Ok, that title stinks.
But, that's what I'm doing for lunch today. I love noodles anyway, so this is another "ease into things" meal.
I'm a big fan of ramen (who isn't? I mean, come on, it's 17cents a pack), especially the "good" ramen where you make your own broth, and add stuff like nori, pork belly, onions, etc.
When I do noodles at work, I usually take some miso, add hot water to make a miso broth, drop about half a pack of ramen into it, cover the bowl, and let it set until the noodles are done. Then I add whatever stuff I bring from home (like hard-boiled egss, pork belly, cubed tofu, chopped scallions, what-have-you) or get from the cafe here at work. Since pork belly is obviously out (but is really good in ramen), I made some pickled shiitake mushrooms last night to provide some umami flavor (got the recipe out of the Momofuku cookbook) and brought those in (along with some cilantro), and to round things out, I just hit the salad bar here to pick up some spinach and tofu.
The worst part of this lunch is that they were serving buffalo chicken wings at the cafe right next to the salad bar, and I admit, I looked upon them with lust in my heart. But I was strong, and resisted the temptation. But man, I do love some chicken wings...
Lunch should be pretty easy this week, if a little boring, since I could get by on a salad every day for lunch. I don't care for creamy dressings too much anyway (my go-to salad dressing at work is oil+vinegar+dijon mustard, which is safe), and dressing seems like the only thing that could screw me up (that, and I'd need to avoid cheese).
The usual "eat-out" lunch places are tough, though, since the rotation is usually Super Wok (hole-in-the-wall Chinese), Little Tokyo (sushi), and Bosphorus, and none of these are particularly vegan friendly. (One of my lunch buddies said "just get the greek salad at Bosphorus", and I was like, "nope, feta's out". That's ok, though. I don't like feta). I'm going to make a push for Indian next time we go out, since that's supposed to be a safe haven.
I did want to mention the pickles again, though. I'm thinking that various pickled/preserved vegetables are going to be a good way to add the flavor that gets lost by not using cream/butter/stock/etc, so I expect to be making more pickles through the week.
Here are the pickled mushrooms I mentioned earlier (from Momofuku cookbook):
2 cups dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
1/2 cup usukuchi soy sauce
1 3inch knob ginger, peeled
Put mushrooms in a bowl, and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 15-30 minutes.
Remove mushrooms, and strain soaking liquid through a fine mesh strainer to remove any grit, and reserve 1 cup soaking liquid.
Remove stems from mushrooms, and slice into 1/8inch slices.
Combine sugar, soaking liquid, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and mushrooms in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, discard ginger, and then pack mushrooms in a pint container (I used one of the big olive containers from the olive bar at Harris Teeter), and cover with the pickling liquid.
Monday, March 29, 2010
And so it begins...
Had my first vegan breakfast today, which wasn't that much different from my normal breakfast. (An aside: I'm not a big breakfast guy, at least as far as eating it regularly. Don't get me wrong, I really like breakfast food, and in my younger days, was always up for a late-night Waffle House hit (scattered, smothered, and covered, thank you), but most mornings, I'm not motivated enough to do more than 3 cups of coffee, and maybe a banana or something. Maybe that's why I'm a little sick feeling by lunch time, but I digress)
Anyway, I figured I'd ease into the whole experience with something simple, which for me meant "smoothie". I admit, it's a little weak, and not really blog-worthy, but it's better than "I had an orange". I think I've given a smoothie recipe before, but if I haven't, here's today's version:
Mixed Berry/Banana Smoothie:
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4-1/3 c silken tofu
1/2-1c frozen mixed berries
1 banana
Combine in a blender, blend until smooth. Drink.
