How to Pack a Salad/Salad With Rice Noodles, Tofu, Cilantro, and Peanut Sauce

Salad makes a great lunch, but I hate handing over $8 any time I want fresh greens on a work day. So, I saved one of those nifty plastic bowls from a local salad shop, and have been using it to carry my own homemade blends of veggies to work.

I've come up with the following method for layering a salad that will travel to work:

*Pour the dressing in the bottom of the bowl.
*Next, add ingredients that will not get soggy in dressing - for example, diced carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, apples, cabbage, red onion, olives, beans or walnuts.
*If you are using diced or crumbled cheese, add it next. Noodles work well at this stage, too.
*Finally, add the veggies that would get soggy if they sat in dressing (lettuce, spinach, herbs).
*Add-ins like baked tofu, falafel, or tortilla chips can be wrapped separately and mixed in at lunchtime.

This week's salad features rice noodles, tofu, cilantro, bell peppers, and red onion in a spicy peanut sauce (which can be more or less spicy depending on the amount of red pepper flakes used). It requires a little advance work (cooking the rice noodles, baking the tofu, and assembling the peanut sauce) but, once prepped, these ingredients can be used all week. I prefer to chop my veggies each night, but that could be done in advance, too.

I didn't have them this time, but chopped peanuts would make a great topping.

Ingredients
1 batch baked tofu, cooled
1 batch peanut sauce (see below), cooled
4 ounces rice noodles, prepared per package instructions, drained, rinsed in cold water, and set aside
2 red or orange bell peppers, washed and diced
2 cups cabbage, washed and thinly slivered
10 cups of greens (I used a lettuce/spinach blend), washed
1/4 red onion, washed and thinly slivered
1 bunch cilantro, washed

For each salad:

Pour 1/4 cup peanut sauce in the bottom of the bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon red onion, 1/3 cup bell peppers, and 1/3 cup cabbage.
Add about 1/2 cup chopped rice noodles.
Top with 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, and 2 cups chopped greens.
Close container.
Separately pack the tofu.

Peanut Sauce Ingredients
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I like the fresh ground peanuts from the health food store)
Dash red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 teaspoons ginger, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a sauce pan over medium heat until the sauce is smooth.
Bring the sauce to a light simmer.
Let the sauce simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for about 10-15 minutes, whisking occasionally, until it thickens to the consistency of gravy.

Spelt Scones

I've been wanting to try spelt flour in place of wheat flour. I'd read about its nutritional benefits, and I liked the fact that it's higher in protein than wheat flour. However, I wasn't sure that baked goods made with spelt would have the same texture and consistency as those made with wheat.

I chose cream scones for my first attempt at baking with spelt, using white spelt flour in this recipe, and adding a little grated orange rind and a handful of dried cranberries. Cream scones might seem like an odd choice in light of my interest in the nutritional aspect of spelt, but they were a great vehicle for the flour: the scones rose beautifully, and had a light, flaky texture. I say "had" because, although I made them just yesterday morning, they're already gone.

In Which We Confirm Our Suspicion That Beatrice Will Put Grated Carrots In Just About Anything

By the book: Jeanne Lemlin's Crunchy Lentil Salad (parsley, red onion, celery, lentils, carrots, and dressing).

Something of an accident: pinto beans with cilantro, red onion, and grated carrots (I was out of tomatoes), topped with avocado.

Gone gone gone: oatmeal with coconut, grated carrots, raisins, and pecans.

Garlicky Kale Mashed Potatoes

Lately, I've been thinking about kale mashed potatoes. I wanted them to be green! I wanted them to be vegan. And, I wanted them to be garlicky.

The result: not as green as I'd hoped, but creamy without milk or butter, garlicky, and good. Much better, unfortunately, than the veg sausages I bought to eat with them... I think that next time, I might try adding a can of cannellini beans to the mash for protein.

Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, washed, trimmed, and chopped into 1 inch cubes (I used Yukon Gold potatoes and kept the skins on)
1 bunch kale
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic

Place the chopped potatoes in a large pot.
Rinse kale in repeated water baths, until the water is no longer sandy.
Tear the leafy green portion of the kale leaves from the center veins.
Chop the leafy green portion of the kale and place it in the pot with the potatoes.
Add just enough water to the pot to cover the kale and potatoes.
Stir in 1 teaspoon salt.
Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer (still covered) for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Drain the potatoes and kale.
Mash the potatoes and kale, and set aside.
Heat the olive oil and garlic in a large skillet, stirring occasionally.
Once the garlic starts to brown, stir in 1 teaspoon salt, then add the mashed potatoes and kale to the skillet and remove from heat.
Stir to thoroughly combine the mashed potatoes and kale with the garlic.

Makes about 4 generous servings.

Pizza With Olives, Peppers, and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I turned my favorite sandwich into a pizza -- and got a nice dose of late-winter color therapy in the process.

This was my first time using the pizza dough recipe from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian." As with his bread recipe, I liked the convenience of throwing all of the ingredients in the food processor, rather than coaxing the yeast and kneading the dough. The resulting crust had a nice tenderness, but was a little bread-ier than I'd hoped. I guess I'm still searching for the perfect pizza dough recipe.

I found myself wanting more cheese, so I topped the leftover slices with a little feta before reheating them - yum. The recipe below reflects the increased amount of cheese.


Ingredients
One batch pizza dough (store bought is fine)
Olive oil for brushing
Flour as needed
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
One batch roasted red pepper sauce
12 to 15 pitted kalamata olives, drained and cut into eighths
1/4 yellow pepper, washed and diced
1/4 orange pepper, washed and diced
1 cup feta or grated/torn provolone cheese - or both

Preheat the oven to 500 F.
Lightly brush a non-stick cookie sheet with olive oil.
Lightly flour a baking mat or large cutting board.
Roll out the dough out on the mat or board (I use a rolling pin) until it reaches your desired level of thinness, turning the dough and adding flour as necessary.
Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.
Lightly sprinkle the dough with sesame seeds.
Spread roasted red pepper sauce evenly over the dough.
Top with diced peppers, olives, and cheese.
Bake for 6-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Serves 4.

Dark Chocolate, Coconut, and Sweet Potato Cookies

I generally prefer homemade treats. But lately, I can't seem to stay away from the dark chocolate/coconut/sweet potato cookies at Watercourse and City o City ($3.24).

What do they taste like? The cookies remind me of a giant, vegan, gluten-free Samoa. At room temperature, the consistency is nice and chewy; the texture becomes addictively-crisp after they've been refrigerated for a half-hour or so. The little bits of sweet potato make me feel virtuous, although if I gobble up an entire cookie in one sitting, I get the same sugar rush that I would get from traditional sweets. While slightly messy, the dark chocolate coating is a good compliment to the coconut (and nuts?) inside.

Strawberry Grapefruit Salad

"Salad" might be a bit generous, as this is really just chunks of grapefruit and slivers of strawberry, dressed in grapefruit juice (blueberries or blackberries can be used as a garnish, if you want to add a third ingredient). Although simple, the combination is quite refreshing, and makes for a nice weekend treat.

Ingredients For One Serving
1 small pink grapefruit, washed and cut into halves, or 1/2 large pink grapefruit
4 strawberries, washed, trimmed, and cut into small bits
3 blackberries or blueberries (optional)

Scoop the individual sections of the grapefruit into a small bowl (this is easiest with a serrated spoon or knife).
Hold the scooped-out grapefruit over the bowl and squeeze, to get the remaining juice.
Add the strawberries and (optional) blackberries or blueberries.
Enjoy.