Monday: Light lemongrass soup

Tofu-lemongrass soup with pak choy and dried shiitake mushrooms.

This Thai-style soup featured a very strongly-flavored and interesting broth due to the combination of lemongrass, shiitakes, brown sugar, soy sauce and cayenne. It reminded us of a sweet-and-sour (and spicy) soup.

Yes, occasionally we do just follow random recipes from strange internet sites....but only when they look good...

Tuesday: And now for something completely different

Lemongrass-quinoa pilaf with Italian cabbage and tofu.

You can probably tell from the above description that this meal was...a little random.

This dish came about because we were looking for recipes which could incorporate the lemongrass we had picked up at the market. We found a suitable lemongrass-flavored quinoa pilaf in Didi Emmons's Vegetarian Planet, and decided to substitute our mystery-varietal cabbage for the broccoli it called for. Hey, they're both crucifers, right? As it turns out, the much stronger flavor of cabbage probably didn't meld quite as well with the lemongrass as broccoli would have, even though it went well enough with the tofu and quinoa elements. In any case, the dish was certainly interesting and wholesome.

The cabbage was too pretty not to show you - the farmer we bought it from specializes in Italian vegetables, and he told us it would be similar in taste and texture to "cavolo nero," also known as dinosaur or Tuscan kale ("black cabbage" in Italian).


Feed me, Seymourrrr...feed me all night looong...

Wednesday: Mid-week masala

Veggie masala with coconut milk and lemongrass, served over basmati rice.

We adapted this recipe from an okra masala in a very crunchy Asian vegan cookbook - okra may be done for the year, since we couldn't find it at the market this week, but we had plenty of broccoli Romanesco left over. We added potato to the recipe, as well, since we had some fingerlings lying around. Back by popular demand, special guest chef Laura (not pictured) assisted with prep.

This is only our second time cooking with lemongrass. It smelled amazingly potent and fresh:



The main flavors in this recipe are the large amount of fresh ginger and lemongrass sauteed at the start, and the can of coconut milk added at the very end, which creates a thick, creamy sauce. We also adapted it a bit by adding some spices we thought would mesh well - a small amount of fenugreek and mustard seed, and a bit of turmeric and cayenne.

Observant readers might note that peas are NOT in fact in season - we confess, we used frozen peas, and in fact we almost always do when peas factor into our cooking. Fresh peas are delightful, but their season is very short, and let's be honest, they're kind of a pain to shell. Frozen peas are one of the few veggies whose quality is quite acceptable. In fact, peas flash-frozen at the right point of ripeness can be just as good as fresh peas that are a bit past their prime.