Apricot-Glazed Cauliflower for One

Do you ever have a hankering for barbecue sauce and you’re allergic to tomatoes (on which most such sauces are based)? Try sloshing this sweet and tangy sauce on tofu, slabs of seitan, steamed veggies, or, as seen here, on cauliflower florets. Yum!

2 cups cauliflower florets

3 TBLSP apricot preserves

2 TBLSP miso (yellow or white)

2 TBLSP rice vinegar

2 TBLSP soy sauce or tamari

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for quick clean-up).

1. Place the florets on the baking sheet and heave it in the oven while you mix up the sauce, about 5 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients (preserves, miso, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic and ginger powders.
3. Pull the baking sheet from the oven and slather the florets on all sides with the sauce.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
5. Pull the baking sheet out again, flip everyone over, and bake for another 10-12 minutes. The florets should be fork tender and the sauce should be golden brown and bubbly.

Serve with a refreshing salad. Seen here is a purple rice and zucchini salad, recipe coming soon! 

Apricot-Glazed Fried Tofu for One

If you’re like me and you’re allergic to tomatoes but you sometimes have a hankering for barbecue sauce, you’re going to be happy about this recipe. Try it on soft cauliflower and crunchy fried tofu, and you may find that your world has been rocked.

For Serving:

Brown or white rice, or noodles

½ block firm tofu

½ cup cauliflower florets

1 small handful of green beans, cut to bite-sized

For the Sauce:

3 TBLSP apricot preserves

2 TBLSP miso (yellow or white)

2 TBLSP rice vinegar

2 TBLSP soy sauce or tamari

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 apricot, pitted and sliced thinly

For the Frying:

¾ teaspoon flax seed meal

1 teaspoon water

4 teaspoons all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Pinch of baking powder

Oil for frying

Deal with the Tofu:

1. Heat the waffle iron. Yes, the waffle iron. Don’t question! Just do it!
2. Slice the block of tofu in half so that you have slabs about 1-inch thick. Press the slabs between two plates with a couple of cans on top of them for 15 minutes or so to get the moisture out.
3. Lubricate your waffle iron even if it’s a non-stick version (I use pan spray on the smooth side of the plate, but you can use the waffle side too). Set the slabs of tofu in there and close the waffle iron up. Mine takes about 15 minutes to create a nice golden-brown crust on both sides. Watch it, opening it up periodically to see if it’s enjoying its sojourn.

Steam the Veggies:

1. Meanwhile, place the florets and string beans in your steamer over boiling water and get your rice or noodles cooking.

It’s also time to get the sauce going. You’ll also want to get your rice or noodles going at this time too.

Make the Sauce:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the apricot preserves, miso, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic and ginger powders. Once it’s well combined, toss in the apricot pieces.
2. Cook over a gentle heat until it’s thickened and reduced a little bit.
3. Set aside.

Fry the Tofu:

1. In a tiny bowl, combine the flax and water and set aside to become a gooey mess.
2. In a bowl large enough to hold the tofu, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. By the time you’ve got that stirred up, the flax should be gloppy, so add that in too.
3. Stir it together. If it’s too thick (which is likely), add a little more water until it’s about the consistency of pancake batter.
4. Cut the ironed tofu into 1-inch cubes. Some of it will crumble. That’s okay.
5. Plop the tofu into the batter and roll it gently around until it’s nicely coated.
6. In a skillet, heat about ¼-inch of oil (I use canola oil, but you use whatever you like) until it shimmers.
7. Drop the tofu cubes into the oil one at a time. Give them some space or they will stick to one another. 
8. When the bottoms are golden, flip them over. You might need to do four sides or six, depending on how deep and hot your oil is. Mostly, the tofu is cooked, so you’re just getting a crispy batter coating to be golden.

