Friday, August 15, 2008


Here is a dinner from "30 Minute Meals." It ran on the Food Network a few days ago and is on their website. Believe it or not, it is vegan without any adjustments needed! It is a noodle dish with a sauce made of hoisin and chili garlic paste. On the side is a tofu yakitori (tofu and scallions roasted in teriyaki sauce and grill seasoning), a super cucumber salad, and a veggie stirfry. The noodles were just okay - mostly because I just don't love the chile garlic paste. Somehow it tastes like it has some kind of chemical preservative in it. I remember eating something that looked just like it in a Thai restaurant many years ago. I was addicted to the stuff - could eat it by the spoonful even though it was so hot it made my face sweat! It must have been made from fresh chilis - I have never been able to duplicate it. Anyway, the tofu was pretty good. The recipe called for mushrooms, but mine were spoiled so I used the tofu. The scallions were awesome with this treatment. I used salt free grill seasoning because of the teriyaki, and I could taste caraway and coriander in it. Yum! The cucumber salad was really good, too. It had lime, rice vinegar, agave (subbed for the honey in the recipe), canola and toasted sesame oils, and toasted sesame seeds. A simple dressing, but I think the lime juice made it really stand out from other cucumber salads. The veggie stirfry just had ginger and garlic as seasoning, but was really tasty with the red onion and edamame. Overall, a delicious and quick meal!