Marination Mobile Tacos

Inspired by the very popular Korean Hawaiian Taco Truck. This version of the "sexy tofu" isn't that hard to make. I just marinated extra firm tofu in Soy Vay Teriyaki marinade overnight.
 

Grilled it up, and topped it was some bok choy and shitakes. Really super good! Easy! Not quite the real thing, but since I rarely get to go, it will do.
 

Cantaloupe Fantasia

I just got a cantaloupe in my CSA box and I was a little dismayed. It used to be prosciutto e melone was my favorite way to eat cantaloupe and at first I wasn't inspired to eat this one. So I bought some fake ham and faked it.

 

This was nothing to write home about, but it did make me realize cantaloupe is plenty tasty to just eat plain. But I also remembered the delicious watermelon salad we've had a few times and tried something similar with the cantaloupe. This is spring onion, purple basil and cojita with chunks of cantaloupe. Really Really Really good.
 

Soup and Sleep Days

When I get a cold, there are two things I like: soup and sleep. A trick I picked up during my study abroad days when I could just go to bed if I wasn't feeling good. I was feeling pretty crummy at the beginning of June, so Charlie made me his specialty: garlicky paprika tomato soup with toasted cheese. SO Yummy.
 

And later I made my other top comfort food, top ramen. This bowl featured shrimp, baby bok choy and shitake mushrooms. And of course and egg stirred in to thicken the broth.
 

Socca!

Socca will always have a very special place in my heart. Way back in the day, when I was 20, I took off on an a fairly epic journey. I drove with Jenny back to her school in Philly via the Southwest and then flew to travel around Europe for a month by train before meeting my study abroad group in Roma. Everything about it was totally brilliant, except that I was really hungry all the time.

I was vegan and fairly insistent about not bending the rule even the tiniest bit while travelling. Let's face it, I was 20, and when you are 20 you are naturally self-righteous. But I paid the price for it those first three weeks and I was getting more than a little bit cranky living on the road and eating only baguettes. I was on my way to Nice, when I read about their intriguing street food in the guidebook. Socca! Socca is a vegan (gluten free even) flatbread sold by street vendors all through this beautiful town. I went straight for the first vendor as soon as I arrived. It did not disappoint. Warm and peppery, this pizza like dish melts in your mouth and makes you feel totally content. The street vendors make it in these metal barrel BBQs so it has this smokiness to it. Plus it makes it that much more the perfect hobo food for the lost vegan girl riding the train around. I make this delight at home whenever I'm feeling nostalgic.

 

This is Mark Bittman's recipe for Socca, I use it for reference when I make mine. Since I am watching my calories, I only used 3 Tablespoons of olive oil and it's still good but doesn't melt in your mouth like the real thing. He's not kidding about the pepper, the more the better. I usually skip the rosemary and onion in favor of a teaspoon of cumin, which is how I enjoyed it in Nice.

Socca (Farinata)
Time: 45 minutes

1 cup chickpea flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon, at least, ground black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced, optional


1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, optional.

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a well-seasoned or nonstick 12-inch pizza pan or cast-iron skillet in oven. Sift chickpea flour into a bowl; add salt and pepper; then slowly add 1 cup lukewarm water, whisking to eliminate lumps. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover, and let sit while oven heats, or as long as 12 hours. Batter should be about the consistency of heavy cream.
2. If using onion and rosemary, stir them into batter. Pour 2 tablespoons oil into heated pan, and swirl to cover pan evenly. Pour in batter, and bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until pancake is firm and edges set. Heat broiler, and brush top of socca with 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil if it looks dry.
3. Set socca a few inches away from broiler for a few minutes, just long enough to brown it spottily. Cut it into wedges, and serve hot, or at least warm.

Yield: 4 to 6 appetizer servings.

To impart that same BBQ smoky flavor, I make mine in a cast iron skillet:
 

Socca is excellent on its own, but it's fun to dress up too. Here I've made it like a pizza, mimicking my favorite vegan pizza from carmelita. This is white beans pureed with truffle oil, porcini mushrooms, pecans, roasted garlice, and water cress. Yum.

 

And since I am definitely not a vegan anymore -- I actually gave up soon after leaving Nice nearly 14 years ago -- I thought I'd try it out with one of my favorite combinations: havarti and tomato. This was better than the toasted havarti and tomato sandwich I made a few weeks ago.

 

Shiritaki Ramen

Top Ramen is a favorite of mine. But I'm trying not to indulge too much because it's a bit high-cal and low-nutrient, so I've been making a variation with Tofu Shirataki noodles.

I put some onion whips and fava bean leaves from the garden, as well as peppers, tomatoes, and quorn faux chicken for flavor.

These are the whips and fava leaves.

 

The final dish. I'm really enjoying Better than Bullion's No Beef Broth for soups.
 

More Adventures with Watercress

We thoroughly enjoyed the first batch of watercress, but what really inspired me to buy it a second time is this pizza we had with Elizabeth and Sean at the Carmelita Happy Hour - which no one should miss - it was a flatbread with sunchokes pureed with truffle oil, hen of the woods mushrooms, pecans, roasted garlic, and topped with a watercress salad. So amazingly good.

Here's my version below:
 
I couldn't get sunchokes, but it's a newman's own four cheese, topped with rehydrated porcini mushrooms, slivers of garlic, pecans, and waterdress dressed with white truffle oil. Delicious.

And of course we had to have it our favorite way from last time again - pink lady apples, pecans, and gorgonzola.
 

A new favorite, truffle oil dressing, with hazelnuts, and pecorino.
 

And on top of ramen to add a little pepper to the soup :)
 

The Full English

I am a huge fan of the full English breakfast. I love the variety, heartiness and ingenious use of leftovers, this is a breakfast designed to get you through a full day of hard work. The leftovers usually appear in vegetables from the night before often as bubble and scrape, which is a mash up of potatoes cooked in the roast with greens made into a patty and fried. Unfortunately, the full English is a bit of meat fest. It usually has two kinds of sausage, bacon, bubble and scrape, beans, tomatoes and occasionally mushrooms! Oh, and of course a fried egg! Hearty is no joke here.

But a vegetarian version can be lighter fare for a day when you know lunch will be late or dinner early.

This one features roasted tomatoes, peppers, and shitake mushrooms for the vegetables.
 

Spinach, sauteed with white beans and garlic sub in for beans and bubble and scrape, though i added half a hash brown patty for good measure. And what would breakfast be without morningstar veggie sausage?