I have to admit that I have been in a cooking rut and, consequently, a blogging rut lately. I just can’t come up with many creative meals lately. We were in pretty bad shape grocery-wise, so I turned to New Vegetarian Cooking for inspiration. I came across a recipe that I’ve made before, Soba with Green Soybeans. I didn’t have any soba noodles on hand, so I substituted udon and it came out pretty good. The recipe is basically the noodles, mixed with lots of green onions, edamame and a dressing made from soy sauce, sesame seeds, toasted sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and a sweetener (I used agave nectar). It turned out pretty good, but I every time I’ve made this, I realize afterwards that the recipe calls for way too many green onions. I will make a note to cut back on those next time. Just for some extra zing, I thew in a small handful of chopped cilantro.

To go with my noodle dish, I went with Carrie’s brilliant idea for faux “egg” rolls. I pretty much followed her method for making them, except I used my own concoction to make the tofu marinade and dipping sauce:

Dipping Sauce

Equal parts fresh lime juice and soy sauce (or to taste)

splash of rice wine vinegar

splash of water

a small handful of each – chopped fresh cilantro, mint and green onions

a pinch of red pepper flakes

about a 1 inch piece of ginger, minced or grated

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or grated

I made two separate batches of this- one went into a small baking dish to marinate the tofu and one went into a small bowl for dipping. To the tofu marinade, I also added about a teaspoon of red curry paste. I used half of a block of tofu, reserving the other half to make my pan-fried tofu triangles. I cut up the egg roll tofu into small strips and dunked them in the marinade for about 2 hours. Meanwhile, I got my veggies ready, which didn’t take too long considering we only had green cabbage and carrots as suitable egg roll stuffers.

To assemble the egg rolls, I took 1 sheet of phyllo, brushed it ever so lightly with olive oil and topped it with another sheet of phyllo. I did this until I had 3 sheets of phyllo in a nice stack. I cut it in half lengthwise and the two halves each made one egg roll. Nothing scientific about it- throw in some carrots, cabbage, and tofu and roll it up! I used a little bit more olive oil to seal the edge and then I brushed the entire roll with the oil. I baked them on a baking sheet line with parchment paper in a 350 degree oven until they were golden brown (about 10 minutes). These were yummy! I love that you can still get the crispiness of a traditional egg roll without the deep frying and extra calories (and without the egg). I will definitely be making these again- actually, I have them planned for later this week.

The pan-fried tofu triangles are just as easy to prepare. I took the rest of my tofu, cut it into triangles (for Emma- I don’t know why that shape for food appeals to her) and patted them dry. Heat a very large, non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and put in a tiny drop of canola oil (like probably 1/8 to 1/4 of a tsp is all you need). The trick is to use a non-stick skillet for this or you will end up with a big mess. Swirl the oil around the pan and add in the tofu. Cook the tofu on both sides until it is golden brown. Serve with the same dipping sauce as the egg rolls. I make this all the time, especially if I’m not sure whether or not Emma will eat what I’ve already prepared for dinner. She loves them! She wasn’t as fond of the egg rolls or the noodles, but did manage to eat a few bites of noodles after picking off the onions and cilantro. She said they were “dirty.”