I'm not sure I can call this pad thai, but it's a stir fry dish with spicy peanut sauce (jarred), rice noodles, and lots of veggies. I was looking for a way to cook some tofu and decided to make this mess. Besides preparing the tofu a day or more in advance and chopping the veggies, this goes in the easy column.

When we order pad thai out, it's been sickeningly sweet. Alex likes it that way. We also have to choose between veggies and tofu. Sure enough, by putting in our favorite veggies, we have a huge batch of this stuff. Plus, we have leftover veggies for other uses and I feel like it's decently healthy.

Ingredients: frozen, thawed, and pressed tofu, cooked first and set aside. Freezing tofu is one of the best things I've ever done. I can't imagine cooking so much without this tasty addition in my toolbox.

Veggies: onion, carrot, baby corn, mushrooms, red bell pepper, green beans, water chestnuts. I added those I wanted most cooked first, then put in the rest. Finally, I added the rehydrated rice noodles and tofu and a generous measure of the sauce.

After the stir fry: a squeeze of lime, some bean sprouts, and sprinkle of chopped peanuts. If I'd thought about it while I was shopping, some cilantro would have made a nice addition too.

Spaghetti and Wheat Balls

I actually started with a recipe I found online for bulgur patties, but this is far removed from that. I realized during the cooking that it was a really poorly written recipe. It called for two cups of cooked bulgur wheat. Is that two cups, cooked? Or two cooked cups? I started with two dry cups, which expanded greatly in cooking. I also changed the spices and omitted the egg.

Here's what I did: First, cook the bulgur. Use two parts cold water for one part bulgur, bring to a boil and simmer 15-20 minutes until the water is absorbed or evaporated. If it's too wet when it's done (tender), drain the excess water.

Season. Use some salt for sure and whatever else you like. For these Italian meat-style balls, I used basil, oregano, pepper, and garlic. The original recipe called for sage and poultry seasoning. Stir in whole wheat flour until the mix is less wet and sticky and can be formed into balls. I used more than 1/2 cup flour for my two cups of dry bulgur.

Roll the mixture into balls and roll in wheat flour. I made about 20 balls and realized I had way too much bulgur mix, so I saved most of it for later. The balls really held their shape, which was impressive. I fried them in a shallow skillet of canola oil. Since everything in them was cooked, I didn't worry about how long they fried and instead tried to just get a good color on them. Unlike other things I've fried, these didn't absorb much oil -- that made me feel pretty good about this being a moderately healthy recipe.

Now, these what balls don't taste like meatballs; the bulgur is nutty and slightly sweet. I might try them again and experiment with the recipe. I'll probably consult some meatball recipes and decide what to try next. I served them with a green salad, some grilled eggplant, and chunky tomato sauce so the meal wasn't entirely grain-based.

"Rustic" Mushroom and Onion Tart

I'm giggling calling this "rustic" because it's made with a Pilsbury refrigerated pie crust. The idea for this dish came from The Peppertree, and she called it a rustic mushroom tart, once removed from Southern Living's vidalia onion tart. She substituted mushrooms for onions. I decided to use both! I had bookmarked this recipe and was waiting on the right time to make this rich dish. This was really, really good comfort food, something we both needed during a pretty tough week. We indulged in other guilty pleasures as well: a lunch at Penn Station (artichoke sub and fries!); a dinner and pitcher of margaritas at our favorite Mexican place. While we were there, we saw the guy from Salt of the Earth, though, so it didn't feel quite so bad.

Start by cooking thinly sliced mushrooms and onions in butter and olive oil until they are very tender. Salt lightly and season with rosemary and pepper.


Roll out a pre-made refrigerated pie crust. Place shredded Gruyere in the center, then top with the onions and mushrooms, leaving a two-inch border. I strained my veggies because I was worried that they would be too wet. This turned out to be a good idea, as the piecrust did break in one place and it leaked a bit. Oh well. Put more cheese on top, then fold the crust around. Brush with egg if you want to encourage browning.


Bake at 425F for 17-20 minutes. I served with no-cream creamed spinach. This was really good -- one of those recipes I can't wait to try again. I just wish the cheese wasn't so expensive and it didn't feel so unhealthy. But this is a serious yum!

Faux Pho

Along with the tofu lettuce wraps, I tried to make some pho. It turned out pretty well. I've never actually had pho -- even my favorite Vietnamese restaurant doesn't offer vegetarian pho. I might try some pro-pho from Loving Cafe, though, at some point.

This recipe I found was kind of fun because it was unlike anything I'd made before. I made a broth with onion, garlic, shallots, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and soy sauce. I couldn't find star anise in my grocery store and didn't make a special trip to find some. I only peeled these ingredients enough to remove the layer that was exposed in the store. I simmered all this for about half an hour, then strained it leaving only the broth. The cinnamon sticks and ginger smelled so good while all this was cooking.


