Freshie-Fresh

One of my favorite, but often forgotten, meals is fresh rolls! My general rule of thumb is crisp veggies, something savoury and something sweet, and I always serve them up with a nutty dipping sauce. The variations are endless!

Fresh Rolls
1 package round rice papers
1 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1 avocado, thinly sliced
Handful strawberries, julienned
Handful fresh basil, chiffonade
greens (I prefer to use baby greens such as romaine and spinach)

For the Sauce...
1/4 cup nut butter (I used my freshly made Almond butter!)
Healthy squirt of Sriracha (or 1 tsp. hot pepper flakes)
1 T. agave nectar (or honey, or sugar, or 1 t. stevia...)
1 T. Tamari (or soy sauce or shoyu)
1 T. lime juice (or brown rice vinegar)
a couple tablespoon warm water to thin, if necessary

Directions
Once all of your veggies are prepared you will need a large shallow dish filled with very warm water. Place one rice paper in the warm water and in about 1 minute it should be soft and ready to use. Spread it out on a plate or cutting board. In the center, a tad closer to the bottom than the top, begin piling your fillings. Just a little of each, or it will be hard to roll.
Once all your fillings are in, gently fold in the right and left sides. Now fold over the bottom and begin rolling upwards toward the top, using your fingers to make sure all the yummy fillings stay in. If this feels confusing there are lots of videos that show how to do it!

Now the sauce is super easy! I just toss all of the ingredients into a blender and hit go, but you could also just whisk them by hand. Adjust the seasonings to your tastes. As you can tell I have used lots of different ingredients for the sauce, depending on what I have on hand!

Enjoy!

Tofu Peanut Satay

Years ago, after moving out of my parents house, I decided to play adult and invite my mom over for dinner. This is long before culinary school, when I knew how to cook all of about 3 different meals - 2 of them from Rachel Ray, and one off of a jar of green curry paste. Basically, I knew the staples that every good vegetarian should - bean chili, and a couple different stirfrys.


I decided to make the Tofu Peanut Satay (courtesy of Rachel Ray, I just veganized it), and to this day, it is still one of her favorites and one of the main players in our family meal rotation.

Tofu Peanut Satay adapted from Rachel Ray

Orange-Scented Brown Rice
2 cups Brown Basmati Rice, (short or long grain works just fine)
Zest from an orange
4 cups water
pinch sea salt

Directions: Bring water to a boil and add a pinch of sea salt. Add washed rice and orange zest. Cover and let simmer for 45 minutes. Don't lift lid! Turn off heat and keep covered for 10 minutes more. Fluff & serve. (Any grain goes great with this dish, just add orange zest and cook according to package instructions!)

Satay Sauce
1/4 cup Peanut Butter (or nut butter of your choice)
3 T. Tamari (or soy sauce)
3 T. Agave (or honey)
1 Garlic clove, minced
1" Fresh gingerroot, grated and the juice squeezed into the sauce
Juice from 1/2 an orange
1/2 tsp. Red pepper flakes, or to taste

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and warm thru over low heat.

Stirfry
1 Onion, sliced into thin half moons
1 Bunch scallions, sliced on the diagonal
1 cup Broccoli florets
1 cup Carrots, julienned
8 oz. Cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 large handful Snowpeas
1 block Extra-firm Tofu, pressed to remove excess water and cut into bite-size pieces

To garnish: fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips and cashews, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Heat a large non-stick skillet or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. I don't use any oil, but if you want to you can drizzle in a little oil of your choice. Arrange the tofu in the pan with enough room around them to flip them. Let them cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side. Don't try to flip them until they have formed a nice crust! Patience is key here! Remove them from the pan and drizzle with them with a little Tamari. Set aside. Stirfry veggies in the order listed above. I begin with the onions and I hold off on adding any other veggies until they are beginning to nicely brown. Again, I don't use any oil. Just a really hot pan and patience. Once all your veggies are in and cooked to the texture you like (I prefer al dente, but you better not ever serve my mom a crunchy vegetable, so I let it go a little longer for her.) Pour in the sauce and give a good toss.

Serve alongside rice, and sprinkle basil and cashews on top!

Yum-Hum Pizza

A quick, satisfying pizza perfect for one, or two if you serve it with a big green salad. Easy to throw together with some basic kitchen staples, and easy to adjust to your preferences! It all starts with some quicky & easy homemade hummus. Then a quick flash saute of veggies (no oil necessary!) and then just pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes on a pizza stone (longer if using a cookie sheet.) To me, homemade is always better, but feel free to use store-bought hummus in place of homemade if you want to. And use any veggies you like!

Sun-dried Tomato & Herb Hummus
1 can Chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
3-4 Sundried tomatoes soaked in a few tablespoons of hot water until soft
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Sea Salt to taste (I just use a couple small pinches)
A few good cranks of fresh cracked black pepper
A few leaves fresh basil (feel free to replace with 1 tsp. dried basil)
Leaves from a couple stems of fresh thyme (feel free to replace with 1/2 tsp. dried thyme)

Directions: Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and let run until smooth (3-5 minutes), adding a little of the tomato soaking water as necessary to get the right consistency. I like my hummus to be thick yet smooth, as I prefer to use it as a spread.

Yum-Hum Pizza
1/3 cup Hummus
2-3 Scallions, cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 Zucchini, sliced in thin half moons
3 Cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
2 Sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
Pinch hot pepper flakes, optional
1 tsp. Italian spice blend (or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano & 1/2 tsp. dried basil)
A couple dashes Bragg's Liquid Aminos (you can substitute sea salt or shoyu)
1 Whole grain tortilla (or pita)

Directions: Preheat over to 400F. Spread hummus on your tortilla and set aside. Heat a large non-stick skillet or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. I prefer to saute while I chop. I go in the order of the ingredients list, always starting with my onion and ending with the quicker cooking greens. So chop your scallions and throw them, while they start searing, chop your zucchini, throw them in, chop your 'shrooms...you get the picture. Give the veggies a good toss each time you add the next veggie in so they don't burn. If anything is sticking you can reduce the heat a little (although I find it works best at a higher heat) and/or add a little splash of water (but not too much, you don't want soggy pizza!) Our goal here is to just get a nice sear on the veggies, they will finish cooking in the oven. Once they are all in add the spices, give a good toss.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the Bragg's and toss again. Let cook for a minute more. Pile the veggies onto the tortilla you have prepared and slip it onto your pizza stone. Bake for about 10 minutes until the tortilla is golden and a little crisp underneath.

Slice & serve!!