Buckwheat (Soba) Noodle Salad with Chili Lime Dressing

“Did you ever have rules when you were first dating someone?”

“No. No, I don’t think so.”

“Really? Because I feel like all girls have rules. Especially when we’re younger, in our 20s.”

“Like what?”

I paused, wondering if I should tell Roo all the ridiculous ‘rules’ my friends and I had while in undergrad. “Well…” I decided to start off slow, “Never display any sort of bodily function in front of them, like burp or fart.”

“Right, because girls don’t poop.”

“Yes.  And we also don’t cry while looking in the mirror.”

Roo nodded as he scooped up a piece of broccoli with his fork.

“Also, don’t laugh so hard that you snort or God forbid fart.”

“Didn’t you once -”

“No.”

“When we were walking back from Thai Red Pepper -”

I grabbed a napkin to blot my mouth, “No. That never happened.”

Roo stifled a laugh, “Ok, what else?”

“Don’t sleep with someone before the third date,” I replied, half focused on getting a few sunflower seeds onto the tines of my fork, “And if you do sleep with that person -”

“After the third date of course.”

I smiled, “Yes.  If you sleep with that person you must wake up before they do so you can freshen up.”

“Like get rid of swamp mouth?”

“And that oily mess you call your face, yes.”

“Well, what about dinner? You went from talking to that person to sleeping with them. Makes me think you were a bit -”

“Hey! Hey now. Alright, dinner. Well, never order noodles because no one wants to see you slurp and sputter sauce everywhere.”

Roo raised an eyebrow.

“I know, I know. They were ridiculous.”

“No, it’s not that.”

“What?”

“That last bite you took of soba. I think you got some dressing on your shirt.”

I glanced down to see a giant stain on my right breast.  It looked like I was lactating.  “Great. See? This is why we have rules.”

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Hey.

Did you realize yet that it’s halfway through November?  Are you in denial about cooking for Thanksgiving like I am?

Good.

Roo and I have been keeping warm in our poorly insulated apartment with soups.  Lots and lots of soups.

And maybe cats.

Pissed off cats.

Around this time last year, I made Roo a broccoli soup that was full of cheese, whole milk and half and half.  You’d think I was trying to collect a life insurance pay-off with what I plated for him.

“Oh no, half a block of cheddar is good for your cholesterol level of 250.”

Little did I know at the time, he doesn’t have life insurance.  Little does he know, I have no shame, and like my Aunt Kathy, I planned on putting his ashes into something affordable, like a vase from Pier 1 Imports, where my Uncle Dan now rests.

I’m just keeping it real.

This year, I wanted to make broccoli soup a little differently as Roo and I have recently adopted a plant-based lifestyle.  Yet, when I told Roo what I was making for dinner, he was a little concerned.

“How are you going to make broccoli soup without cheese or cream?”

Thankfully I had a bit of luck with my last supposed-to-be-cream-based-soup so I knew where to start.  Even though Roo hates my mentioning it (it’s all in the name really), nutritional yeast rounds out the flavors that would instead taste like broccoli broth without it.  Paired with almond milk and blended potatoes, it makes a creamy, cheesy soup that I loved submerging large chunks of warm, crusty bread into.

The soup has loads of body, as half of the vegetables are blended, then put back in.  And with just a little bit of chili powder to raise the flavor up a bit (that and the sherry give it “that little something”), you soon realize that it’s not just rosemary that’s added.  It’s good.  It’s, put down the cat you’re using as a shawl, good.

Adapted from Appetite for Reduction

This Serves About 6

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Ingredients

1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pot)

1 large onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon of dried rosemary

Quarter teaspoon of chili powder

4 cups of low sodium broth (I used homemade vegetable)

4 potatoes (about the size that individually fit in the palm of your hand), cut into about half inch pieces

2 carrots, diced

5 cups of broccoli, cut into less than half inch pieces (if you can use only the stems, do it. Save the florets for some roasting, stir fry, etc where you’ll be able to appreciate the textures.  This soup is just going to get blended at the end.)

1 cup of unsweetened, unflavored almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk)

2 tablespoons of sherry

Quarter cup of nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon of butter, like Earth Balance (optional)

Salt to taste

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Equipment

A sharp knife

A very large pot with cover

A spatula

An immersion blender or a blender

Ladle

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Add one to two tablespoons of olive oil to your pot.  Place the pot over a burner on medium heat.  When the oil starts to shimmer, add the diced onion.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent.  Add the minced garlic, rosemary, and chili powder and stir to incorporate the ingredients.  Cook until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the broth, potatoes and carrots.  Stir till the ingredients are incorporated.  Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat so that the ingredients are at a simmer.  Cover the pot and simmer for about ten minutes.

After ten minutes have passed, add the broccoli and simmer for twenty minutes, covered.

After twenty minutes have passed, add the almond milk, sherry and nutritional yeast.  Stir and heat the ingredients through.

With an immersion blender, blend about half of the soup, or to the consistency that you wish (I like to have some bits left whole in my soup).  If you don’t have an immersion blender, ladle some soup into your blender, but be careful to not fill more than half way.  Lid, cover with a towel (to protect your hand), and immediately blend (do not let steam build up in the blender or else you may risk of eruption and burning your hand!).  Add it back to the soup, and continue this until the soup is down to the consistency you desire.

Salt to taste.

*Does it need to be just a little bit creamier?  If desired, add a tablespoon of butter, like Earth Balance.  Otherwise, you’re done!  Serve immediately.

