Zoodles Week

I had a zucchini and yellow squash that were ready for use. Inspired by the Red Lentil Spaghetti from last week, I went looking for some zoodles recipes and I wasn’t disappointed. I was immediately attracted to this one: Thai Tofu Noodle Soup. Maybe it was because I recently had Panang Curry at True Food Kitchens. I only made minor changes to the original recipe, and it turned out delicious. Served with some wild rice, it was a perfect entry into the quick lunch series.

I still had left over zoodles and the second recipe I tried interestingly enough was also with Thai flavors: Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles. I did not make too many changes to that recipe as well, other than sprinkling some sriracha, crushed red pepper, and Szechuan sauce. 

Sprinkled with cashews (instead of peanuts) and served with left over wild rice, it too was a perfect entry into the quick lunch series!

See Also:

Quick Lunch Series: Zoodles

Last of the Summer Vine: Wild Rice Pilaf

Slowly, but steadily the temperatures are dipping down into the 60’s and 50’s and the lows into 40’s and 30’s. Most of my summer plants, while still alive have stopped producing. Almost.

My late blooming yellow pepper plant has abundant peppers growing, but some menace appears to be attacking them. So this week, I decided to harvest some well grown peppers even if they are still green and haven’t changed color.  I also harvested some Italian flat beans and some red sorrel greens. Eggplant, tomato and zucchini are still alive and flowering but rarely producing fruit. Herbs are still doing great.

I used the beans and peppers to make some Wild Rice Pilaf that turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:

1/2 wild rice
2 small bell peppers
4-5 Italian flat beans
1  shallot chopped
1-2 garlic cloves chopped or minced
a small piece of ginger chopped
3-4 cloves
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
a few mint leaves chopped
1 sliced jalapeno
a few bay leaves
pinch of turmeric
1 tbsp oil
dash of garam masala
dash of cayenne pepper

Bring a cup of water to boil in a bowl and add the wild rice. Reduce flame and let cook for 10-15 minutes till the water evaporates and the wild rice is almost cooked.

In a separate bowl, add oil, cloves, turmeric, and cinnamon. Lightly fry for a few seconds till golden. Add chopped shallot, garlic, ginger, bay leaves, mint and jalapeno and lightly fry until golden. Add cut beans and peppers and continue to fry for 5-6 minutes. Add garam masala, and cayenne pepper and semi cooked rice and mix well. Add salt to taste. Add a little water, reduce flame to low and cover and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes until the beans and pepper soften.

Remove from flame and serve warm with some raita (yogurt and cucumber sauce).