Leek and Kale Coconut Curry with Rice Noodles

I spent last weekend at a conference for rabbinical students from all over the country. It was a fantastic experience and I learned so much from the students and "full-grown" rabbis there. I also increased my understanding of strict kosher eating practices, like not being allowed to bring my water bottle into the cafeteria (the staff took it away but I got it back!) and using tea essence rather than tea bags on shabbat. I don't really keep kosher at home. I'm a vegetarian, so I don't mix meat and milk because I'm not ever consuming meat, but I buy products that aren't marked kosher, and since my roommates aren't vegetarian, my pots and pans and dishes aren't kosher. I feel like my practices make sense for me, and when I have my own kitchen I might just keep it vegetarian. In any case, some of the practices at the conference were new to me, and it was awesome to learn from my more traditionally-observant colleagues.

When I got back yesterday afternoon, all I really wanted to do was curl up and chill, but instead I ran out to the co-op for groceries and then hopped in the car to get to choir practice on time. (I'm a good little chorister.) So I didn't really have a lot of time to cook yesterday, but when I got home from work today I decided it was time to use yesterday's hastily-purchased groceries to make something awesome. And then I did. These proportions worked out well for me, but the veggie amounts are really up to you. Also, feel free to sub other greens for the kale if you like. This recipe is quite forgiving and can hang out without constant attention for most of the cooking process.

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves, sliced or diced large
• about 2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced
• 1 large leek, greens and whites washed well and sliced thinly
• a handful of mushrooms, washed and sliced
• half a package of tofu (you could use more-- that's what I had), pressed and cubed
• about half a head of kale, stemmed (if you like) washed and torn into bite-sized chunks
• 2 TBS canola oil or other cooking oil
• 1 14 oz can light coconut milk
• 1 TBS red curry paste (I use thai kitchen)
• about half a package rice noodles
• 1 tsp soy sauce, plus more to taste
• sesame chili oil to taste

Procedure

• Cook the rice noodles according to package directions. If they're done before your veggies are, rinse in cool water and set aside. 
• Heat the canola oil in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes. 
• Add the leeks and let cook slowly for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften up.
• Add the tofu and mushrooms. Continue to cook over medium-low for perhaps another 5 minutes, stirring about from time to time. Add more oil if the veggies start to stick or get super dry. 
• 
• When the veggies are softish and starting to look cohesive, add in the kale. It may well take over your pan. Be patient. Stir it gently. Eventually the kale will start to break down and fit properly in the pan. 



Before



• After the kale has been cooking for about 5 minutes, stir in the coconut milk and curry paste. Cook for about 5 minutes more or until veggies are as tender as you like. 
• Stir in rice noodles, soy sauce, and chili oil (if using).
• Eat up.  
• 

Veggie (and peanut free, in this case) Pad Thai

So last week, two of my friends had a baby. Their first! He's the cutest peanut there ever was and I'm so in awe of the fact that my peers (and not, y'know, people a decade older than me) have produced this incredible little life! And he's a lucky dude to have his incredible parents.

The rabbinical school that Jake (Dad) and I attend can be amazing when it comes to community, so it's no real surprise that another friend had the smarts to organize folks to bring the new family dinner a few times a week.

I just got back from meeting the baby and seeing my buddies as no-longer-expectant parents. And all I had to do was make Pad Thai.

Good. Trade.

This recipe is a little unorthodox, because it needed to be peanut-free. If you want to, you can definitely sub peanuts for the cashews. Also, because I'm a vegetarian, I don't use oyster sauce. The recipe that I was working from calls for about a TBS added towards the end. It thickens the sauce slightly. If you use oyster sauce, cut back on the soy sauce a tad.

Ingredients

• 2 TBS canola oil 
• 1 block tofu, pressed and cut into thin triangles
• pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp tumeric (optional, but nice)
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced 
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped into florets
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 medium green pepper, cut into strips
• 1 inch piece of ginger, sliced thinly
• 1 lb rice noodes
• 1/3 c. water + 2 TBS rice vinegar
• 3 eggs
• 1 TBS maple syrup
• 3 TBS soy sauce
• 1/3 cup cashews, smashed up into bits (it's ok to be violent with your food)
• 2 TBS lime juice
• 2 small carrots, peeled (if you like) and julienned
• 4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
• sriracha to taste
• salt to taste
• lime and cashews to garnish

Procedure

• Fry your tofu!

• heat the oil in a large wok over medium heat. 
• sprinkle the tumeric over the oil, turning the pan so it's evenly distributed
• place the tofu triangles in the wok in a single layer (you will likely need to do two batches), let them sizzle and get crispy for a couple of minutes, then flip. Sprinkle in some salt and let them crisp on the other side. Remove to a paper towel so the grease can drain and repeat with the second batch if necessary. Try to scrape most of the bits out of the wok so they don't burn later.

• Cook your noodles according to package directions. Err on the side of them being just sliiiiightly underdone (maybe a minute less than recommended). Drain and rinse the noodles with cold water, then mix with 1 TBS of soy sauce
• While cooking the noodles, cook the broccoli and mushrooms

• heat 1 TBS oil over medium-high heat and add the broccoli and 1/3 of the garlic. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until the edges are looking a little crispy, then add 2 TBS water and cover the wok so it steams. 
• When the water has evaporated, add the mushrooms and stir-fry for about two minutes. If the noodles are done at this point, just keep going. Otherwise, remove the wok from the heat until the noodles have caught up. 
• Put the whole shebang together!


• Turn the heat back on if you had to cut it.
• Add a little more oil and the garlic, ginger, and pepper. Stir-fry for about a minute over medium-high, then turn down slightly and add the vinegar-water mixture and noodles, and tofu. Let everything cook, stir-frying away, for about 3 minutes
  
• Turn heat to medium low. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them together. Push everything to the side to create a space for the eggs in the wok and pour in. Scramble them until they're basically solid and then fold in with everything else

• Add the maple syrup and soy sauce and stir together

• Add the carrots, scallions, cashews, lime juice, a dash of sriracha, and a bit of salt. Taste and add more lime juice or soy sauce if needed. Serve immediately with additional soy sauce, sriracha, lime juice, and cashews to garnish.