Assemble the Meal:

1. Make an artful array of the rice or noodles.
2. Add the veggies to the top and drizzle some of the glaze over them.
3. Set the tofu to one side or right in the middle of your steamed veggies and drizzle the rest of the glaze over that. You might roll the little fried darlings around in the sauce to get a more even coating, but it will make them slightly soggy. So at your own risk…

Devour with the joyous hum of a thousand wasps. 

Noodle Salad for One

I make this tasty bowl-full all the time. It’s easy, fast, and uses just about all the leftovers in the fridge, and best of all, it tastes great!

1 large handful noodles (I like corn and quinoa—gluten-free—penne, but anything will do)

1 small head broccoli, cut into florets

5 stalks asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

5 slices zucchini, cut into sixths

½ carrot, diced

5 slices cucumber, diced

1 green onion, diced

1 ½ TBLSP vegan mayonnaise

1 tsp Dijon-style mustard

1 ½ teaspoon pickle relish, or 2 slices of pickle, diced

1 TBLSP lemon juice, pickle juice. or rice vinegar

Pinch dried parsley

Pinch dried basil

Pinch of garlic powder

Pinch of salt (if you’ve used pickle juice, it’s salty, so taste first!)

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Pignolia or other nut

1. Get the water boiling and toss the noodles in when it’s ready. Follow the manufacturer’s direction, and don’t overcook them. Drain and put into a bowl.
2. In another pan, get the broccoli florets, asparagus pieces, and zucchini bits boiling. Don’t overcook these either! Drain, and plop them into the same bowl as the noodles.
3. Add the diced carrot, cucumber, and green onion to the bowl with the noodles and cooked veggies.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, relish/pickle, lemon juice, and the dried herbs and spices.
5. Combine the dressing that you just made with the noodles and mix them gently. Top with the seeds or nuts.
6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and then devour, or take it on a picnic, for a fun time.

Radical Rangoons for One

This little recipe is usually an appetizer, but it’s so good, you’ll want to make a meal out of it. Vegan wanton wrappers are hard to find, but it’s not hard to make your own. They’re not pristine and perfect like the store-bought ones, but you won’t care when the nori recalls the sea to your taste buds and the horseradish makes you glad you were born.

For the Wanton Wrappers:

½ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

2 TBLSP hot water (not boiling)

For the Filling:

1 TBLSP canola oil, more for frying

1 garlic clove, minced

2 green onions, chopped

5 fresh shiitake mushrooms (or any other kind you like—oyster would be particularly good)

Slosh of tahini or soy sauce

4 TBLSP vegan cream cheese

For Assembly:

For Assembly:

1 nori sheet, cut into 2-inch squared

For the Sauce:

1 TBLSP Dijon-style mustard

2 teaspoons freshly grated horseradish

Make the Wanton Wrappers:

1. Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl (a cereal bowl will do) and add in the water. Knead it until it’s a supple dough, a little bit shiny and fairly sticky. You may have to add pinches of flour or dribbles of water to get it right.
2. Roll the lovely dough into a ball, dust it with flour, and wrap with plastic wrap. Let it sit in a quiet corner meditating for about half an hour. (Not in the refrigerator.)
3. When its time has come, unwrap the dough and plop it onto a lightly floured surface. I like to cover my counter in waxed paper because it makes cleanup easier, but you flour whatever surface appeals to you.
4. Knead the dough for about 2 minutes. It will seem springier than it did before its rest and have a quiet sheen to it.
5. Roll the dough into a log about 1-inch thick and slice the log into 1-inch segments. I get 6 or 8, depending on my mood.
6. Flatten the pieces of dough into little rounds with your fingers, and then hit ‘em with the rolling pin to make them very thin and about 3-inches in diameter. Mine aren’t exactly round and it still works out just fine.

• Another method is to roll out one big sheet and then cut it into 3-inch squares, and fold the little darlings into triangles over the filling. This way gets a less tender wanton, but it’s still pretty darn good.

If you’re not using them right away, wrap the circles (or squares) individually in plastic wrap and then let them enjoy the quiet and darkness of the refrigerator. They’ll keep about a week, so it’s definitely something you can do the night before.

