Summer Rolls with Mushrooms and Brown Sugar Tofu

Summer roll season is here, people!

Time to make a trip to the Asian market and stock up on supplies.

Rice paper wraps and vermacelli noodles are a must.

This version here is packed full of goodness... brown sugar seared tofu, beech mushrooms, romaine lettuce and cilantro with a ginger shallot green onion paste. 

Savory and Sweet.

Roll. Eat. Repeat.

Summer Rolls with Mushrooms and Brown Sugar Tofu  (makes 8 fat rolls)

Slightly Adapted From 101 cookbooks

Ginger onion paste

2 scallions, sliced
2 medium shallots, peeled and chopped
3 T. grated, peeled ginger
1/2 t. sea salt
4 T. sunflower oil

Brown Sugar Tofu and Mushrooms

15 oz. tofu
4 cloves garlic    
3/4 t. sea salt
2 T. dark brown sugar
3 T. sunflower oil

8 oz. package beech mushrooms, rough chopped

Other Goodies      

spring roll wrappers (25 cm size)
vermacelli noodles (2 small bundles)
romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
fresh cilantro sprigs        

Sweet sesame dipping sauce (optional, but yummy)

To make the ginger onion paste, place scallions, shallots, ginger and sea salt in a food processor and pulse until chunky. Alternatively you could pound everything together using a mortar and pestle.  Heat the oil in a small pan until hot. Stir in the onion/ginger mixture, remove from the heat and transfer to a jar to cool.

For the tofu and mushrooms, pat tofu dry and cut into 8 equal slabs and arrange on a large plate or baking sheet. Rough chop the garlic and sprinkle it with garlic, continue chopping, sliding the side of the knive over top to create a paste. Place in a small bowl with the brown sugar and slowly whisk in the oil to create a smooth paste. Using a small pastry brush (or your fingers) slather both sides of the tofu with the marinade. Set aside and leave the bowl dirty.

Cook tofu in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat (you shouldn't need any additional oil) until golden brown on each side. Set aside to cool a bit.  When cool enough to handle, cut into strips.

Meanwhile, gently toss the mushrooms with the residual marinade left from the tofu bowl. Using the same skillet to cook the tofu, add a splash of oil and sautee the mushrooms until they take on a bit of color. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.

To rehydrate vermacelli noodles, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles, remove from the heat and let sit 2-3 minutes. Drain in a fine mesh strainer and refresh under cold water. Drain well and set aside.

To assemble the spring rolls, dip a spring roll wrapper in a bowl of hot water for five seconds. Place on a flat surface (I use my cutting board) and smear a generous amount of ginger onion paste in the middle. Next add a couple torn romaine lettuce leaves, a small amount of vermacelli noodles, three pieces of tofu and some cilantro. Roll the bottom of the wrap over the filling, fold in the sides and continue rolling.  Place rolls on a large plate covered with a damp paper towel to prevent from drying out. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

gingerbread cookies

I totally realize that gingerbread men are usually a treat eaten around the holidays, somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I'm not into the whole Halloween dessert thing, like homemade candycorn or making cookies that look like bloodshot eyeballs or witches fingers.  That just doesn't work for me.

Chewy cookies tasting of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and molasses. That's what works for me.  A semi-healthy treat made with whole wheat flour that is totally vegan.  That works for me too.

Nine times out of ten I have all of the ingredients for this recipe kicking around the house, which is perfect for those times that I want crave something sweet but don't have the energy to make something more elaborate. 

Switch up the cookie cutters if you're not ready to see gingerbread men dancing around your kitchen.  You could do gingerbread circles or stars or whatever. But what fun is that?? 

Really, it's my only cookie cutter so I just roll with it.

This is a pretty basic cookie recipe.




Combine the "dry" ingredients (flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder.)
Whisk together the oil and the sugar.

 

Add molasses and milk to the sugar/oil mixture, and whisk until combined.




Roll out the dough




 

Cut out cookies and place em on an oiled sheetpan to bake.



Gingerbread men orgy!

I used this recipe from the post punk kitchen, but made a couple of changes..

Gingerbread Cookies


1/3 cup sunflower oil
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup almond milk
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
　
Directions
In a large bowl beat together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add molasses and almond milk. The molasses and almond milk won't really blend with the oil but that's ok.
In a seperate bowl, sift together all the other ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Mix together with a firm spoon or spatula until well combined. You should have a pretty stiff dough. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. (If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to loosen up a bit before proceeding).
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets.
On a floured surface roll you dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. You can do this in 2 batches if you don't have the space. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and gently place on cookie sheets (if you are using them to decorate with remember to cut a hole with a straw or something before baking). Bake for 8 minutes.


Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack.