Kimchi Tofu Stew

  Somewhere deep inside me I know I was Korean in my past life because I have unquestionable similarities in their passion for variety in one sitting, appreciation for the social aspect, and just the straight-up voraciousness when it comes to knocking out large portions. But among the seemingly endless varieties of banchan, kimchi has always held a small corner in my heart.
 
  Back when I was going meatless for a month, this alone kept me happy for at week. The tofu + soft-boiled egg did well enough in keeping me satiated. So any vegetarian seekin something more hardy, look no further.

  Salty, sour, spicy. Practically an awkward, if not intimidating description to any westerner, but one should always hone the spirit of Andrew Zimmern, everything is worth a taste.

Ingredients:

• 16oz Silken Tofu
• 1tspn Vegetable Oil 
• 4 cups Kimchi (gently squeezed) + 1 cup of liquid 
• 2 tbsp Gochujang 
• 8 scallions cut in 1in. pieces 
• 2 tbsps Reduced-Sodium Soy Sauce  
• 1 tbsps toasted Sesame Oil

  Garnishes

• Black pepper
• Egg Yolk 
• Toasted Sesame Seeds 

  -Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Reduce heat, carefully add tofu, and simmer gently until slightly puffed & firmed up. 4 min. Use slotted spoons to transfer to a bowl.
  - Heat vegetable oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add kimchi, and gochujang, stir often until it begins to brown. 5-8 min.
  - Add kimchi liquid and 6-7 cups of water . Bring to a boil, then reduce. Simmer heat until kimchi has softened. 35-40 min.
  - Add scallions, soy sauce, & tofu; Simmer 20-25min.
  - Add sesame oil; season with salt & pepper. Laddle into bowl; top with egg yolk and sesame seeds.

  I may not be Korean, but my stomach sure is.

Photo credit to Jamie K.

The V word

  Of all the random things I could have possibly done to, earlier this year I decided to try out the vegetarian lifestyle. That's right. I'm going to be the V word.

 Now what started off this crazy experiment was this dish (pictured above) in my attempt to continue a series of posts that never just came to light. Then later in succession, I just happened to follow up with another meatless dish and figured why not see how far I can take this?

And since I was on this crazy crusade of a protein cleanse, I might as well make things interesting, because salads hardly hold a novelty in my book. For the later set of weeks I wanted share my exploration of the worlds take on meatless cuisine. I'm actually surprised I didn't cave in to my cravings for Fried Chicken and In-N-Out at the time.

Dish #1 Shakshouka: Tunisian dish was brought to light to me by J. Kao during our last cooking sessions before she departed back to the motherland.

• 1/4 Olive Oil
• 1 Yellow Onion 
• 2 cups chopped Kale 
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Ground Chipotle Powder
• 1 can Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Undrained  
• Sea Salt
• 4 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Goat Cheese 
• 1 tbsp Basil

- Heat oil in cast iron skillet over MEDIUM HIGH HEAT; add chopped Onions, Kale, Garlic and stir until soft.
- Add Cumin Chipotle Powder ad stir for another minute.
- Add Tomatoes and liquid to the skillet; reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes.
- When Tomato mixture has thickened, stir slightly, add in salt.
- Make a hole in the sauce and crack in Eggs.
- Cover skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, depending on how runny you like your eggs.
- Finish with Goat Cheese + Basil, serve with toasted bread, pita, etc.

Dish #2 Rustic Onion Tart: Preferably, I love this for breakfast but I can't exactly say I have the patience to cook for that when my stomach wants food now. Luckily this is just as awesome the following morning after a few minutes back in the oven.

• 1 pie crust
• 2 large Onions (Yellow/Spanish)
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 Cup of Half & Half
• 8-10 slices of Swiss Cheese
• 2 Tbsp of Flour
• 1/2 Tsp of Salt
• 1/4 Tsp of Black Pepper 

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Put the pie dough over a glass/ceramic (oven-proof) dish or pie pan. Press to the bottom and around the edges.
2. On the bottom of the dough, spread half the onions and half of the cheese. You don't need to cover the onions completely. 
3. Beat the eggs with the flour, half & half, salt and pepper. Pour half the mixture over the cheese you laid down.
4. Spread the other half of the onions and cheese, and cover with the rest of the egg mixture.
5. Bake for 50 minutes. 

Rainbow Chard Wrap & Peanut Basil Sandwich

Admittedly I’ve never been the type to gravitate towards vegetarian options, luckily I managed to come across this recipe on Minimalist Baker. Always on the look out for intriguing and unusual pairings I could only help but be curious as to find out what something so unusually paired would taste like. 

Preparation is subjective as to how to balance out the peanut butter to basil ratio, I would start off with a small bunch. Another tip is to not too be zealous with the flax-seed otherwise it will pour out everywhere once you pick it up (I found out the hard way). So roll it up tight and seal it with some toothpicks, so that it doesn’t unravel all over the place.

Normally whenever I purchase basil for a single dish I’m always left with way more than I could ever want. Margarita Salads are wonderful, but not exactly the best way to use up all your basil, unless you plan to burn yourself out for a while. Luckily the site provide another recipe, that had 2 common ingredients that only requires just a small adjustment to create something else just as tasty, if not better (think dipping bread in sweet peanut sauce).   

Both make fantastic meals that are healthy and tasty vegetarian options that are easy to make at home or for on the go.