Asian-style Noodle Bowl

I love steaming hot aromatic and delicious Asian broth bowls. However typically they come with a heavy dose of sodium. Not wanting to give up on a favorite and an otherwise healthy meal, I decided to take matters in my own hand and spend some time assembling all the ingredients for a delicious and low sodium Asian bowl. Turns out it wasn’t all that time consuming, and I was slurping my wonderful Asian meal in just about a half hour.

Fixings

Noodles: 1 packet brown rice noodles (or your favorite kind) - cooked

Garlic Mushrooms: Saute 6-8 oz mixed variety of mushrooms with 1 clove of garlic (minced). You don’t necessarily need to use any oil. I started by heating up the mushrooms and garlic with a pinch of salt in a covered non-stick pan. Let the mushrooms sweat for a minute, stir and continue to cook the same way for about 5 minutes. Use a little bit of orange juice or rice wine vinegar to deglaze the pan if required.

Broccoli with Cashews: Saute 1 cup of chopped broccoli with 6-8 roughly chopped cashews and a pinch of salt. I cooked this similar to the mushrooms without any oil and using vinegar to deglaze the pan.

Tofu: Cut 7 oz extra firm tofu into 1” slices. Squeeze out the liquid using paper towels and cut into cubes. Make a marinade with ¼ cup hot water, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp honey, 2-3 tsp peanut butter. Soak the tofu in marinade and microwave on high for 6-8 minutes. With a nonstick pan on medium-high heat, cook the tofu in a single layer until browned on one side. Flip and cook the opposite side until browned.

Chopped carrots

Chopped green onions

2 Boiled eggs: Hard boil the eggs and cut them in half.

Lemon wedges

Broth: Heat 1.5-2 cups of low sodium vegetable broth (preferably homemade) over high heat. Add a thinly sliced clove of garlic, ½ tsp of grated ginger, 1-2 tsp soy sauce, 1-2 tsp rice wine vinegar, ¼ tsp crushed red pepper, salt to taste. Let the broth come to a boil and take it off the heat.

Assembly: Divide all the fixings into 2-4 bowls. Squeeze lemon juice on top. Add ⅓ - ¾ cup of hot broth to each bowl, and enjoy your flavorful steaming Asian bowl!

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Crispy Tofu Spinach Bites

Being a good source of protein, extra firm tofu is a staple in my fridge, and I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it. Typically I marinate and bake it, which gives it a firmer texture, but it isn’t as crispy on the outside as deep fried tofu. Not wanting to deep fry, I was looking for other ideas and found this vegan fried chicken recipe. Wrapping in rice paper and then pan frying - what a brilliant idea! Instead of wrapping each piece of tofu individually, I decided to use two tofu slices with some sauteed spinach sandwiched in between. The rice wrapper helped contain the delicious juices from the spinach and the tofu marinade, while the crust was nice and crispy.

Ingredients (Makes 10 tofu sandwiches: ~4-5 servings)

14 oz extra firm tofu

Marinade (Any other marinade will also work)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced (or garlic powder)

1/2 tsp grated ginger (or ginger powder)

1 tsp honey

Adjust ingredients to taste if required

Spinach filling

10 oz spinach

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 Tbsp coarsely chopped cashews

1 tsp sesame seeds

Soy sauce or salt for seasoning

1 tsp sesame oil (or any other oil of your choice)

 

Crispy wrapper

5 rice paper wrappers

1 egg beaten + salt + black pepper to taste

Optional:  ¼ cup rice flour + garlic powder + salt + pepper

Oil for pan frying

The tofu and the spinach filling can be prepared separately ahead of time.

Prepare the tofu

Drain and slice the tofu about ½” thick. Cut each slice in two to get about 2x2” pieces. Using a paper towel squeeze out excess water from the tofu slices.

Mix all the marinade ingredients and soak the tofu slices in the marinade for at least half an hour.

The marinated tofu can be used as is, or the slices can be baked or cooked in a pan on the stovetop. I used the stovetop method - lightly browning the tofu on both sides in a non stick pan over medium heat (no oil required).

Spinach filling

Heat oil and saute garlic, cashews and sesame seeds over medium heat for a few seconds. Add spinach and mix well. Take off the heat once spinach is wilted but still crunchy.

 

Assembling

Break the rice papers in half and soak in warm water until softened.
 