Make the Filling:

1. In a small skillet, heat the TBLSP of canola oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauté them for 45 seconds or so, until they start to smell fabulous.
2. Add in the mushrooms and cook, stirring merrily, until they’re tender.
3. Add the tahini or soy sauce and remove from the heat.
4. Add in the cream cheese and combine until thoroughly mixed. The heat will melt the cheese a bit.
5. Set aside until it’s completely cooled.

Make the Sauce:

1. In a small bowl, vigorously stir the mustard and horseradish.
2. I made a second sauce (equal parts—about 1 TBLSP each—of tahini, mirin, rice vinegar, and miso, tossed in a little garlic powder and whisked until smooth), which is my go-to dipping sauce, but it was too bland for these little minxes. You’ll want the fire of the horseradish, so I didn’t include the recipe for the second sauce in the ingredients section.

Assemble the Rangoons:

1. In a large skillet, heat about ¼-inch of canola oil over high or medium-high heat.
2. Peel one of the wrappers up from its little plastic wrap so you know that it’s inclined to roam freely, and then set it down again. You might try stretching it a bit while it’s up in the air, just enough to get it roundish and about 3 inches. I tried loading them up in my hand, but the heat of my hands made the dough stick and we had to have a serious conversation about cooperating. So put the wrappers down again.
3. In the center of your wrapper, place a square of nori. In the center of the nori, place a blop, maybe a scant teaspoon, of the filling.
4. Wet your finger (I put a little bowl of water there to prevent wasting water or getting glop all over my faucet), and trace the circumference of the wrapper with your wet finger.
5. Fold the little darling into a semi-circle (or triangle), pinching or folding the edges together. The water will help. Try to avoid the filling pushing its way out. It will be petulant and try, but you’re in charge here. The nori will fold in half on the inside and make a sturdy spine for the little thing, if you do it right.
6. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers and filling.
7. Fry the assembled rangoons in the hot oil, turning them over when the first side is golden.
8. Let the finished rangoons rest in splendor on a paper towel and then serve immediately with the prepared sauce.

 

Bean and Rice Meatless Balls for One

These delicate little balls have a very mild flavor. You could go nuts with seasoning, or, if you’re like me, go nuts with a flavorful sauce.

2 TBLSP olive oil

¼ small yellow onion

2 ounces sliced mushrooms (about ½ cup), button, cremini, Portobello—whatever you have

½ shallot, sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup cooked beans (black, garbanzo, navy—whatever you like, even lentils!)

2 TBLSP fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves only

1/3 cup cooked brown rice

2 TBLSP breadcrumbs (use gluten-free, if you like, so long as they’re fresh)

½ teaspoon tapioca starch (which is the same thing as tapioca flour)

¼ teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper, to taste

Canola for frying

1.  In a non-stick pan, add the olive oil and sauté the onion and mushrooms until they’re lightly browned. 
2. Add the shallots until they begin to soften and brown.
3. Add the garlic and cook for one minute, until just fragrant. Transfer the onions and mushrooms to a food processor.
4. Add the beans, parsley, rice, breadcrumbs, tapioca starch, salt and pepper to the food processor and pulse until the mixture just barely comes together in a ball. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. It seems to help with the frying.
5. With your hands, form the mixture into 1-2-inch balls. There should be between 6 and 10 of them.
6. In the same non-stick pan you used before, heat some oil for frying—it’s not deep-fry, but there should be plenty of oil in there to make the cooking go quickly. Panfry the balls in a single layer, about 2 minutes on each side. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need more than one batch. 
7. Let them rest on a paper-towel-covered plate while you prepare whatever vessel and sauce they’re going onto.

Shown here with Stroganoff Sauce(immediately above and below) and Portobello Mushroom Sauce (up at the top).

It’s nice served in a sauce (I like mushroomy sauce, like Mushroom Gravy, but you might also try pesto or a tomato sauce), on a sandwich slathered with pesto or mustard, or dipped into a ranch-style dressing on the end of a toothpick. Oh, and why not put them on top of a big pile of pasta or on a pizza, while you’re at it! 

