Just feed me noodles ..,.

I recently went through a love affair with mung bean noodles — you know, the skinny white rolled up noodles that come in the pink nylon string packages. I love those things, and they are so easy to make I can have a savory stir-fry ready in about 20 minutes. I start soaking the noodles in warm water, and then prepare the veggies. The vegetables get stir-fried in my wok in a little oil. The sauce is added, and then the noodles are tossed into the wok and stir-fried briefly to soften them and mix them with the sauce. 

My favorite vegetables to add in are Chinese cabbage and broccoli, but I try to vary the combinations for each dish so it won't get boring, and also I like to eat a variety of different veggies. The sauces are usually mixed from sriracha or chili paste plus a little sweetener, or sometimes from a prepared Thai curry paste. My favorite brand is Thai and True — love the Massamun curry paste! I add a small chunk to the wok and chop at it with the spatula while sprinkling on small amounts of water, mixing until a sauce is formed.

Tofu is often the protein of choice because it's so fast and easy, and I like it a lot. But beans or tempeh might make an appearance, or as in the bowl above, soy curls. Sometimes it's just veggies.

Garnishing with peanuts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts or my favorite, pumpkin seeds adds another level of interest and nutrition.

Fresh veggies can be combined with leftovers, or even frozen choices like in the kale, (frozen) corn and bean dish above.  There's really no need to eat boring food when you can whip up something delicious (and vegan!) in such a short time.

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 Sometimes, when I'm not cooking or eating, I hang out with my two little grandchildren. Here we are recently relaxing on a lazy afternoon.

So, who is going to Vida Vegan Con? I want to meet you!

Did you say green curry paste? Is this Tuesday already?

Let's call this Product Test Tuesday, because I'm about to give you the heads up about several things I've been tasting lately. When someone asks if they can send me a product to sample, it's hard to say no. Especially if it sounds really good, and I'm hungry when the offer arrives in my inbox. Such was the situation when the folks at Hail Merry offered to send me a bunch of raw, GF vegan snacks to sample. Would you say no?


Blonde macaroons

The first thing I tried was a blond macaroon and it tasted great — a sweet, moist mix of coconut and bourbon vanilla flavor with a hint of maple syrup. It was small but dense, with a serving size listed as two pieces, and there was no way I could eat more than that. A serving has 11 grams of fat (8 grams saturated), 10 grams of carbohydrate, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar and 1 gram of protein. Everyone has a different opinion about fat, so I'll let you come to your own conclusions about the nutritional profile of these treats. If you can limit yourself to one or two, fine, but if you're looking for a a snack you can eat a lot of, this might be a wrong choice — delicious, though.



The next thing I tried (the next day, actually, I was full after the blondes) were the Choco Macaroons. I didn't like these nearly as well because they tasted kind of dry to me, and the chocolate flavor seemed muted. My co-taster, however, thought that while they were dry, they were also delicious. She described them as "subtle and not too sweet."


Grawnola

After the Choco macaroons, it was on to the Grawnola in orange cranberry. At first I thought the cinnamon flavor was too strong, but I've changed my mind. Now I'm kind of addicted to the stuff and need to finish this review quickly and get it out of the room so I'll stop tasting it.

In my box of samples were also three bags of flavored pecans — orange rosemary, lemon thyme and Chimayo chile. Like the other treats, they are raw, vegan and gluten-free. My co-tester loved the lemon thyme and I thought the Chimayo chile pecans were fantastic, with their slightly gooey, spicy coating. I could eat way too many of these amazing gourmet morsels.


Orange rosemary pecans

The nuts are soaked and dehydrated at low temperatures before being mixed with organic palm sugar and other flavors. Once again, they are a bit high in fat (110 out of 150 calories), which you would expect from nuts. But eating nuts in moderation is part of a healthy diet. I usually don't like sweetened nuts, but these were delicious.

Thank you Hail Merry for sending me these delicious treats.
disclaimer: I was sent the Hail Merry samples without obligation to publish my opinion. I was not paid.

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Thai and True



In my last post I talked about visiting Sidecar Vegan store and purchasing two varieties of Thai and True curry paste, which is made in Oregon. Last night my son whipped up a Thai coconut curry with the green curry paste. This stuff is so GOOD! All three of us who ate it were enthusiastic about the results. The curry was made with Thai eggplant, carrots, broccoli, red onion, cashews, hot peppers, lots of young ginger, garlic and coconut milk. My son likes very spicy food, so after dinner, I tasted a bit of the plain curry paste from the jar in order to gauge its heat. I'd call it mildly spicy with a slight after-kick, and wonderfully delicious.



Although called green curry, it wasn't exactly green. It was actually kind of brown.



Jar size, 6 ounces. Cost at Sidecar: $4.45. Made in Oregon
Ingredients: green curry paste (green chili, shallot, lemon grass, salt, garlic, galgangal, kaffir lime zest, cumin powder, coriander seed, turmeric), rice bran oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tblsp = 1 serving
total fat .5g
sodium 5mg
vitamin C 6%
everything else: 0