Place one of the wrapper halves on a plate. Place a piece of tofu close to one end. Top it with a Tbsp of spinach filling followed by another piece of tofu. Fold the sides up and start rolling from the end. Keep rolling tightly till you get to the other end of the rice paper. Set aside the wrapped tofu 'sandwich' and repeat with the remaining ingredients.

These wrapped tofu bites can be eaten as is with a dipping sauce if you don’t want to fry them. For the crispy pan fried version, heat a few drops of oil - just enough to lightly coat the bottom of a non-stick pan. Dip the wrapped tofu in the egg, then dip it in the flour mixture, dust off excess flour and pan fry on all sides until golden brown. The flour dipping definitely gives extra crunchiness (picture at the top of the post), but I liked it best just dipped in egg before pan frying (picture below).

Drizzle with your favorite sauce (I boiled and reduced the marinade; added some more vinegar, honey to make the sauce), and serve warm.

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Thursday, August 27, 2015

Asian Lasagna

A few years ago, we cooked a ‘mostly vegetarian’ Thanksgiving meal, with the star of our dinner being a zucchini lasagna. The Parmesan-vegetable sauce blanketing layers of zucchini, topped with mozzarella cheese was just what we needed for a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal. If prepped properly, the vegetables don’t get soggy, and form beautiful layers. Its a great substitute for pasta if you want a lighter, healthier lasagna.

This recipe is a similar preparation, but with an Asian twist! I used extra firm tofu along with vegetables - its the best thing to soak up all the amazing flavors from the marinade and the vegetables, and it firms up as it bakes making the texture quite delectable.

Ingredients (For a 9x13 baking pan: ~10 servings)

For the layers

1 large eggplant

3 small-medium zucchini squash (I used 2 green + 1 yellow)

1 medium carrot

3-4 radishes

14 oz (or more) extra firm tofu

For the sauce

16 oz mushrooms (finely chopped - I used food processor)

5-6 green onions (separate the onion bulb from the shoots and slice the onion part for the sauce, reserving the shoots for marinade and/or garnish; Can also use regular onion chopped)

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp grated ginger (or ginger powder)

1 tsp sesame oil (or olive oil)

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

For marinade (Adjust ingredients to taste if required)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp honey

sliced green onions (optional)

Prepping the veggies for layering:

This step is required to remove excess water from the vegetables so that they don’t get soggy while baking. It can be done in a pan on the stovetop, or in the oven. Since the volume was quite high, I decided to use the oven for this.

Slice the eggplant about ⅛ - ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle with some salt and lay them on paper towels. Put some weight on eggplant slices to let some of the moisture drain out.

Slice the zucchini ⅛ - ¼ inch thick. I decided not to slice them lengthwise, but that would also work. Sprinkle with just a little bit of salt.

Spread out the eggplant and zucchini in a single layer on a baking sheet if possible (it’s okay if it overlaps though). Preheat oven to 400 F and roast the eggplant and zucchini for ~20 minutes until they are a little tender (they will cook more later, so don’t keep them in too long).

Thinly slice the carrots and radishes.

Prepping the tofu:

While the veggies are roasting, drain and squeeze the block of tofu; cut it into ¼ inch slices. I like to squeeze out water one more time after slicing. Mix all the marinade ingredients, and let the tofu soak in the marinade for ~20-30 minutes.

Making the sauce:

Heat sesame oil on medium heat, add the onions, ginger, garlic. Saute for a minute, then add the mushrooms and cook uncovered stirring frequently till the moisture from the mushrooms is reduced. Add soy sauce, vinegar, and honey, adjusting to taste. The sauce shouldn’t be very liquidy.

Assembling:

Line a baking dish (I used a 9x13 pan) with aluminum foil (it’s okay not to, just makes cleanup easier). Spread a thin layer of the mushroom sauce on the bottom. Lay down marinated tofu in a single layer, followed by a layer of eggplant slices. Top that with a layer of zucchini, another thin layer of mushroom sauce, and then the carrots and radishes. Repeat layering the eggplant-zucchini-sauce-carrots-radishes until you run out (I got 2 layers). Top with the remaining tofu (I was just short of a complete layer). Spoon over about ¼-⅓ cup of the leftover marinade evenly on top.

Baking!

Bake in preheated oven (400 F) for 25-30 min until all the vegetables are cooked through and there aren’t any noticeable pools of liquid.

Remove from the oven, let it stand for a few minutes, then slice and serve topped with more marinade if desired.

Serving suggestion:

I served this Asian lasagna with a simple coleslaw salad tossed with a lemon-ginger dressing. However, it would go very well with rice or noodles. The marinade is quick and easy to make, and can be used as a sauce for the noodles or rice.

