Ginger-tofu potstickers (with dipping sauce)

I've been having a love affair with fresh ginger. It's now a staple on my weekly grocery list. On any given day, our fridge's butter compartment is likely to be stocked with ginger roots instead of butter. Fresh ginger keeps for weeks and can be used to spice Asian dishes (like the potstickers featured in this post), make delicious tea (boil unpeeled slices for 25 minutes and sweeten with honey), and flavor baked goods (like these carrot bran muffins). But for now, back to the gingery potstickers.

I have fond memories of making potstickers with my college friends in the awkward kitchen of the International House. Of course in those days we filled them with pork and cabbage. This version is not nearly so authentic, but it's vegetarian* and relies on tofu for much of its substance. And luckily for me, the end result tastes nothing like tofu (it's no secret that I'm not a big fan--I think it tastes like watery plastic). K. said the filling was more reminiscent of crab rangoon, and I agree. Each bite is creamy and indulgent in taste but otherwise guilt-free. Enjoy!

*vegan if you use egg-free gyoza wrappers

Ginger-tofu potstickers
Adapted from Vegetarian Times

(Makes about 28)

Filling
1 10-oz. pkg. firm tofu, drained
4 oz. your favorite mushroom (we used cremini, shiitake would be ideal)
6 Tbs. blanched, slivered almonds
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 inch ginger root, peeled and sliced (about 2 Tbs.)
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch plus some extra for dusting
1 Tbs. orange zest
1/2 tsp. salt
28 gyoza wrappers
2 Tbs. canola oil

Dipping sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar (or your preferred sweetener)
2 Tbs. finely shredded carrot
1 Tbs. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

Prep: drain the tofu by placing between two plates, finely chop the mushrooms, zest the orange with a zester or microplane, and peel ginger using a small metal spoon (this works better than a vegetable peeler).

Make filling: crumble tofu into the food processor, add cilantro, ginger, garlic, and half the almonds (1/4 c.), soy sauce, sugar and 1 tsp. cornstarch. Process until everything is well incorporated. Remove mixture from the food processor and place into a large bowl. Mix in the orange zest, salt, mushrooms and remaining almonds.

Assemble potstickers: Dust a baking sheet with cornstarch. Arrange several gyoza wrappers on work surface. Place a small bowl of water and brush nearby. Each potsticker will need about 1 tablespoon filling. Brush half of the wrapper's edge with water. Bring edges together and press to seal. Place pot stickers on baking sheet, and refridgerate until you are ready to cook them. If they get too warm they will start to fall apart and stick to the baking sheet.

Make dipping sauce: Bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat to cool.

Cook potstickers: Heat 1 Tbs. oil over medium-high heat in each of 2 large skillets (or make in 2 batches, using 1 Tbs. oil per batch). Drop pot stickers into pan, and cook until browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Pour about one inch water into the pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Cook 8-10 minutes, checking pan and shaking occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove carefully when done and serve hot with bowls of dipping sauce.

Vegan white pizza

EDIT: We found a much better ricotta substitute -- make this instead!

So this was kind of an experiment: spinach, mushroom, and tofu ricotta pizza (with walnuts). I'd like to claim some kind of high-minded, ethical reason for cutting out most dairy from my diet, but the truth is I've just gotten kind of sensitive to it in my old age (though it doesn't bother me a bit not to be contributing to the dairy/cattle/veal industry either). I won't lie to you, Fellini's white pizza it was not (that is kind of a high bar to compare oneself to though). And it took a couple of bites to get over the cognitive dissonance -- the tofu looks an awful lot like ricotta without actually tasting that much like ricotta -- but once I did I really rather liked it. The walnuts were Kristen's idea and were a brilliant addition ... a textural contrast with the softness of the tofu or whatever.

I made Mark Bittman's pizza dough recipe (previously, with 2 cups bread flour + 1 cup wheat flour this time), and Isa's tofu ricotta, below. Pop it into a 500 degree oven for about 9 minutes.

PPK Tofu Ricotta
14oz package extra firm tofu
1 clove garlic minced
2 tsp lemon juice
two heavy pinches salt
pinch of black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Slice the tofu and squeeze out as much of the moisture as you can (within reason). Put it in a bowl with the garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and smash it with your hands for a few minutes, until it's the texture of ricotta. Add the olive oil and nutch and stir with a fork.

Soba noodle bowl

We finally made a trip back up to San Francisco (I lived there for about three years and Kristen for one before moving to San Diego) earlier this month. A couple of friends met up with us one night, and we walked around Japantown/Marina/Western Addition for a while, eventually stopping at Osaka sushi for dinner and sake. I think Kristen was thinking of their soba with tofu dish when she suggested this. (Also we saw Laurine from Top Chef catering a party. None of us could remember her storyline, so Kristen just said "Hi!" and then we all turned around and walked away a little sheepishly)

Sorry the recipe is pretty rough; I didn't measure anything, just added stuff until it tasted good. It's a little bit (a lot) Otsu from Super Natural Cooking and a little bit Sam the Cooking Guy's broiled salmon marinade...

Soba noodles with tofu
Serves: 2-3

• 6oz soba noodles
• 1/3 cup tamari sauce
• honey
• a 1" cube of ginger grated or diced very fine
• red pepper flakes
• half a block of firm tofu
• sesame seeds
• nori
• chopped green onions
• diced jicama

Put the soba noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes or until done, drain and set aside.

Cut the tofu into bite-sized pieces, something like 1/4" x 1/2" x 1". Heat a pan over medium-low heat and add the tofu to the pan (with no oil). Let it cook for a few minutes (don't touch it!) until it starts to turn a nice golden brown. Flip and repeat on the other side. It takes a little while, but I think it's worth keeping the heat relatively low... Easy to burn the tofu otherwise.

Meanwhile, mix the tamari (soy sauce would work too) and ginger, and add honey to taste, probably something like a tablespoon. It should be just a little bit sweet. Add a couple dashes of red pepper flakes, and toss with the soba noodles.

Top the noodles with the tofu, pieces of nori, green onions, sesame seeds, and diced jicama (probably should be cucumber, but we had jicama which was actually really great)

That's us (well everyone but me) looking out over the bay (you can JUST see the top of the golden gate bridge on the left). It reminds me just a little bit of this picture looking out at Guanabara bay, which makes me happy.

Vegan pad thai

Kyle's menu week, day 4: Asian thing!

Looking for recipes for pad thai, I found a lot of people who said the key to it was fish sauce. And in the interest of full disclosure I do occasionally eat fish, but I don't really like thinking of myself as a pescetarian, as lame as that may be. And I guess that might be the reason I don't like using fish ingredients if I don't have to... I like to think the option to give it up is always available!

The sad fact is that I've probably never had good pad thai anyway (I always thought the key was a ton of oil and gross peanut butter sauce), so even without fish sauce this version from Andrea's easy vegan cooking pretty much knocked my socks off. Everything in it was cheap and almost everything easy to find at Henry's (save tamarind paste).

A couple of tips: cut everything up beforehand and separate it into a few batches (garlic in one, broccoli, carrot, tofu in another, tamari, syrup, red pepper flakes, shallot, and green onions in another). I've never done this before for anything, but it was absolutely necessary here -- once you start cooking it just takes a few minutes for everything to come together. Also the tamarind I found was in a gooey brick in plastic wrap, with pieces of the shell and seeds interspersed. I soaked it in warm water for a few minutes and then worked some of it through a strainer to get a paste like consistency. I would probably not recommend this method if you can avoid it