Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai, Sesame Slaw with Chickpeas, and Fried Collards
I'm not sure whether anything in this dinner merits an entry, as it was all so simple, but it turned out so pretty and delicious! So what follows is an exposition of my laziness. :)
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
Serves 1
Ingredients
1-2 TB peanut butter
1-3 tsp garlic chili sauce (the kind with the rooster on it)
water
1 serving leftover spaghetti squash
one green onion, sliced
Serves 1
Ingredients
1-2 TB peanut butter
1-3 tsp garlic chili sauce (the kind with the rooster on it)
water
1 serving leftover spaghetti squash
one green onion, sliced
Instructions: In a saucepan over low heat, mix peanut butter and chili sauce, adding water to thin to saucy consistency. Add spaghetti squash, mix. Remove from heat, garnish with onions, and serve.
Sesame Slaw with Chickpeas
I started making this when I was home visiting my mom. She had a purple cabbage that just wouldn't go away, no matter how many times she shaved some off into a salad.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1/2 small to medium purple cabbage, chopped
2-4 large carrots, julienned in 1-2 in long pieces
2 scallions, sliced
1 cup chickpeas
1/8 cup tamari
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 TB sesame oil
3 TB sesame seeds
pepper or wasabi to taste
1/2 small to medium purple cabbage, chopped
2-4 large carrots, julienned in 1-2 in long pieces
2 scallions, sliced
1 cup chickpeas
1/8 cup tamari
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 TB sesame oil
3 TB sesame seeds
pepper or wasabi to taste
Instructions: Combine the cabbage, carrots, scallions, and chickpeas in a bowl. In another container, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over vegetables and mix well. Allow to sit before serving.
Fried Collards
Serves 4
Ingredients
1-2 TB canola or peanut oil
2 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
tamari
8 large collard green leaves, stems removed and cut into half-inch-wide strips
more sesame seeds!
Serves 4
Ingredients
1-2 TB canola or peanut oil
2 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
tamari
8 large collard green leaves, stems removed and cut into half-inch-wide strips
more sesame seeds!
Instructions: Heat oils to med-high heat in cast iron skillet. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add collards and make sure they are evenly covered with oil. Add tamari and continue to stir for a short while. Remove from heat, stir in sesame seeds, serve.
Jules, this looks delicious, especially the purple. I love hot peanut sauce, too - I'll have to get my hands on some spaghetti squash soon. Are you grating it? Spooning it out?
ReplyDeleteNota Bene: the abbreviation 'TB' stands for "terabyte", and as much as I adore the idea of a terabyte of peanut butter, I think you mean T, tb, tblspn, tbs, or tbsp.
A's littlest sister has a great recipe for a macrobiotic cabbage slaw that would look good in purple. She wrote it out by hand for me one time:
"Pressed Salad of Cabbage, Onion, Cucumber, Radish, Carrot, Lemon, Apple (Peeled and soaked in salt water for 1/2 hr): Take a few of the outermost leaves off the cabbage. Lay them flat and slice into thin ribbons (don't use the thick stemmy part of the leaf). Repeat 'till you have a good handful. Slice half an onion into very thin moons. Cut off 1/3 of a large cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise and slice crosswise to make half circles slightly thicker than the onion. Also half and slice 2-3 radishes into thin half circles. Combine in large bowl and grate some carrot on top. Take a large pinch of finely ground sea salt and sprinkle over, then mix and massage the salad. Add another generous pinch of salt - the salad should start to look all wilty and bright, exuding moisture. The amount of salt varies depending on the amount and quality of vegetables and is mostly intuitive. However, 2-3 good pinches - what you can pick up with your thumb and first two fingers - should do it. Massage several minutes. It should look quite wet. Get a plate that fits inside the bowl over the salad. Put weights on top of the plate - a full quart jar with a full pint on top of that works well. Let sit about an hour. About fifteen minutes in, the water should have visibly risen around the vegetables. When done, they should be pretty much covered in the juices. Pour of the liquid. Squeeze lemon juice in to taste - it shouldn't be very sour. Serve on individual plates. Grate soaked apple on top. And ... yer done!"
Perhaps I did use a terabyte of peanut butter... ;)
ReplyDeleteThe squash just came out that way with the gentle scraping of a fork. It's a rather remarkable vegetable.
Thanks for the recipe; I've saved it. I have wondered, though, why it is called /pressed/ salad.
PS I have been making my own kimchi and it is so easy and tasty! Such delight with cabbages!
It's called "pressed salad" because it's essentially pressure and salt that cooks the vegetables [from the recipe]: get a plate that fits inside the bowl over the salad. Put weights on top of the plate - a full quart jar with a full pint on top of that works well. Let sit about an hour. Also, whenever I make this salad, if I have the time at all, I julienne the carrots instead of grate them. Somehow little matchsticks are much more evocative of a carrot's essence than a wet, floppy, grated shred.
ReplyDeleteYou've made your own kimchi?! You should do a post about that! I <3 home-made condiments, and I've never had the pleasure of making my own kimchi.
Looks quite colorful and flavorful!!
ReplyDelete