Once that was done, I added some seitan and simmered that to warm it through. I also rehydrated some rice noodles with boiling water.

Then, the build-it-yourself spread. We had cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts, lime, hoisin, and sriracha. A little sriracha goes a long way, we found, but this was a really good and simple enough soup.

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Ever since bypassing the Viet Now tofu at Mango's, I'd been craving some Vietnamese flavors. I made lettuce wraps and Faux Pho, two things I'd never tried myself. I was very, very pleased with the results. The lettuce wraps pretty easy to make.



The recipe I used claimed that you should have 1/4 cup of the marinade left to use as sauce, but my thirsty tofu soaked up every last bit of it. That was fine, though, because they were so chock full of sauce that it would have been overkill to add any more to them.

I started with frozen and thawed firm tofu, pressed the water from it, and made the marinade almost as directed. You need lime juice, honey (I used agave syrup), lemongrass, soy sauce, chili paste, and garlic. Slice the tofu before marinating in, and turn the tofu slices as they soak up the sauce. Alex cooked the tofu slices in our wok because he has the patience to turn each piece individually and brown each side.

For the wraps, I used iceberg lettuce and laid out the toppings for both the pho and wraps in one, so some did double duty. We had bean sprouts, carrots, and cilantro. Alex threw in some scallions and hoisin, too. I forgot the chopped peanuts mentioned in the recipe, but that might have been a nice touch. These were great! One of my favorite recipe finds by far and a dish we love to eat out was a success at home.

Mm-Mm Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread from this recipe with half whole-wheat flour, half white flour, and no chocolate. I used pecans instead. Not quite like the dense, moist bread I'm used to, but very good and lighter, although probably not healthier.

Restaurant: Loving Cafe

When I mentioned that I wished I could find a place like Mango's back at home, I was reminded of Loving Cafe in Pleasant Ridge. I'll let you know right now that I will be putting Loving Cafe into the rotation, I liked it that much, but it's no Mango's.

I'd been wanting to try Loving Cafe for some time and finally went for a late lunch on Saturday. We got there around 2 and the place was packed; we actually claimed the last available table inside. We sat in the front window, which was nice, although in back there is a larger dining room and a television. When I saw that all those tables were full, I didn't bother looking at what was on television, but evidently the programming is Supreme Master Ching Hai's satellite television channel. Kinda cool, kinda weird. I think I'd want to watch some before I comment further.

Before I get to the food, I'll admit that there were a few things I knew about Loving Cafe since I first heard of it this spring that made me hesitant to go there. I'd heard that they have information on going vegan and might be a little preachy. I'd also heard that they rely on fake meats. However, since I first made my own seitan, I have a better understanding of what goes into all those fake meats and it doesn't bother me. I can now understand how to turn a plant (grains, or flour, or gluten) into something you can call a veggie dog or soysage.

I'm glad we finally went. I had a really good experience there. The food was incredible, and as Alex sits next to me watching me upload these photos, he's already talking about how he wants that sandwich again. I mentioned they were really crowded when we came in, but once things settled down a friendly worker came over to make sure we were enjoying the food and see if we had any questions.


We got a summer roll and a spring roll as starters and they were both really good. We wanted to try one of each, and the summer roll was fresh and our favorite. It had rice noodles, carrots, avocado, and lettuces and came with an almond hoisin dipping sauce. The spring roll is baked and contains shredded veggies and veggie ham and comes with sweet and sour sauce. It was okay, and pretty good considering it was our least favorite.

This is the American panini. Alex ordered this sandwich; as much as I like panini, I'm not such a big fan of really vinegary things like pickles, mustard, or banana peppers. This sandwich has all that, plus cole slaw, tofurkey, vegan cheeze, and vegenaise. Yum, yum, yum. The sandwich came with a few organic corn chips on the side.


The American panini is on the regular menu, but they also have a small chalkboard with daily specials. I chose the barbecue hot wing wrap. The wrap was small, inexpensive ($4) and very filling. Like the sauces that came with the rolls, the barbecue sauce was incredible and was served on the side. The wheat tortilla wrapped up veggie chick'n, tender baby lettuces, and tomatoes. I couldn't get enough of this.

After this pleasantly surprising experience, I'm eager to go back and try something a little more daring. Loving Cafe is entirely vegan, and they also boast a few raw dishes, including a raw pizza and I've heard they sometimes offer raw pasta dishes as a special. The dessert case looked incredible, and their smoothie selection was pretty impressive as well. On the down side, my table was a little dirty and there was a little bickering behind the food counter. I think they were a little overwhelmed having such a crowd for a late lunch. None of that took away from the food, and I can't wait to go back.