 You could also make this into two burger-sized patties and fry or bake for a hamburger experience.

Broccoli and Kale Burger for One

This burger is quite delicate and nearly falls apart when you touch it with the fork. But don’t let that dissuade you—a soft burger is a delight to the palate as well as to the tummy.

½ TBLSP olive oil

2 TBLSP chopped yellow onion

2 chopped green onions

1 clove garlic, chopped finely

4 teaspoons coarsely chopped button mushroom (about 2 large-ish ones)

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup broccoli (florets and stems)

¾ cup kale

½ slice bread

1 teaspoon peanut butter

2 TBLSP walnut pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for frying

1. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and sauté the onion and green onions. This should take 3-5 minutes, just until the onion begins to soften. Toss in the mushrooms and cook until most (but not all) of the water has released and evaporated, about 3 more minutes.
2. Add the garlic and let it cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant.
3. Remove the onions and mushrooms from the heat and stir in the cumin. It will smell fabulous.
4. In a food processor or blender, whirl the broccoli, until it’s broken down into little pellets but isn’t mush. Place this in a bowl. Repeat the blender-to-bowl activity with the kale and the bread. They don’t need to end up in separate bowls because you’re about to mix them.
5. Add in the peanut butter and walnuts and mix it all together. Taste it and add salt and pepper, if needed.
6. Form the mixture into a patty (or two, depending on your mood) on top of a piece of plastic wrap. Cover with wrap (wrap with wrap) and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. (Otherwise, it will be too soft to fry.)
7. In a small skillet, heat the olive oil and fry the patty for about 5 minutes on each side.

Serve with carrot salad, on a bun, with a side of rice and corn (as shown), or break it up to put on top of a nice crispy salad.

Variations:

• You could make the same kind of patty using equal amounts of spinach, chard, or whatever your favorite green is.
• Stuff a pita bread with the broken-up patty and some veggies. Tahini sauce is pretty good with this.

Zucchini and Corn Fritters for One

It’s summer, and I’ve got zucchini coming out of my ears! And I’ve got ears of corn! (See what I did there?) After I’ve had my fill of it steamed and raw, it’s time to start playing with my food. Here’s the result of one such happy moment in time.

½ cup plus 2 TBLSP shredded zucchini

1 ½ TBLSP corn kernels (frozen and thawed is fine, fresh is better, canned will do)

2 ¼ TBLSP almond butter, tahini, or peanut butter

2 TBLSP flour (I use all-purpose, but any gluten-free will do just as well)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

Pinch sea salt

Ground black pepper to taste

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Place the zucchini in a strainer and put a couple of paper towels on top. Press down hard, and squeeze out the water. When it seems dry, wrap the zucchini in more paper towels and squeeze some more. You’ll be surprised how much water is in there.
2. Put the dried zucchini in a small bowl. Add the corn and nut butter, stirring to combine.
3. In another small bowl, combine the flour, garlic and onion powders, salt, and pepper, and stir until it’s well mixed.
4. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini and moosh it together until it forms a nicely homogenous glob. The result should be moist and sticky.
5. Divide the resulting glop into three or four balls and flatten them into patties, about ½-inch thick. Place on the prepared baking sheet and set them to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

This is a good time to make the sauce. I’ve used a nice lemon and pepper sauce (recipe below) for this photo, but ranch dressing, pineapple salad dressing, pesto, or just about any savory sauce or salad dressing would be nice.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Bake the patties for 20-25 minutes. Use a spatula (because these little guys are delicate still), and flip them over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, depending on whether you want them crispy or not. They will be a lovely golden brown color.

Let them cool for a few minutes before serving to increase their sturdiness.

Creamy Lemon Sauce for One

This tangy and creamy sauce goes great with fritters, but try it on noodles or rice, as a dip for crudités, onion rings, or chips, or on a pile of steamed vegetables.

