Green Day

Dom bowled us over yesterday with a fabulous Thai green curry, with toothsome cubes of tofu and rice vermicelles. It was a beautiful, heartwarming spicy medley, and here's how to make your own.

Green curry:

Combine in a food processor:
-12 chilies
-nine handfuls of fresh coriander, with stems (Vietnamese, if possible)
-three handfuls of lime leaves
-six handfuls of fresh basil, with stems (Thai, if possible)
-six garlic cloves
-six stalks of lemongrass
-zest & juice from four limes
-3 tablespoons coriander seeds, ground
-18 green onions
-salt & pepper to taste
-six tablespoons olive oil

For the rest:
-four packages of med-firm tofu, cubed
-three cans of coconut milk
-three red peppers
-three tablespoons olive oil


-Sautee tofu cubes in sesame oil and set aside

-In a large pot, sautee sliced red peppers until they appear creamy

-To the peppers, add curry paste, coconut milk

-Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 mins

-Add tofu and heat through

-Serve over rice or rice noodles

-Garnish with pistachio nuts & fresh lime juice

Bon appétit!

Tofu licious!

The winning lunch this week was Lisanne's last hurrah as a salad club member (we'll miss you!): roasted veggies (including delicious giant asparaguses... or is that asparagi?) with marinated artichokes and pesto-sautéed tofu. Mmm. Here's her bag of tricks.

Cuire les asperges dans une poêle.
Faire dorer les champignons dans une poêle.
Assaisonner de poivre et fleur de sel.
Ajouter quelques coeurs d’artichauts en boîte.

Tofu:
Badigeonner de pesto, jus de citron et huile d’olive et mariner environ 3 heures ou plus.
Les faire revenir dans la poêle 5-10 minutes.

Vinaigrette:
150 ml de jus de citron
Un petit peu moins d’huile d’olive (à l’oeil)
3 gousses d’ail
Un peu de vinaigre balsamique
Un peu de thym
Poivre et fleur de sel

Mac attack

Well, gotta say, the salad club went pretty much a whole week without eating salad. We had soup, we had quiche (oh, there was a side of salad...), we culminated the criminal behaviour with mac n cheese! But it had peas in it. Does that count? My thighs say no. But my greed says yes. Here's how to make Jennifer's mac attack!

Salad Club Salad!

The Salad Club actually ate salad today, thanks to the lovely Poppy and her forgotten chili (long story). We sure were grateful for the mishap, though, and gobbled down this datte-alicious, fetta-riffic taste-othon in about 10 minutes flat! Yum. To make it, throw together mixed greens (though Poppy has also made it with an arugula/spinach mix, and says it works really well); a healthy dose of dates, chopped up; some slivered almonds (about the same amount at the dates); some Bosc pears, chopped up nicely; crumbled or diced Greek feta cheese; some half-moon slices of cucumber; and a handful or so of pumpkin seeds (or any seed or nut you like). For the dressing, fill an empty jam jar with some olive oil, add red wine vinegar to taste, crush a clove of garlic into it, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Easy peasy! Just give it a shake before you toss it into the salad.

Borscht to be alive

Reanna made us see red yesterday with a variation of her grandma's world famous borscht – jam-packed with beet bits and carrots and cabbage and deliciousness, served with a dollop of sour cream and chopped dill that made it a party in our mouths. Now, she's sworn to secrecy for the exact recipe, but she's kindly given us another version we can make at home:

Ingredients:

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp black peppercorns

• 1/8 tsp mustard seeds

• 3 sprig parsley

• 3 sprig thyme

• 2 cloves garlic

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 medium russet potato (3/4 pound), peeled, chopped

• 2 1/2 cups chopped red cabbage (about 1/4 small head)

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 8 cups (or more) vegetable or chicken stock

• 6 2-inch-diameter beets, peeled and chopped

• 1 cup drained canned chopped tomatoes

• 1 Mutsu apple, peeled and grated

• Rice wine vinegar, to taste

• Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper

• Sour cream, for garnish

• Chopped fresh dill, for garnish

Directions:

• Wrap the bay leaf, peppercorns, mustard seeds, parsley, thyme sprigs and garlic in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it securely with a piece of string. This is called a bouquet garni.

• Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.

• Add potatoes, cabbage and onion and saute until cabbage softens, about 5 minutes.

• Add vegetable stock, bouquet garni, beets, tomatoes and apple.

• Bring soup to boil.

• Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

• Remove the bouquet garni.

• Puree 4 cups of the soup in a blender and return to the pot so that the soup will still be chunky (I keep it chunky and skip the blender)

• If desired, thin soup with more vegetable stock.

• Add rice wine vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper.

• Ladle soup into bowls.

• Top with dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with dill.

Barley and me

JF (by which I mean Noah) wowed us yesterday with a yummy scrummy bean and barley soup that came alive with notes of thyme. It was so comforting and unctuous, it was as if our mammas had cooked for us! Except this is a way sexier version than most mammas are likely to make. You've GOT to try this one at home.

What you need:

1 cup of lima beans
3 carrots
3 branches of celery
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of barley
2 big pack of vegetable broth
3 tbsp Red wine vinegar
Salt, pepper
Fresh thyme

What you need to do:

Soak the lime beans in a big bowl of cold water for 6 to 8 hours.
Drain the beans and reserve.
Roughly cut the onion, the carrots and the celery.
In a big pot, sauté the onion, the carrots and the celery. Add the garlic.
Add the barley and deglaze with red wine vinegar.
Add the vegetable broth.
Add the beans.
Add 4 cups of water.
Add salt and pepper and a few branches of fresh thyme.
Simmer and reduce for about an hour. Stir regularly.
Fix the seasoning and add about one cup of water. Simmer and reduce for another hour. Don’t forget to stir regularly.
Add another cup of water and cook for another hour until the soup becomes thicker and has a nice creamy texture.
Strip the leaves off 5 stems of thyme and add them to the soup. Season accordingly.

You spicy tamata, you!

I was the chef of the day, so I spent my Sunday morning making tomato, chipotle and spinach soup. I added some beans for the protein factor, but our wonderfulest intern ever ended up bringing in a homemade chocolate cake, so I needn't have worried about our fortification! (Thanks Julien.) Here's how to soup it:

Sautée finely chopped carrots (2), celery sticks (2), onions (2 big ones) and five chopped cloves of garlic in some olive oil, in a soup pot. When lightly browned, add 10 medium tomatoes, chopped, 2 big tins of crushed tomatoes, 2 roasted red peppers (skin removed, chopped finely), 3 chipotle peppers (chopped super finely), 6 cups of vegetable broth and some of the sauce from the chipotle tin if you buy your chipotles in a tin like I did. Bring the whole thing to a gentle boil, then remove from the stove and add two big bags of previously washed and chopped spinach, a tin of mixed beans (if you want - it would be nice without) and a teaspoon of sea salt. Voilà! Serve with a dollop of sour cream and chives. (Oh, and chocolate cake.)