A few nights ago Lisa raided the CSA box and made this stir fry, based on one she found on Elise’s site. She changed up the vegetables a bit and cut the oil almost in half (Elise loves her oil)!

Chris says:

Wow the sauce on this is fantastic.

Lisa says:

Yeah, and spicy! I got to use your rooster sauce.

Chris says:

Everything’s better with rooster sauce…

Lisa says:

The tofu and the rice make this a lot more filling than I thought it would be.

Chris says:

I know! I’m kind of full but I’m going to eat more anyway — it’s all veggies so I know I’ll just be hungry later on.

Lisa says:

I’m going to save the rest for my lunch.

Chris says:

Sorry sucka — “the rest”? “The rest” is already in my belly.

Mushroom and Tofu Stir Fry
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Glaze
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup of chickenbroth

Sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp rice wine
1 teaspoon Sriracha
1 Tbsp corn starch

Vegetables
4 teaspoons minced garlic
4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb of cremini or button mushrooms, quartered
1 cup onion
4 oz extra-firm tofu
1 cup broccoli, roughly chopped
1 cup carrots, in 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 1b bok choy stems, in 1/2-inch dice
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Whisk the glaze ingredients together in a bowl and the sauce ingredients together in a different bowl. In a third bowl, mix the garlic, ginger and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil.
Heat 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a large, stick-free skillet on medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and tofu, and cook, without stirring, until browned on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and use tongs to turn the mushrooms to brown the other side. When mushrooms are browned and tender, about 5 minutes, increase the heat to medium-high and add the glaze. Cook, stirring to coat the mushrooms, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer mushrooms to a large bowl. Wipe out skillet with a paper towel.
Heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil in the skillet on medium-high heat until the pan begins to smoke. Add carrots and broccoli and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup broth and cover skillet. Cook until carrots are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates. Transfer carrots to bowl with mushrooms. Wipe skillet clean with paper towel.
Heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil in the skillet on medium high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the bell pepper and bok choy stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to brown and soften, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add leafy greens and cook for a minute further. Push the veggies to the side of the pan and add the garlic-ginger mixture in the clearing. Cook 15 seconds, until fragrant, and then mix in with the other vegetables.
Add all the vegetables back into the pan (mushrooms, carrots, etc.). Add the sauce to the pan. Mix well and cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened and all the vegetables are coated with the sauce, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if desired. Serve immediately with rice.

4 Servings

Tonight I finally got around to making a soup from The Ultimate Soup Bible, a cookbook we got from Lisa’s brother at Christmas. This easy to make tomato soup is made with Israeli couscous (which is much larger and chewier than regular couscous), onions, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, and mint; the soup has a great aroma and wonderfully garlicky flavor. It should appear in the rotation pretty regularly. We loved it.

Lisa says:

I love Israeli couscous… and this soup is so colorful.

Chris says:

It’s delicious. I like the cayenne: it’s subtle — just a slight tingle in the back of the throat.

Lisa says:

Oh *that’s* what that is. I was worried I was coming down with something.

Chris says:

Well, you’ll feel the blues if I take your soup away.

Lisa says:

Yeah, I will — I definitely want to have this again…

Chris says:

You’re in luck, then. The recipe makes so much that we’re having leftovers tomorrow night!

Lisa says:

Wahoo!

Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous
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2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
14 oz can chopped tomatoes
7 garlic cloves, chopped
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock, if you’re veg.)
1 1/3 cups Israeli couscous
3 mint sprigs, chopped
5 cilantro sprigs, chopped
1/4 tsp ground cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and ground pepper, to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onions and carrots and cook until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 the garlic and the remaining ingredients to the pan. Bring the soup to a boil, add all but 1 tsp of the chopped garlic, then reduce the heat and simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the couscous is tender. Remove from the heat, stir in the rest of the garlic, and ladle into bowls. Serve with warm sourdough bread.

4-6 Servings

We had originally planned to roast some garlic for the housewarming party last weekend, but with all the other dishes we had, we decided to skip it. We had already purchased quite a few heads of garlic, however, so having Thad and Abbie over for dinner was the perfect opportunity to go for it! Many recipes for roasted garlic involve brushing the garlic heads with olive oil, we made it by just filling a roasting pan with olive oil to coat the bottom, and placing the heads cut-side down. This allows you to serve the now roasted-garlic-infused olive oil as an additional dip. The inspiration for this method comes from this post over at Desert Candy.