Chicken Stir Fry

There are some hot summer nights where I just don’t want to cook. Working a long day in a building with recirculated air, fluorescent lighting, and the politics of people trying to prove that they’re smarter than you can be exhausting. And coming home after an hour long commute via two trains and a bus, where you’re greeted by a cat that throws up on your sneakers (it may be because one of her favorite places to get into is the trash),

does not make me want to stand by a hot stove for an hour. No.

No no no no no.

So is there a solution, besides a week full of salads?

I love salad, but I think Roo would leave me if he had to eat night after night of random vinaigrettes. With that, there’s compromise, and for me, it’s only ten minutes of actual suffering.

I mean, cooking.

My life line is stir fry, and in this case, chicken stir fry. The largest part of work for this dish is prepping the veg.  Then it’s throwing everything into a very large saute pan, stirring it around, and before Roo can finish a level of ‘Firefight with skulls on’ (a Halo ref that I hate myself for knowing), it’s time to plate dinner and sit by a box fan that will blow your hair into your mouth as you eat.  But more appetizing.

Adapted, only a little, from The Pioneer Woman

Serves four generously

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Ingredients

These ingredients are based on what I received from my CSA this week. You could always switch out for what you’d like to have in your stir fry, since that’s the whole point (dump and cook what you have in your fridge).

Leftover rice, or rice made from your rice cooker, or stove top per the bag’s instructions

3 scallions, diced (you could use one medium onion diced here, but I was trying to use up ingredients from my CSA)

3 cloves garlic, minced (I love garlic)

1 knob of ginger, about the size of your thumb, minced (or grated if you’re lazy like me)

1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flake (I love spicy, if you’re scared, start with a 1/4 teaspoon)

One pound of broccoli crowns, cut into easily edible pieces

3 carrots, chopped

2 red peppers, chopped

1 bunch of tatsoi (again, from my CSA)

3 Whole Chicken Breasts, sliced into pieces (I like to use kitchen shears and let the pieces fall into a ziploc bag which contained the marinade)

1 teaspoon Sesame Oil (and more to drizzle over chicken)

Three quarters of a cup *low sodium* Soy Sauce (and more to drizzle over chicken) *This is the start of making a LOT of sauce, because I had a lot of veg (and I love extra sauce for my rice). If the idea of 1 cup of soy sauce scares you, half it, along with the sugar, chicken broth, corn starch, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar.**

One quarter of a cup of water (to be mixed with the soy sauce)

6 tablespoons of Sugar (I know, I know, that’s a lot, but less than that and you’ll end up with something quite acrid)

1 cup Chicken Broth, to be divided

3 teaspoons corn starch

2 – 4 tablespoons olive oil

1 – 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar (optional, taste your sauce first)

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (optional, some people think it tastes like soap. Haters!)

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Equipment

A very, VERY large saute pan, or a wok

3 small bowls (that can hold up to a cup and a half of liquid)

A whisk

A very sharp knife

Tongs or a spatula

A grater, if handy

A large ziploc bag, or a large plate for your chicken to hang out on

Another large plate for your chicken to hang out on after cooking

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After prepping all your veg, slice up your chicken into a large ziploc bag, or onto a plate. Drizzle a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil onto the chicken. Toss it about so all the chicken is coated. Set aside.

Gather the three small bowls for the wet ingredients. In one bowl, mix three quarters of a cup of soy sauce with a quarter cup of water and 6 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside. In the second bowl, mix half a cup of chicken broth with 3 teaspoons of corn starch. Set aside. In the third bowl, pour the other half cup of chicken broth into it. Set aside.

Place the very VERY large saute pan (or wok) on the burner over high heat (not blasting, but more than a medium flame). Pour in 2 – 4 tablespoons of olive oil into the pan (enough to coat the bottom). When the oil starts to shimmer, add the chicken. Do not crowd the pan with the chicken. You want an even single layer of meat on the bottom of the pan. If this means you have to work in shifts, so be it. Letting the chicken sit on one side for a minute or two (until browned), flip, and cook for another minute or two. When the chicken has cooked through, remove from the pan and place on a clean plate to hang out while you work on your veg (repeat if you had to cook the chicken in shifts).

Add another tablespoon of olive oil if necessary to the pan (to avoid sticking). Add the green onions and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the garlic and the ginger. Stir the ingredients about so that they’re coated with the oil and are sizzling. Start adding in the rest of your veg in shifts. I usually start with the veg that’s going to take the longest to cook and end with the one that takes the least. In this case it was carrots, then broccoli, followed by red peppers and then tatsoi.

When all of the ingredients have cooked through (it takes about three minutes with the carrots, followed by two minutes with the broccoli, then the red peppers, waiting a minute, and then adding the tatsoi, constantly tossing the ingredients with my tongs), it’s time to add the wet ingredients.

Pour in the chicken broth and the soy sauce that’s mixed with sugar. Toss the veg in within the pan so that they’re coated. Drizzle one teaspoon of sesame oil over the sauce. Again, toss.

Add the cooked chicken to the sauce. Add the chicken broth that’s mixed with corn starch. Again, toss everything together.

Now, it’s time to taste. Are you craving something a little bit more acidic? You may want to drizzle a teaspoon to 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar to the sauce. But make sure you taste first! I made the mistake of doing this without tasting and got something horribly acrid once. It was sad.

When the sauce is to your liking, remove the pan from the burner. If you’d like to add your cilantro to your dish, do so on your individual serving (again, be aware of the haters).

Serve over rice.