Chard Pasta

Again, dinner depends on what is in the fridge and what got brought to the studio.

1. In a non-stick pan, heat a little olive oil and pan toast some pine nuts. Remove and reuse same pan.

2. Thinly slice up some shallots or onions or such
3. Mince up that last carrot or two from Steve's Farm
4. Thinly slice the stalks of home grown Rainbow Chard brought to you by Dennis in yesterday's yoga class.
5. Continue to thinly slice the chard leaves, separating them from the chard stalks.

6. Heat too much olive oil and some butter if you like in that non-stick pan.
7. Add 2 cloves of smooshed garlic and some red pepper flakes. Stir and quickly add the onions, carrots and chard stalks. Stir and eventually add the pasta. Stir and allow pasta to get chewy.

8. Eventually add the chard. Stir in and allow to wilt. Squeeze in some lemon juice. Add some lemon rind, some Parmesan, salt and pepper, stirring.

Fried Wontons and...Fried Rice!

Haha! I added to the Fried Rice tonight.

Anything can be stuffed in a wonton wrapper and fried up and served with a dipping sauce and be successful.

Tonight I did this:

1. Sauteed some minced shallot and garlic and red pepper flakes

2. Eventually added some drained soft minced tofu.

3. Eventually added some shredded napa valley cabbage

4. Eventually added some tamari soy sauce, rice wine and rice vinegar.  Allowed to saute for longer.  Eventually removed from heat and cuz I was in a rush, put in a bowl and put in freezer to cool it down.

5. Meanwhile, prepped veggies for fried rice.  Minced green onions, carrots and celery.  Sauteed these over high heat, eventually adding brown rice and eventually adding some tamari soy sauce. Allowed this to "fry".

6. When tofu mixture was cool, started to heat some oil in a non-stick pan.  Began wonton assembly.  When about 15 wontons were made, oil was hot enough.  Dropped wontons into pan to begin frying.

7. Meanwhile, added 2 eggs to rice mixture and rolled together, turning off heat when done.

8. Turned wontons as necessary and removed to paper towel on a plate to drain.

9. To serve, mixed soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, chili oil toasted sesame oil, a little sugar and a little water together for a dipping sauce.  Put rice, wontons and dipping sauce in small bowl on a plate.

"Italian Style" Fried Rice for One

1. In a non-stick pan, heat too much olive oil.
2. Pan Roast a handful of cashews. Remove with slotted spoon.
3. To pan, add 1/4 cup or so of minced onion and a mashed up clove of garlic. Add some red pepper flakes, thyme and a little turmeric for color.
4. Add leftover cooked cold white rice (about 1.5 cups).
5. Stir and mix and saute until starts to brown.
6. Add leftover baby spinach and mix up to wilt.
7. Push rice to the side and crack egg into pan and scramble. Mix into rice mixture.

8. Remove from pan. Grate lots of Parmesan into Rice. Stir in Cashews. Add Lots of Ground Pepper. Salt. Some Meyer lemon zest and a little lemon juice.

Fried Rice and Fried Tofu

So, like I said, I am i the fried rice current, but tonight we added tofu. It has been a LONG time since I made tofu.

Here is what I did:

1. Wrap extra firm tofu in paper towels and "press" tofu
2. In a shallow flat dish, like a Pyrex baking dish, mix tamari soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, a little maple syrup, red pepper flakes and slice scallions
3. When Tofu has been "pressed" for about 3o minutes, remove from paper towels, slice no thicker than 1/4 inch and place in marinade. Best if can soak for about 30 minute.
4. Meanwhile, make some rice and put in freezer to cool down quickly.
5. Prepare your fried rice veggies. Tonight we used shallots, carrots, celery, kale and bok choy.
6. Start making the fried rice
7. When tofu has marinated enough, heat oil in pan and fry tofu (if necessary, keep batches in oven warn as cook the rest)
8. When fired rice is complete, pour the remainder of the marinade into pan and thicken.
9. Serve rice with tofu and sauce on top.
   

Carraway and Cumin Pita Chips

1. Using a mix of whole wheat and white pita bread, cut into triangles and separate into halves.

2. Spread your chosen fat on the inside of each of the pita chips. We used butter, but olive oil or ghee or other favorite fat would work.

3. Sprinkle with seeds or herbs of choice. We used Caraway Seed, Cumin Seed, Fennel and Salt.

4. Toast under a broiler till browned. (This does not take very long).

5. Serve with dips and spreads.