| dragon tofu |

I've been trying to re-create "dragon tofu" from my local food co-op and I think I've come fairly close. This is really tasty stuff....eat it on salads, on stir fry, plain, or in slices on a sandwich.

DRAGON TOFU:
1/4 to 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce (find it in a jar in the Thai section of the grocery store)
1 tablespoon honey
2-3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
ground black pepper

1. Press a large block of extra firm tofu for about a half hour to get the excess moisture out. Wrap it in a towel, put it on a plate wrapped up, and put something heavy (like a cast iron skillet or heavy pan) on top of it.
2. When it's pressed out, slice it into about 10 pieces.
3. In a plastic container, combine the ingredients listed above. Put the slices in. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours, turning over every half-hour to make sure it all gets soaked.
   

| my favorite new salad dressing |

Don't know why I've never tried this before, but it is awesome. I put some in a little tupperware container and took it in my lunch the other day.

- dash of olive oil
- dash of balsamic vinegar
- about a teaspoon of fruit jam (I used apricot)
- sprinkle of salt and pepper

Shake up. Serve on salad. I'm sure you could make it in larger batches, too. The fruit jam was such a nice addition. Yummers.

| easy recipes from my mom ]

Some recipes are just too wonderful and simple not to share. There are three that I picked up over Thanksgiving and wanted to pass along.

CRANBERRY SAUCE
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Combine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Boil until the cranberries are mushy and the sauce begins to look like jelly. Cool and refrigerate. That's all (seriously).

CRANBERRY-ORANGE RELISH
1 bag FROZEN fresh cranberries (buy the fresh bag and then freeze it)
1 cup sugar
1 orange, cut into 1/8s

Combine all in a food processor. Chop until it looks like relish. Refrigerate and serve.

HOMEMADE EGG NOODLES
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine well with a whisk. Add 1 1/2 cups flour. Form into a ball. Roll out on a VERY well-floured surface until thin like a pie crust. Let dry until it's easy to move the dough about without it sticking (keep flouring). Make sure it's not stuck to the surface, too! When it's pretty dry (maybe an hour?) fold it on top of itself a few times, then slice into thin ribbons (1/4 inch?) with a pizza cutter. Unroll the pieces and break into shorter noodles (you can just tear them). Now they are ready to cook!

Put them into boiling broth (veggie or chicken). For noodle soup, you can add veggies (and chicken chunks, if you want). For "chicken and noodles on mashed potatoes" (my all time favorite), just add chicken, no veggies. Serve over mashed potatoes. So delicious.

|quick and cheap black bean soup|

My husband and I were craving some black bean soup the other day, so I invented this little recipe. So easy. It came together in less than 10 minutes and probably cost less than $3 to make.

FAST BLACK BEAN SOUP
Makes 3 servings.

1) Saute half an onion (diced) with some minced garlic.
2) Add about 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, and some cilantro. If you don't own smoked paprika, you should. It's amazing and adds this great adobo-like flavor to things.
3) Dump in a can of Rotel (undrained) and a can of black beans (undrained).
4) Heat through. Top with shredded cheese and/or plain yogurt (or sour cream). Enjoy!

|vegetarian comfort food|

Fall is here and that means comfort food. I did a google search for "vegetarian comfort food" and found a great website with a huge list.

This was a recipe that I picked out and tried. It is amazing. I highly recommend checking it out.

Noodles and Cheese

|on the importance of frozen rice|

I don't remember where I learned that you can freeze cook rice, but it has truly changed my life. Every time we make rice, I almost always make extra and then I freeze it in those snack-sized zips (they hold about a cup). When I come home and am starving and we have "nothing to eat" I always use those frozen bags of rice as a fall back.

Today, I thought we had "nothing to eat" for lunch, but I popped a bag of rice in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Then I rummaged around in the fridge and found a few leftover veggies from a crudite platter. In less than 10 minutes I had super awesome stir fry....broccoli, celery, carrots, garlic, tofu, sesame oil, soy sauce, and frozen rice. Tasted better than any of the local Chinese places and it was faster, too.

I love frozen rice.

| bowl of fall goodness |

Sweet potatoes abounded at the market on Saturday, so I picked some up. I wanted to find a way to make them into a complete meal (which, in my world, basically involves adding grains and protein). Here's what I came up with. It is tasty, if I do say so myself.


BOWL OF FALL GOODNESS
3 medium sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup (or maple)
½ cup raisins
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Cinnamon and nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
Quick cook barley

Combine all ingredients except the black beans and barley in a large casserole. Bake at 350-375 until the sweet potatoes are tender (about 30-45 minutes). Meanwhile, cook up about 4 servings of quick cook barley according to the package directions. Once the potatoes are done, add the can of black beans and stir. Serve the potato mixture over the barley.

NOTE: you could probably use another grain, like rice, but boy is the chewiness of the barley a good choice.