Cooking Sundays!

Limey and Adnama were tired of eating the same thing for lunch every day. They decided to combine their resources and cook two dishes for some variety. Having delicious, made from scratch food would prevent them from making trips to the local convenience store. We don't really follow recipes but often walk by the Whole Foods display case for inspiration. Last week: vegan pesto, chilled cilantro-y tofu dish and a chow mien stir fry.

Vegan pesto:

Vegan pesto is really easy to make and uses only 6 ingredients. Some vegan pesto calls for nutritional yeast, but I think it tastes fine even without it - I try to avoid processed products when at all possible. Instead of using pine nuts, we used walnuts since Limey's grandmother sent over several pounds of fresh roasted walnuts from her backyard in Washington state. (If we had to purchase them from the store, walnuts would be a cheaper alternative to pine nuts anyways).

• 3 cups fresh basil
• 1/2 cup olive oil (+ drizzle over the top)
  
• 4 cups walnuts
• 5 cloves garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Stick it all in a blender, and viola! They put them in glass jars (it made a ton) and drizzled olive oil over the top to create a seal to keep it fresh. MMMM.

Chilled Cilantro-y Tofu:

Adnama's aunt made a dish similar to this several week ago when Adnama visited their family in Denver. It is a perfect summer dish and can be eaten either hot or cold. The original recipe had dried tofu and bean sprouts. However, those ingredients could not be found in the Central Market, so they used extra firm tofu and celery (for that crunch!) as substitutions.

• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 package extra firm tofu
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce
• 1 stalk celery
• Hot sauce of your choice (we love chili bean paste that Adnama's mom bought in Chinatown)
• 1 package enoki mushrooms (optional - they are thin, spaghetti-shaped mushrooms - they don't really have much flavor but Adnama loves them).
  

1. Cut the tofu into 1/4'' cubes, celery in 1/4'' slices, enoki mushrooms in half and rough chop cilantro
2. Mix the celery and cilantro in a large bowl with 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp soy suace & hot sauce to taste
3. Blanch the tofu for 5 minutes, enoki mushrooms for 4 minutes in simmering water and drain
4. Mix enoki mushrooms and tofu into the bowl with other ingredients - their heat will wilt the cilantro.

Enjoy either hot or cold.

Chow Mein Stir-fry:

• Shittake mushrooms
• Sugar snap peas
• Soy sauce
• Vegetable oil
• Chow mein noodles

Stir frys are so easy.. boil the noodles, pan-fry the veggies, combine and enjoy!

NOMMM :B