My usual smoothie is milk and yogurt (and a little honey to take the edge off the yogurt), so soy milk was a natural to replace the milk, and I figured silken tofu would be a good thickener. Since vanilla soy milk is sweet anyway, and there's no yogurt tang from the silken tofu, I skipped the honey. (and I guess honey is technically an animal product, so that should be verboten). I'll have to check the nutrition label for soy milk, I'm curious as to how much sugar is in it. I know that when I took a food class in college, the professor was talking about low-fat food (which was the fad at the time), and how "low fat" != "low calorie", since a lot of times, replacing fat meant jacking up the sugar content to get the same mouth feel. I wonder if makers of soy milk employ a similar trick to make it taste better.
So far, no real challenges (even though it's just been one meal). I did have to remind myself as I made the kids' sandwiches not to snack on turkey (or cheese), but that's not a big deal. I think the constant checking of things, and reminding myself that a lot of stuff I like to eat (cheese, meat, a lot of condiments, a lot of chinese food, sushi, etc) is off limits for the week is going to be a pain, though.
I told my oldest about the vegan thing, and she said "we don't have to eat tofu do we?!". I assured her she was safe, and that when we had dinner together, there would be a meat option.
Then we had this exchange when Bridget came in the kitchen:
Bridget: "what happened?"
Gretchen: "Daddy's a vay-gan"
Me: "Vee-gan, not vay-gan, get it right".
(I thought it was funny)
Next up, the thrilling experience of lunch....
Anyway, I figured I'd ease into the whole experience with something simple, which for me meant "smoothie". I admit, it's a little weak, and not really blog-worthy, but it's better than "I had an orange". I think I've given a smoothie recipe before, but if I haven't, here's today's version:
Mixed Berry/Banana Smoothie:
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4-1/3 c silken tofu
1/2-1c frozen mixed berries
1 banana
Combine in a blender, blend until smooth. Drink.
My usual smoothie is milk and yogurt (and a little honey to take the edge off the yogurt), so soy milk was a natural to replace the milk, and I figured silken tofu would be a good thickener. Since vanilla soy milk is sweet anyway, and there's no yogurt tang from the silken tofu, I skipped the honey. (and I guess honey is technically an animal product, so that should be verboten). I'll have to check the nutrition label for soy milk, I'm curious as to how much sugar is in it. I know that when I took a food class in college, the professor was talking about low-fat food (which was the fad at the time), and how "low fat" != "low calorie", since a lot of times, replacing fat meant jacking up the sugar content to get the same mouth feel. I wonder if makers of soy milk employ a similar trick to make it taste better.
So far, no real challenges (even though it's just been one meal). I did have to remind myself as I made the kids' sandwiches not to snack on turkey (or cheese), but that's not a big deal. I think the constant checking of things, and reminding myself that a lot of stuff I like to eat (cheese, meat, a lot of condiments, a lot of chinese food, sushi, etc) is off limits for the week is going to be a pain, though.
I told my oldest about the vegan thing, and she said "we don't have to eat tofu do we?!". I assured her she was safe, and that when we had dinner together, there would be a meat option.
Then we had this exchange when Bridget came in the kitchen:
Bridget: "what happened?"
Gretchen: "Daddy's a vay-gan"
Me: "Vee-gan, not vay-gan, get it right".
(I thought it was funny)
Next up, the thrilling experience of lunch....
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Vegan Challenge....
I've been going through a bit of a dry spell on the ol' blogging front, mostly because I haven't been able to think of anything very interesting to write about.
So, I'm thinking I'm going to try something a little different for the next week, and maybe that will break me out of my rut.
Basically, I'm going to go vegan for a week, starting tomorrow and going through to Saturday. (I'd say through to Sunday, but that's Easter, and I'm planning on eating lamb that day, and well, nothing gets between me and lamb).
My motivation is that I have several friends who are vegetarian or vegan, and I've always wavered between "gee, that must be hard to stick to" and "how hard could it possibly be?". I don't think it'll be easy, but it should be interesting.
The ground rules (such as they are) are pretty simple. Every meal/snack/etc has to be vegan, and no meat substitutes (ie, tofurkey, fake bacon, veggie burgers, etc). The only exception for that is tofu, since I figure it's been around for hundreds (thousands?) of years, and it's established enough as a food that it's not "just" a meat substitute. I think the "no fake meat" rule will force me to be creative (plus, I have been known, on occasion, to render some strong opinions on the subject, and this will make me see how hard (or not) it is to do this without falling back on them).
