Panang Cucumber Curry

This has been such a hard two weeks.  Two weeks ago my cat Crookers had to be put to sleep.  Then last Sunday my youngest cat, Little Kitty started getting sick.  It began with her throwing up and I took her into the animal hospital because it wouldn't stop.  Then she got a very bad respiratory infection last Wed and stopped eating and drinking.  Thursday I went to 5 different stores buying things to try to get her to eat and drink.  I turned the bathroom into a sauna a few times a day to make her feel better.  It has been nuts.  I guess that this is what it is like to have a sick child, I am just looking forward to getting her back to normal.  She is starting to eat and drink again, luckily, and hopefully the infection will go away in a day or two.  

One of my favorite recipes is my stir-fried cucumbers and I wanted to try to make another cucumber recipe where the cucumbers were cooked because I have a hard time digesting raw cucumbers.  This recipe looked interesting but a bit scary-- curry and cucumbers?  However, the two unlikely ingredients work together well and it definitely makes a meal that you haven't had before!

Panang Cucumber Curry

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients

I Tbs of olive oil

1 4 oz can panang curry paste (I couldn't find any, so I used red curry paste instead)

1 13 oz can of light coconut milk 

1 1/2 tsp grated lime zest

2 tsp soy sauce

1 large english cucumber, seeded, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 red pepper cut into strips

1 small onion

1/3 cup of thai basil leaves

1 container of tofu

2 tsp lime juice

Wrap the tofu in a few paper towels.  Put on a plate and put a plate on top of it to press.  Wait 30 minutes then pat dry.  Cut into cubes.

Put oil in pan and heat on medium-low.  Add curry paste and cook for 4 minutes, stirring often, until it gets fragrant.  Add coconut milk, lime zest, and soy sauce.  Simmer for 5 minutes until it begins to thicken.  

Add cucumber, pepper and onion.  Cook 10 - 12 minutes until cucumbers are crisp tender.  Add in basil and tofu and then cook for around 4 more minutes.  Add lime juice and serve.  

Thai Basil Eggplant with Tofu

Since I have been home from my vacation in New Orleans, I have been craving vegetables.  However, since I am still having a hard time coping with the death of Crookers, I am just not up to cooking.   Therefore my lunches consist of black bean veggie burgers (soo good for being pre-made) and eggs and rice for dinner.  Sad, but thats all I can manage right now.  I know he was just a pet, but his death left a hole in our home.   There is no one walking around meowing, sleeping next to me when my husband works late at work, or trying to steal the turkey out of my husband's sandwich while he is eating it.  My other cat, Little Kitty, has been sick too.  Last night when I opened up a can of food, she took a sniff and then walked into the other room and threw up.  Since it was the same exact thing that Crookers did the day he died and she had never done it before, I became convinced that she was going to die too.  Totally irrational, especially since it was 11pm and I had to be up at 6am, but I really lost it.  This morning I woke up at 4 am and she wouldn't eat.  6 am and she finished off a handful of treats.  Thank goodness.  I think the next few weeks are going to be touchy but hopefully I can move past this.

This recipe idea came from one of my favorite take out foods.  Whenever I go to my mom's house she orders tofu and eggplant for me.  I went through different recipes and this is the closest I could find to the takeout dish.  Well, if I can't cook right now, at least I can look at good meals!

Thai Basil Eggplant with Tofu

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients
4 asian eggplants or 2 Italian eggplants
3 Tbs oyster sauce
3 tsp sugar
3 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs olive oil
1 container with tofu
2 tsp garlic minced
1 red bell pepper
1/4 cup green onions chopped
Handful of thai basil

Set the oven for 400 degrees.  Press the tofu by wrapping it in a few paper towels, putting on a plate, and putting another plate on the top.  Let it sit for 30 min.  Then blot off moisture with another paper towel and cut into 1 inch cubes or strips.  Toss with 1 Tbs olive oil and put in oven.   Cook for 30 minutes until browning, flipping halfway through.

In a bowl, mix oyster sauce, sugar, and sesame oil and put to the side.  Put the olive oil in a large pan and heat over medium-high heat.   Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add bell pepper and eggplant and stir fry for 10 - 15 minutes until soft.  Add oyster sauce and stir.  Then add tofu and green onions.  Take off heat, add thai basil, and serve.

Lettuce Wraps and Asian Cucumber Salad

Well, we made it through snowmageddon and for the first time in 13 years my work was closed. Woo hooo! Well, not really. I thought I would enjoy snow days more, but instead of relaxing I spent it shoveling for 5 hours so I could get my car out just in case I had work the next day. My brother and I (with my husband supervising since he cant move his back still) shoveled the sideway, our cars, and our part of the alley out. Then we realized no one else was shoveling so we shoveled 4 more houses to the left. On the right was a 10 ft hill that a bulldozer created early in the morning cutting off one side of the alley. Once we shoveled 4 houses down, we realized that there were around 4 more houses to go. By this time two other guys from other houses had come out and suggested we take on the hill instead. So we did the hill and every part of me still aches... plus I was really angry with our neighbors who live under us. When we first came out, they came by (from a friends house) and laughed. When we asked for help, they said they had a snow blower and we asked that they bring it. They left and didn't came back until we finished everything. We even texted them while shoveling and no help. The next snow day I spent the whole day working on an IEP and I would like to complain about that too, but you never know who reads things on the Internet, so all I have to say is that I find some people's work ethic disgusting.