2 TBLSP raw cashews boiled in water for 20 minutes

½ TBLSP fresh lemon juice

1-2 TBLSP water, as needed

Pinch onion powder

Pinch ground black pepper

Pinch sea salt

1. Place the drained cashews in a blender or food processor, add the remaining ingredients, and whirl until it’s a smooth sauce. This will take a couple of minutes, with several pauses to scrape down the sides and such.

This sauce thickens if you put it in the refrigerator. That’s a good thing if you want your sauce thick. If you want it thinner, or to re-thin it after a refrigerator adventure, just add a little water and stir.

Roasted Vegetables with Ranch Dressing for One

Sometimes, leftovers and scraps make the best meals. I’m usually not so lucky as to remember how I got to the place of yummy, but this time, it was simple. 

For the Veggies:

½ zucchini, sliced thinly

½ large sweet potato, sliced thinly

1/8 cauliflower, cut into florets

½ onion, sliced thinly and separated into rings

1 small ear of corn, kernels removed (or ¼ cup frozen)

1 clove garlic, diced tiny

Slosh (or two) of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Noodles or rice to serve

For the Dressing:

2 TBLSP vegan mayonnaise

1 teaspoon vegan sour cream

Splash of tamari or soy sauce

Splash of apple cider vinegar

1 shake of onion powder

1 pinch of dried parsley

1 pinch of dried dill weed

1 pinch of dried oregano

1 pinch of dried tarragon

Salt and black pepper to taste

Make the Veggies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. I use a mandolin to make the veggie slices somewhat uniform in size so they’ll roast evenly, but you do whatever works for you. Plop the veggies onto a baking dish. I use a cookie sheet and just corral the veggies toward the middle.
2. Slosh some olive oil over the top of the veggies and toss some salt and pepper on there too. Give the whole pile a nice toss, so that the veggies are coated evenly with the oil and salt and pepper.
3. Roast for 40-45 minutes, stirring the veggies up several times along the way. The veggies are done when the sweet potatoes are fork soft.

Meanwhile, get the noodles cooking. I used whole wheat in this image, but pretty much any noodle that makes you happy will work. Or rice. Any rice would do. Heck. Try millet, quinoa—any grain that pleases your palate.

Make the Dressing:

1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk.
2. Let it cool in the fridge until the other components are done. 

Assemble the Meal:

1. Make a pile of the roasted (and amazing-smelling) veggies in the middle of your serving plate.
2. When the noodles are cooked and drained, arrange them in a ring around the veggie pile.
3. Spoon the dressing in a thin circle at the perimeter between the veggies and noodles, or just plop it on, whatever makes you happy.

Variations:

• You can use just about any combination of veggies in this mix, whatever is in season or in the fridge. What’s interesting is to play with the seasoning—try Italian herbs, like oregano, basil, parsley, and rosemary (in a blend or on their own).
• Adding nuts or tofu to the top would be good too. 

Mushroom Dim Sum Buns for One

These little filled balls are super filling—they’re metaballs! I thought about making a salad to go with them, but in the end, they were so filling I’d have put the salad back in the fridge.

Makes 5 or 6.

½ cup non-dairy milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon of baking powder

Pinch of sea salt

Peanut oil (or canola)

8 ounces of mushroom—mixed is nice, but anything will do—sliced or diced

2 slices of onion, diced

2 leaves of bok choy or cabbage, diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely diced

½-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely diced

Several sprigs of cilantro or parsley, diced

1 TBLSP rice wine vinegar

2 TBLSP tamari or soy sauce

2 green onions, sliced small

1 TBLSP sesame seeds, toasted slightly in a dry pan

½ TBLSP sesame oil

2-4 TBLSP protein of some sort (optional), such as beans, tofu, or brats, diced small