So, for the next week, it's "no meat" in the house.
So, I'm thinking I'm going to try something a little different for the next week, and maybe that will break me out of my rut.
Basically, I'm going to go vegan for a week, starting tomorrow and going through to Saturday. (I'd say through to Sunday, but that's Easter, and I'm planning on eating lamb that day, and well, nothing gets between me and lamb).
My motivation is that I have several friends who are vegetarian or vegan, and I've always wavered between "gee, that must be hard to stick to" and "how hard could it possibly be?". I don't think it'll be easy, but it should be interesting.
The ground rules (such as they are) are pretty simple. Every meal/snack/etc has to be vegan, and no meat substitutes (ie, tofurkey, fake bacon, veggie burgers, etc). The only exception for that is tofu, since I figure it's been around for hundreds (thousands?) of years, and it's established enough as a food that it's not "just" a meat substitute. I think the "no fake meat" rule will force me to be creative (plus, I have been known, on occasion, to render some strong opinions on the subject, and this will make me see how hard (or not) it is to do this without falling back on them).
So, for the next week, it's "no meat" in the house.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tribeca Tavern, and a note about ice cream...
My dad and his girlfriend came to town last night for a quick visit, and we went to Tribeca Tavern for dinner. Several folks I know had said positive things about it, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
They pride themselves on their burgers, and I think they do a good job on them. They're ground 'in-house', and the kitchen will cook them how you want, so if you ask for 'medium-rare', you'll get it. I had a simple bacon-cheddar burger, and aside from being really messy, it was quite tasty.
The beer selection is pretty good, too, and they have a lot of NC beers to choose from. I had an Aviator Belgian White that I liked.
After my visit with my dad, I finished up the ice cream recipe I started the other night. Mr. Lebovitz is right, it doesn't have the most appetizing appearance, but the "banana-brown sugar coconut milk" ice cream was pretty tasty. It would probably very nice with something chocolate, like a chess pie, or flourless chocolate cake or something.
They pride themselves on their burgers, and I think they do a good job on them. They're ground 'in-house', and the kitchen will cook them how you want, so if you ask for 'medium-rare', you'll get it. I had a simple bacon-cheddar burger, and aside from being really messy, it was quite tasty.
The beer selection is pretty good, too, and they have a lot of NC beers to choose from. I had an Aviator Belgian White that I liked.
After my visit with my dad, I finished up the ice cream recipe I started the other night. Mr. Lebovitz is right, it doesn't have the most appetizing appearance, but the "banana-brown sugar coconut milk" ice cream was pretty tasty. It would probably very nice with something chocolate, like a chess pie, or flourless chocolate cake or something.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday dinner
I had plans last night to go out to dinner with my friend Anne at Remedy Diner in Raleigh, but when I hadn't heard back from her by around 5, I started thinking "hmm, I think I need a backup plan".
So, I headed to the store, picked up some salad greens, some organic chicken thighs, etc. and then before I got started cooking, I heard back from her, and we ended up going to Remedy after all (which was pretty good, I must say. It reminded me a lot of a place I used to go to a lot in the 'burg, in that it was very vegan/crunchy. I ate "vegan buffalo wings" for the first time, which were actually pretty good, or at least the sauce was. My reuben was pretty good, and pretty messy, and I ended up eating way too much, including dessert, which for me is pretty rare). I'd go there again, and I was surprised at the size of their vegan menu. I've been trying to think of things to write about on this poor neglected blog, so maybe I'll try to work more "meat-lite"/vegetarian/vegan things in...
But, going to Remedy last night left me with this dinner tonight. I figured I'd make a simple salad (lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, and some quickly pickled onions), and put some grilled chicken over top, which was exactly what I did. After I grilled the thighs, I brushed them with a little honey/soy/hot pepper mix right at the end, just to give them a little more flavor. I then whipped up a quick dressing with some kewpie mayonnaise(sp?), some miso sitting in the back of my fridge, some rice vinegar, and some wasabi. It turned out ok, but I think I could've done better by leaving out the wasabi.