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Thursday, August 6, 2015

Simple Orange-glazed Chicken

This is a simpler, healthier take on the sweet and savory Asian-style orange chicken dish (which, according to Wikipedia, is an American Chinese dish of Hunan origin) typically found in Chinese buffets and fast-food Panda Express type eateries. Though mouth-watering, those orange chicken dishes can be pretty unhealthy with all the breading, not to mention it’s sometimes hard to tell just what part of the chicken is used in those nuggets (ahem...McDonald’s…). This version uses chicken breast and has no breading! But it’s tender and juicy and has just enough spice for a pleasant kick to your taste buds.

Ingredients:

~2 lbs chicken breast, roughly cut into chunks

1 tsp red chili powder

⅛ tsp ground red cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)

3 TBSP maple syrup

3 TBSP orange juice concentrate, thawed (you could probably use normal orange juice, but the taste will be more subtle and the mixture more liquid-y)

¼ tsp salt (optional)

Note: You can double the non-chicken ingredients for additional sauce.

Mix the chili powder, red pepper, maple syrup, orange juice concentrate, and salt. Mix the chicken with the sauce, making sure each piece gets coated.

Cook the chicken in a pan (no oil necessary!) in a single layer over medium heat, about 4-5 minutes per side. If there is any of the sauce left (sometimes I will double the recipe amount to ensure this!), pour it in the pan and let it simmer for a few minutes to thicken into a glaze.

Serve on a bed of rice and drizzle with extra glaze for a deliciously tangy and (moderately) spicy meal!

~Karla

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, July 6, 2015

Baked Tofu

Being a vegetarian, I am always looking for different proteins that can add taste and variety to a dish. One of my favorites is tofu. I know a lot of people don't like tofu either for its taste (or lack thereof) or its texture. Personally, I feel that the taste part is actually an advantage because it can soak up a lot of flavor and you can make it taste good! As for the texture, I am also not a fan of the soft texture of tofu; even extra firm tofu is not dense or firm enough for me - hence the baking!

This baked tofu has a texture similar to Indian paneer (firm farmers cheese made from cow/buffalo milk which can easily be cut into cubes). I like to make a big batch and use it in different recipes but it is great to just snack on as well. Additional bonus – it requires absolutely no oil or butter unlike fried tofu!

Ingredients:
Extra firm tofu - 1 pack (14 oz)
For the marinade: 
3 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar (other vinegar will work too)
1 tsp mustard (I used honey mustard)
1 tsp honey (optional)
2 cloves crushed garlic
3 tbsp water (adjust so that there is enough marinade to coat the tofu and have about half of it still left in pan).

You can use any other marinade of your choice, just make sure it has enough liquid for the tofu to soak up.

Heat oven to 400 deg F.

Use a microwave safe and oven proof dish if possible (I generally use an 8x8 glass baking pan) to mix all the marinade ingredients in.

Drain the block of tofu and slice it at least 1/2 inch thick (~5-6 slices for a block of tofu). Using a paper towel gently press each slice between your palms to drain more liquid. Don't squish the tofu too much - you don't want it to crumble. Wring out the paper towel after every slice.

Cut each slice in half (optional), and place the tofu in the baking dish with the marinade. Let it sit for a few seconds and turn all the pieces over. Repeat a couple times to let the tofu soak the marinade.

Microwave on high, 2 minutes at a time, turning the pieces over each time until the marinade is almost completely soaked - but not all dry. I needed 4 minutes on each side.

At this point transfer to oven proof baking pan if you were not using one to begin with. Place in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes before flipping the tofu over. Let it bake for another 10 minutes. Check the texture of the tofu. If it is still too soft for your liking continue to bake a little longer. To finish it off, broil each side on the Low setting for about 2-3 minutes. You can let it crisp up if you like it that way.

Remove from oven and let it cool down a little before slicing further if required (otherwise it will fall apart easily). This goes really well with Asian flavored stir fries or even on top of a simple salad.

Notes: If you are not a fan of using microwave for cooking, you could skip that step and increase baking time. Another option is to reduce the liquid on stovetop on low heat, turning the tofu pieces every few minutes – then finish it off in the oven.

If you have leftovers, store them in the refrigerator. You could eat it cold or at room temperature, but if you want to reheat, microwave only for a few seconds - it can get chewy if you microwave for too long.

~Gayatri