UDON STIR FRY

The already cooked Udon noodles are in the refrigerated section of the produce department of the grocery store near the tofu. They seem all gummed together when you open the package, but when you add them to your pan and stir, they quickly loosen up. This is the closest thing I have found to the yummy soft chow mein noodles that you get from a Chinese food place. I received some very cute mushrooms in my CSA box which were perfect for this. I have no idea what kind they are, but as with any stir fry, just use whatever veggies you have, and a bag of frozen stir fry veggies works too!

INGREDIENTS:
Stir fry veggies... frozen or fresh, whatever you have, and plenty of them.
1 package Udon
1/2 package tofu, firm, cut into 1/2" cubes
4 T tamari or soy sauce

Stir fry your veggies until crisp tender. Add Udon and stir until loose. Add tofu and tamari/soy and stir gently until everything is heated through. (The Udon comes with a flavor packet of powder that you can mix with water and add if you like. I kind of avoid that kind of thing. Check the ingredients to make sure there isn't anything yucky in there if you want to use it. I'm pretty sure it is vegetarian.)

I just had to post another photo of the cute mushrooms....

MUSHROOMS AND ISRAELI COUSCOUS

Every time I cook something with mushrooms, it always comes out fantastic. So meaty and satisfying with great flavor. I can't decide whether sage or thyme is my favorite herb to go with mushrooms... this recipe uses thyme, which is probably my second favorite herb flavor, next to rosemary. I don't have thyme growing in my backyard. It just isn't as hearty as rosemary and I don't have much or a green thumb, but if I could get it to grow, I would! Having fresh thyme all the thyme :-) would be fantastic. But for this recipe, I use dried.

INGREDIENTS:
1 and 1/3 cups Israeli coucous (that's the big kind)
2 cups water
1 t salt
2 T oil or butter

1 lb mushrooms, sliced or chopped (I used king trumpet and crimini for this version. King trumpet are kind of hard to find. Molly brings them home for me from the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmers Market. You have to slice them very thin and you use the whole stem.)
4 T oil
1/2 t salt*
1/2 t ground pepper*
1/2 t granulated garlic*
1/2 t onion powder*
(*salt, pepper, onion powder, and granulated garlic together is the same thing as my house seasoning, so you could also use 2 t of house seasoning instead)
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/2 t dried thyme

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cook the couscous and water with 1 t salt and 1 T oil or butter in the rice cooker just as if you were cooking rice (note the ratio of couscous to water is different).

Put the oil in a large saute pan on medium heat, add all of the herbs and spices and stir around to bring out the flavor of the spices.

Add all of the mushrooms and saute until tender. Turn off the heat.

Add the cooked couscous and gently stir.

BROWN RICE PAD THAI

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup brown rice
2.5 cups water

2 T oil
4 cups of various stir fry vegetables or a 10oz bag of frozen stir fry veggies
1/2 package tofu, firm, cut in 1/2" cubes
3 cubes of Dorot cilantro or chopped fresh cilantro if you have it

1 T sriracha sauce
1 T crushed garlic
4 T soy sauce
1 T brown sugar
1 T lime juice

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cooked the brown rice in a rice cooker 1 cup of brown rice to 2.5 cups of water.

Saute your veggies in a large skillet on high heat with 2T oil until they are crisp tender... or thawed... depending on what kind of veggies you use.

Turn heat down to medium.

Mix the sriracha, garlic, soy, sugar, and lime juice in a small bowl.

Add the tofu to the pan of veggies. Pour the sauce over the tofu and let sit for a minute on the tofu.

Add the brown rice and the cilantro and stir it all together.

Taste and add more soy sauce if it needs salt.

AWESOME CILANTRO (OR PESTO) POTATO SALAD

This is so easy you can have it finished in 2 minutes after your potatoes are steamed... then just let it marinate while cooling a bit. A perfect side dish.

1 lb. small red potatoes (or small yukon gold or fingerling), cut in quarters
3 T olive oil
2 T dijon mustard
1 tsp House Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder)
2 cubes Dorot cilantro
Note: For Pesto Potato Salad substitute lemon juice and Dorot Basil for the mustard and cilantro.

Steam the potatoes until just tender (you can boil them too, if you don't have a steamer). Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the potatoes (don't worry if the herb cubes aren't melted). Dump in the potatoes and stir. Let sit for a minute so the herb cubes melt. Stir again to completely coat the potatoes and let sit to marinate for 15 minutes or so. Best eaten at room temperature, but you can refrigerate for later as well.