The day before the snow I went shopping and wanted something that tasted fresh. I had looked at a lettuce wrap recipe from This Week For Dinner and kept it in mind when shopping. My husband hates tofu (I have no idea why, it is so bland and sucks up any sauce that it is) so I had to make a vegetarian and a meat option.

2 Types of Lettuce Wraps

Adapted from This Week For Dinner

Ingredients

1 pound of pork chops (sliced up into small bits) or ground chicken, pork, turkey, etc

1 container of tofu, cubed

1 onion, chopped into small cubes

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbs of fresh ginger, minced

1 can of water chestnuts, chopped

1 container of fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped into small cubes

1 Tbs of soy sauce

1/4 cups of hoisin

1 Tbs of sherry

1 Tbs of Asian chili pepper sauce

1/2 cup toasted cashews, chopped

1 bunch of green onions

2 tsp of sesame oil

1 - 2 heads of butter or bibb lettuce

1 Tbs of hoisin sauce

3 Tbs of plum sauce

If Making Both Types

Add a Tbs of oil in a large skillet and saute garlic, onions and ginger over medium heat until soft. Add mushrooms and bell peppers and saute for a minute or two. Then add soy sauce, hoisin, sherry and chili pepper sauce and simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in chopped water chestnuts and then remove from heat. Put into two bowls. Cook the pork by sprinkling with salt and pepper sauteing for a few minutes until no longer pink. Mix in with ingredients in one bowl. Put a Tbs of oil in pan for tofu and wait till hot. Put in tofu and cook until it is as browned as you like. Put tofu in other bowl and mix with other ingredients. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil, half of the cashews, and half of the green onions in each bowl. Serve with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce.

If Making Just Pork

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add pork (seasoned with salt and pepper to taste), onions and garlic and cook until pork is cooked through. Then add mushrooms and bell peppers and saute for a minute or two. Add soy sauce, hoisin, sherry and chili pepper sauce and simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in chopped water chestnuts and then remove from heat. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil, cashews, and green onions and mix in a bowl. Serve with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce.

If Making Just Tofu

Add a Tbs of oil in a large skillet and saute garlic, onions and ginger over medium heat until soft. Add mushrooms and bell peppers and saute for a minute or two. Then add soy sauce, hoisin, sherry and chili pepper sauce and tofu and simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in chopped water chestnuts and then remove from heat. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil and green onions and mix in a bowl. Serve with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce

Mix together hoisin and plum sauce and serve!

Asian Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 large seedless cucumber, peeled, sliced in half then cut in 1/2 inch slices

2 Tbs of chopped onion

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned)

Toasted sesame seeds

Put the cucumber in a bowl and mix with onion. Heat the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan on low heat until sugar is dissovled. Pour on top of cucumber mixture. Cool in refrigerator for an hour or more. Tastes great the next day. Sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds.

Asian Tofu Salad with Seasoned Spinach

I just spent 4 days in Kansas City on a BBQ trip. Great trip, one that 4 years ago I would have talked about for weeks, but for me and my gastroparesis... rough. 4 days of meat 2x a day. Meat that tasted great but made me very sick, oh well. We went to Arthur Bryants, Oklahoma Joes, Gates and Jack Stack.

So back home and back to veggies. I have been waiting for them. The best I could do in KC was baked beans, which I think are absolutely the best. I dont know what they do in KC but their baked beans, especially at Gates and Zarda, but they are unbelievable. My first meal back is from the Moosewood Restaurant's Low-Fat Favorites. It has a crisp taste. However, next time I would press the tofu first so it was less watery. I wanted some spinach also so I made my favorite korean spinach for the bottom.

Asian Tofu Salad

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant's Low-Fat Favorites

Ingredients

Salad

2 cakes of tofu

1/2 cup of diced red bell peppers

1/2 cup of diced scallions

Dressing

4 minced garlic cloves

4 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger root

1 teaspoon chili paste

4 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Put the tofu on a plate that is lined with paper towels. Place some paper towels on top of the tofu and then another plate. If it is balanced, you can place a bowl or something heavier on top. Let sit for 1/2 hour. While letting the tofu sit, create the dressing. Combine all the items in the dressing and whisk it together.

Crumble the tofu into a bowl using your fingers or a fork. Combine with green onions, red bell paper, and the dressing. Serve at warm temperature or cold.

Seasoned Spinach

1 pound of baby leaf spinach

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons of sugar

Blanch the spinach in a pot or in microwave. Rince spinach in cold water and squeeze to remove water. Mix together soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and sugar and mix into spinach.