until completely incorporated. Transfer to prepared pan and bake until cooked through and deep golden brown, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cake is done when the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the edge of the pan, and when a knife inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Set aside to let cool before cutting into squares.

To make frosting:

Allow cream cheese to soften. Combine cream cheese and maple syrup, stirring until fully incorporated. Spread a thin layer over the top of the completely cooled cake. Try to resist licking the bowl clean. (Or, you know, don't.)

Serve with a steaming cup of tea for a delicious and filling breakfast!