1. In a small bowl, add the milk, flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir it into a dough. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to half an hour.
2. In a frying pan, heat a splash of the oil over medium heat and toss in the mushrooms and onions and stir fry until they’re golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the bok choy or cabbage and stir fry until it’s soft. Now add in the garlic, ginger, and cilantro.
3. Add the vinegar and soy sauce, and cook for about 5 more minutes, until the liquid has boiled away. The mushrooms should be pretty soft now. Remove from the heat.
4. Add the green onions, sesame seeds, and sesame oil to the mushrooms, and set aside. This is the point to add some protein if you wish, too, like baked tofu, cooked beans, or diced vegan brats.
5. Dust a surface with flour (I like to use a piece of waxed paper for easier clean-up, rather than doing this straight on the kitchen counter), and roll the blob of dough into a thick sausage. Cut it into 6 pieces, roll them into balls, and then flatten them into rounds. I like to make them about 3-inches in diameter, but it’s up to you how thick or big you make them. You could also roll the dough flat with a well-floured rolling pin and cut out neat circles with a cookie or biscuit cutter.
6. Plop some mushroom mixture into the centers of the 6 pieces of dough, making sure that there’s a large circle of bare dough around each mound of mushrooms. Do fill them as full as you can, though. Pull and fold the edges of the dough over the filling, pinching the edges to make a seal. There will be extra stuffing, even if you fill the dumplings very full. It will be nice on scrambled tofu tomorrow morning.
7. Place the little darlings on a cabbage or lettuce leaf (to keep them from sticking to your steamer) or place each in a paper muffin cup with the scruffier sides of the little orbs down. It doesn’t really matter much—it’s not for presentation purposes. It’s for anti-stick purposes.
8. Bring a pot of water to a boil with the steamer already in place. The water should come up to the steamer but not enter it or bad things will happen to your buns and their paper wrappers. Place the buns and their wrappers into the steamer, lower the heat to medium, cover, and steam for about 12 minutes.

Serve with hoisin sauce (recipe included below), plain soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, or a nice soy sauce/miso/rice vinegar/mirin (in equal parts, and seen below) dipping sauce. Yummmmm!.

   

Homemade Hoisin Sauce for One

Produces 1/3 cup.

4 TBLSP soy sauce

2 TBLSP peanut butter

1 TBLSP molasses

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 clove garlic, diced finely

2 teaspoons sesame seed oil

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.
2. Serve with Chinese food, particularly dim sum offerings, like Mushroom Buns, pot stickers, or non-egg rolls. 

Spring Rolls with Ginger-Peanut Sauce for One

I love these little rolls of sunshine. It’s not as hard to make them as it is to decide what to put into them—go crazy! Let your veggies rule the day! 

For the Dipping Sauce:

2 generous TBLSP peanut butter (or almond butter, in a pinch)

2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce

1 ½ teaspoons brown sugar or maple syrup

1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice (rice vinegar, in a pinch)

Shake or two of garlic powder (or a small fresh clove, diced super small)

Pinch ginger powder (or a small amount of fresh, grated very finely)

Hot water to thin

For the Rolls:

4-6 spring roll wrappers (available in the Asian section of the grocery store)

Crunchy things, including but not limited to:

Mung bean sprouts

1 mushroom, sliced thinly

1 small carrot, julienned thinly

1 inch of cucumber, julienned thinly

Baked tofu, cut into slender slabs

Cilantro leaves, plucked from about 8 stems

Mint leaves, plucked from about 6 stems

2 lettuce leaves, chopped a little

2 green onions, diced

Plum sauce

1/2 Avocado, sliced

Left-over stir-fry

Vegan cream cheese

Alfalfa sprouts

Asparagus, cooked and cut into 2-inch lengths

Green beans, cooked and cut into 2-inch lengths

Pickled red onion

1 mushroom, sliced and sautéed in olive oil or vegan butter

Make the Dipping Sauce:

1. In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter with the soy sauce and sweetener of your choice. Thin with the lime juice. (I used rice vinegar when I didn’t have any citrus and it was fine.)
2. Add in the garlic and ginger to taste. Thin with water, if necessary. It should be fairly gloppy, but you want to be able to dip a soft spring roll in there.