The only real "recipe" out of this is the pickled onions, which were inspired by looking at the Momofuku cookbook's section on pickles (where, oddly, there are no recipes for pickled onions):
Quick pickled onions:
2 small onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp (or more, to taste) rice vinegar
Toss onions with salt, sugar, and vinegar in a container, and allow to sit for a while (15-30 minutes). Taste, season, and serve.
Anyway, it was a nice light meal, and I'm now left with enough energy to take a stab at making the Banana Brown Sugar ice cream recipe (which is vegan, actually) off of David Lebovitz's excellent blog.
So, I headed to the store, picked up some salad greens, some organic chicken thighs, etc. and then before I got started cooking, I heard back from her, and we ended up going to Remedy after all (which was pretty good, I must say. It reminded me a lot of a place I used to go to a lot in the 'burg, in that it was very vegan/crunchy. I ate "vegan buffalo wings" for the first time, which were actually pretty good, or at least the sauce was. My reuben was pretty good, and pretty messy, and I ended up eating way too much, including dessert, which for me is pretty rare). I'd go there again, and I was surprised at the size of their vegan menu. I've been trying to think of things to write about on this poor neglected blog, so maybe I'll try to work more "meat-lite"/vegetarian/vegan things in...
But, going to Remedy last night left me with this dinner tonight. I figured I'd make a simple salad (lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, and some quickly pickled onions), and put some grilled chicken over top, which was exactly what I did. After I grilled the thighs, I brushed them with a little honey/soy/hot pepper mix right at the end, just to give them a little more flavor. I then whipped up a quick dressing with some kewpie mayonnaise(sp?), some miso sitting in the back of my fridge, some rice vinegar, and some wasabi. It turned out ok, but I think I could've done better by leaving out the wasabi.
The only real "recipe" out of this is the pickled onions, which were inspired by looking at the Momofuku cookbook's section on pickles (where, oddly, there are no recipes for pickled onions):
Quick pickled onions:
2 small onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp (or more, to taste) rice vinegar
Toss onions with salt, sugar, and vinegar in a container, and allow to sit for a while (15-30 minutes). Taste, season, and serve.
Anyway, it was a nice light meal, and I'm now left with enough energy to take a stab at making the Banana Brown Sugar ice cream recipe (which is vegan, actually) off of David Lebovitz's excellent blog.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Morning Ramen...
I've been on a big ramen kick lately. Partly because I got the Momofuku cookbook over Christmas, and partly because ramen is great 'cheap eats'.
My ramen today:
1-2 tbsp miso (red)
1 tbsp ginger-scallion sauce (from Momofuku)
1/2 package of ramen
3-4oz tofu
3-4 slices of pork belly
scallions
bean sprouts
1 sheet of nori
hot water
I wish I could get pix from my phone to the blog at work, b/c I've always felt that a "bowl of noodles with a bunch of stuff on it" photographs well.
I was going to post a stock photo, but when I googled, I didn't find good pix, but I did find this page, billing itself as the "Official Ramen Homepage" (I don't believe him, though), and this inspiring article from the NY Times travel section, which makes me want to go loaf around Japan, eating noodles.
My ramen today:
1-2 tbsp miso (red)
1 tbsp ginger-scallion sauce (from Momofuku)
1/2 package of ramen
3-4oz tofu
3-4 slices of pork belly
scallions
bean sprouts
1 sheet of nori
hot water
I wish I could get pix from my phone to the blog at work, b/c I've always felt that a "bowl of noodles with a bunch of stuff on it" photographs well.
I was going to post a stock photo, but when I googled, I didn't find good pix, but I did find this page, billing itself as the "Official Ramen Homepage" (I don't believe him, though), and this inspiring article from the NY Times travel section, which makes me want to go loaf around Japan, eating noodles.
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