Today’s Dish
To honor Meatless Monday, we decided to create a giant salad to celebrate. In the fridge we had the following:
*Hearts of Romaine
*Mini bells
*Feta cheese
*Kalamata olives
From our organic box we had some great summer crops:
*Peaches
*Red onions
Granted it’s not an original creation per se but the peaches were a nice touch. Chop all ingredients, toss into large bowl. Add in feta and season with kosher salt, pepper and oregano. Throw on some good balsamic vinegar and just a wee of olive oil. (Note: Most vinegrettes have a ridiculous amount of olive oil v. acid ratio like 4:1. I like mine the exact opposite!)
We had a decent unoaked Chardonnay from Clos LaChance from Monterey County to go with it. Was it the best pairing? Who knows but it was damn tasty and refeshing for a hot summer night in Sac.
Quick Chinese dinner out of randomness
We are about to leave on a long weekend to go camping which means it’s time to clean out the fridge!!!
This is what I found:
*1 pkg extra firm tofu
*1 pkg chow mein noodles
*1 zucchini
*1 red onion
*1 bag of string beans
(All of the produce were leftovers of our last week’s CSA box)
From the pantry:
*Straw mushrooms
*Asian condiments: soy sauce, sambal, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce and black bean sauce (although some of these live in the fridge, they are referred as pantry items)
From the garden:
*Scallions/green onions
Out of this I created black bean green beans (”Black & Green Beans”?), vegetable chow mein and fried tofu bites (yum!). Although Meatless Mondays are a good idea, I had to do Meatless Wednesday instead!
Tip: Use extra firm tofu and squeeze/press out as much of the whey as you can. Too much water leads to splatter and pain! Cut into small cubes, coat in cornstarch and shake off excess. Fry in hot veg oil (appox. 375 degrees) until GBD. Serve with Thai sweet chili sauce. Also note that tofu retains a LOT of heat so let them cool for a bit.