Make the Rolls:

Set up a work station like this:

1 dinner plate with cold water in it (nearly to the rim)

1 dinner plate for assembly

1 plate or cutting board with your prepared veggies lined up—everything should be horizontal, to make it easier

1 serving plate

1. Place one wrapper in the plate full of water. Dunk it well, and flip it over. You’ll want to run your fingers all over this one (it feels slippery in the nicest way). The next wrapper will soak while you’re assembling this first one, so you won’t have to stand there impatiently next time. When the wrapper is transparent and very very soft, pick it up by the edges and lay it as flat as you can on the assembly plate. Dunk another wrapper into the water and turn it over to soak while you’re assembling Spring Roll Number One.
2. Lay a pretty veggie (it will show through) on the prepared wrapper. Put it on the wrapper just south of the center. If the wrapper is 6-inches wide, you’ll want to keep your veggies limited to a 2-inch-wide stack in the middle. If your wrapper is larger, you can take up more space proportionately.
3. Layer ensuing veggies on top of the pretty one, being careful to keep everything very horizontal. The stack, when complete, should be 2-inches horizontal, 1-inch vertical, and about 1-inch high. Helpful hint: Mung bean sprouts are wily creatures and you may want to shuffle them like cards before lining them up on the stack.
4. Fold in the SIDES of the wrapper first, snuggling them tightly against the stack of veggies. Over-long or sharp veggies (like julienned carrots) may poke through, so monitor them closely.
5. Now fold the edge closest to you up over the stack of veggies. You can pull on it a bit to get it to completely cover the veggies and most of the far side of the stack.
6. Carefully roll the little darling up, pushing the bottom of the stack over the remaining bit of wrapper. You can tug on the wrapper a bit without tearing it, and the tighter you get the roll, the easier it is to eat.
7. Set the beautiful little roll on the serving plate. Congratulate your self, because it wasn’t as hard as you thought it would be.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 with the remaining wrappers and veggies.

These will keep overnight if you wrap them in plastic wrap, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t just fall on them like a condemned prisoner and devour them at once.

  

Vietnamese Vermicelli Bowl for One

Vietnamese food can often seem like the most marvelous combination of Chinese and French cuisines. It’s the adaptability of the Chinese and the sauces of the French that they marry so well. I think what I love best (after the fresh mint and cilantro) is that they don’t shy away from serving hot foods with cold salad ingredients.

For the Dressing:

                2 TBLSP white vinegar (I like rice, but any pale vinegar will do)

                ½ TBLSP granulated sugar

                ½ TBLSP lime juice (or lemon)

                1 inch of carrot, finely grated or shredded

                Itty bitty slosh of soy sauce

For the Noodles:

                1 serving (about as many noodles as you can contain between your forefinger and thumb) vermicelli noodles (ramen-style noodles work nicely, too)

    Boiling water

For the Veggies: (any combination of the following—use your own favorites)

                A blop of olive or peanut oil. Probably less than a tablespoon.

     1 carrot, sliced thinly or julienned

                1 mushroom, cut in half and then sliced thinly

                2 slices of yellow onion, diced

                1 clove garlic, minced

    ¼ head broccoli, cut into florets

    1 very large handful of fresh spinach, chopped roughly

                2 ounces baked tofu, diced or sliced

    1 handful mung bean sprouts

    7 or 8 slices of zucchini, quartered

For the Crunchies:

                Small handful of lettuce

                1 or 2 sprigs of fresh cilantro or parsley

                2 sprigs of fresh mint

    2 slices of cucumber, diced into tiny cubes

                1 TBLSP peanuts, crushed or chopped (I also use raw cashews. Delicious!)

For the Dressing:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Be sure to get the sugar mixed in there.