Thad says:

Pretty garlicky!

Chris says:

I like that you can taste a hint of garlic and caperberries in the oil.

Abbie says:

What? Those are caperberries? They look like olives!

Chris says:

Nope, try one — they’re like ginormous capers.

Lisa says:

These rule… you don’t even need the bread. I like just sticking a fork in and eating a whole clove by itself.

Chris says:

You heart garlic!

Roasted Garlic with Caperberries
——————————–
6 heads of garlic
olive oil
caperberries
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 325F. Cut the top third off of the heads of garlic — if you’re cooking something else that night, you can save the top bits, otherwise toss ‘em. Pour oil into a small roasting pan, then place the cloves of garlic cut-side down. Add the caperberries, salt, and pepper, and cover tightly with foil. Roast for 50 minutes or until the garlic is soft and golden brown. Remove the garlic cloves to a serving dish, and pour the oil into a bowl for dipping. Serve with warm baguette and get your dip on.

Tonight Lisa made this labor-intensive lasagna based on a Cooking Light recipe, and added extra spices and mushrooms. I’m usually a bigger fan of tomato-sauce based lasagna, but this one hit the spot with its variety in textures and sheer number of sauteed vegetables.

Chris says:

Wow you’re on a roll with these Cooking Light recipes. Good picks.

Lisa says:

This one is delicious — and actually has portion sizes that are relatively generous for a “light” recipe…

Chris says:

I heart this lasagna.

Lisa says:

Me too! I still can’t believe it’s low fat.

Chris says:

I love that we have enough leftovers for like three more meals.

Lisa says:

Good thing we liked it, then!

Garden-Style Lasagna
——————–
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped zucchini (about 8 ounces)
2 cups chopped yellow squash (about 8 ounces)
2 cups thinly sliced carrot (about 8 ounces)
2 cups chopped broccoli (about 6 ounces)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
3 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of nutmeg
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat cottage cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
12 precooked lasagna noodles, divided

Preheat oven to 375°.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Spoon onion mixture into a large bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, mushrooms, and yellow squash; sauté 4 minutes or until tender and just beginning to brown. Add to onion mixture. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced carrot; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add chopped broccoli; sauté 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add to onion mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and oregano; toss well to combine.
Place flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg; stir until smooth. Stir in spinach.
Combine cottage cheese and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella; stir well. Spread 1/2 cup spinach mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over spinach mixture in dish; top with half of cottage cheese mixture (about 1 1/2 cups), half of vegetable mixture (about 2 1/2 cups), and about 1 cup spinach mixture. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining spinach mixture over noodles; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.
Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

12 Servings

Tonight I made a recipe that I had seen on Real Thai Recipes. Chicken is stir-fried with lots of garlic (yes, please!), white pepper, and fish sauce. To accompany the chicken I made a Thai Fried Rice based on a few different recipes online.

Chris says:

The garlic in this is so good!

Lisa says:

Why is it so spicy?

Chris says:

Is it? Doesn’t seem that way to me, there aren’t any hot chilies or anything… just pepper.

Lisa says:

It’s delicious, but yeah, seems spicy to me. Maybe I’m not used to white pepper… hey, what the?

Chris says:

I’m investigating by eating off your plate.

Lisa says:

Hands off, sucka!

Garlic and Pepper Chicken
————————-
1 large chicken breast, sliced
1/4 cup garlic cloves, smashed
3/4 teaspoon palm sugar (or white sugar)
3/4 teaspoon white pepper powder or black pepper powder (or mix ‘em!)
1 3/4 teaspoons fish sauce
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)
2-3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cilantro leaves (for garnish)

Add vegetable oil to pan over medium-high heat. When oil is just about smoking, add in garlic and stir-fry until lightly browned. Add in chicken and stir-fry until chicken is fully cooked and starts to brown. If chicken starts to stick to pan, add a little water. Add in fish sauce, sugar, and white pepper, and stir until well blended, adding water if necessary. Serve immediately.

Thai Fried Rice
—————
1 tbsp peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, sliced
3 tbsp egg whites
3 cups cooked rice
1 roma tomato, cut into 8 wedges
1 green onion, chopped
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until it’s almost smoking. Add the garlic until lightly browned, then add the shallots and stir-fry for a minute. Add in the egg whites and stir until egg is cooked through. Add in the rice, and stir in the remaining ingredients until warmed and well blended. Adjust spices to your liking.