For the Noodles:

• If you’re using Italian pasta-style vermicelli noodles, get the water boiling and get the noodles in there. The veggies will go fast. Drain the finished noodles and place in a serving bowl.
• If you’re using ramen-style noodles, follow manufacturer’s directions. Mine say to run water over the noodles (in a strainer) and then stir-fry the noodles until they’re the right consistency. Place in the serving bowl.

For the Veggies:

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Settle the veggies (not the tofu or spinach yet) into the oil, and stir fry until the carrots soften. About 4 minutes.
2. Add in the tofu and spinach, and stir-fry until the tofu is heated through and the spinach is wilted. About 2 minutes.
3. Place in the serving bowl with the noodles. I like to make stripes—noodles, veggies, and crunchies.

For the Crunchies:

1. Apply the crunchies artfully to the top of your creation.
2. Sprinkle the peanuts over the top.
3. Swozzle the whole thing with the yummy dressing.

It looks like a lot of food, but trust me, you can do it!

 

Bánh Xèo—Vietnamese Crepes—for One

I had this in a restaurant and it was so good, I scurried home to figure out how to make it myself. OMG. It’s SOOOO worth the wait for the batter. You could put the batter together at breakfast time and then cook up the meal for lunch or dinner, and you’ll hardly even notice the wait. Or maybe leave it overnight. You DO want to wait though. The flavors intensify with time.

For the Crepe:

¼ cup rice flour

2 TBLSP all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon turmeric (more, if you like a stronger color)

½ cup water

¼ cup coconut milk (other non-dairy milks work too)

Pinch salt

Vegetable oil (for cooking)

For the Filling:

½ cup of any combination of the following:

Cooked broccoli

Scallion, chopped small

Carrots, julienned

Mushroom, lightly sautéed

Mung bean sprouts

Spinach, chopped

Cucumber, diced small

Avocado, sliced

Radish, sliced and diced

Baked tofu, cut into small cubes

For the Crunchies:

Lettuce/spinach leaves

Mint leaves

Cilantro

Cucumber disks

For the Sauce:

2 TBLSP rice vinegar

1 TBLSP water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 TBLSP finely julienned carrot

1 TBLSP finely julienned jicama (optional)

Prepare the Crepe Batter

1. Combine rice and all-purpose flours, turmeric, water, milk, and salt in a small bowl, and let them sit for at least 3 hours. It should be more like orange juice than pancake batter. The turmeric will get increasingly brighter in time, so go easy on this.

Prepare the Filling:

1. Cook, sauté, or dice the filling ingredients of your choice. I like to leave them fairly separate when I toss them on my crepe, but you could pile them into a bowl and mix them, too.

Make the Sauce:

1. In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients. You might want to stir the sugar into the vinegar a bit before adding the carrot and jicama. If this sits for a little while, the vinegar pulls some of the color from the carrots, and you get a pale orange sauce.

Cooking the Crepes:

1. In a large (12-inches or larger) non-stick frying pan, slosh in a little cooking oil (not much—the crepe will float if it’s too much), wipe most of it up with a paper towel, and heat over medium heat.
2. Pour in about half of the batter, and quickly rotate and tilt the pan so that the batter spreads evenly over the bottom (not the sides) of the frying pan. Add more batter if you need to get complete coverage. You want it super thin. If the pan is too hot, it will create bubble holes almost immediately.
3. Add some of the filling items, spread evenly and thinly over the crepe. Cover the pan with a lid for 2-3 minutes. The batter should be transparent around the edges when this time is up. If the crepe is too thick, it will still cook just fine. You can tell if it’s cooked after the next step, if you can pick it up with a wide spatula.
4. Remove the lid and lower the heat. When the crepe is crisp (another minute or two), fold it in half and slide it onto your serving plate.
5. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling.

Serve with the crunchies. You can tuck them inside or spread them on top, or maybe tuck them inside individual bites and either dip the bites into the sauce or slosh the sauce over the pile of crepe and veggies.

This may be enough for two. I don’t know. I didn’t have any trouble eating both crepes, but they were delicious and there was no one to prevent me from gluttony. You won't tell, will you?