Props to Prapawadee

The Leftover Queen is holding her August Foodie Joust and the three ingredients that jousters must use to prepare their royal offerings are whole grains, ginger and citrus. While the very word "grain" might strike fear in the hearts of most gluten-free diners, there are a number of safe to eat grains that are blessedly wheat- and gluten-free, including buckwheat groats (kasha), amaranth (have to try that), quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, teff (have to try that too), and millet (aka parakeet food, never want to try that again). Whole grains are wonderful sources of fiber and protein for any diet, so I wanted to be sure to joust this month.

My first stab at the joust was to cook up some kasha with a little water and salt for a supper salad. For the citrus, I had the mistaken thought that canned mandarin oranges might pair well with the kasha and I made this horrendous looking and tasting kasha salad that deserves no further description. Suffice it to say, Dan would have none of it, and I tried to make myself eat it for lunch at the bookstore, but was sufficiently turned off to just go lunchless that day.

However, a true culinary knight must keep jousting, so I thought I would do something a little less weirdo and cook up some brown rice. I made a double batch so that we'd have enough for supper to go with that awesome Barbecued Tempeh recipe and some for experimenting. The next night I planned to do something Thai-inspired with the funky yard-long noodle beans I'm growing for the first time. I am happy to report that this second whole grain experiment turned out really well and I am delighted to dedicate this recipe to the female weightlifter, Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (now there's another mouthful!) who is bringing Thailand home a gold medal from the Beijing Olympics after lifting 126 kg (278 lbs) over her 53 kg frame (117 lbs). Congratulations Prapawadee!

I reheated the brown rice and topped it with stir-fried noodle beans and tofu cubes marinated in grated ginger, lemon juice, strips of basil and salt and pepper. It was really fragrant and flavorful and a wonderful light summer meal. If you don't have access to noodle beans I'm sure other slender string beans would we suitable replacements. Without further ado, here's the recipe for:

Noodle Beans with Ginger-Lemon Tofu a la Prapawadee

2 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 lb. yard-long or noodle beans, sliced into 1 inch lengths (makes 1 cup)
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 (1 inch) piece of gingerroot, peeled and grated
1/3 lb. tofu, diced small (refrigerate and use rest of tofu the next day)
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced thinly
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together lemon juice, grated ginger, garlic, basil and salt and pepper. Add tofu cubes and stir to coat well. Set aside.

Cook rice and set aside to keep warm.

Heat olive oil in frying pan or wok. When hot add beans and stir-fry about 4-5 minutes. The noodle beans are very slender, so if you are substituting thicker, fleshier beans give them a few more minutes or until they are crisp-tender.

Add tofu cubes and marinade and stir-fry just until heated through.

Serve immediately over hot brown rice.

Serves 2. I threw some diced plum tomatoes on the side for color, but this is optional.

Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger: Fresh Ginger

For the third installment of the Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger Event I chose Fresh Ginger.
I had the impression from her blog name and pineapples lounging on the beach masthead that she lived in Hawaii or some other Pacific paradise, but it turns out that she's a Michigander. Ginger is also a beer and cider brewer, gardener, knitter and from a family of fruit farmers, so her blog is an interesting mix of these interests.

Fresh Ginger also provides a lot of cocktail and appetizer recipes which I have bookmarked for future consumption. However, the recipe that triggered her adoption was for Lard Nah, which does not contain lard, thankfully, but is a traditional Thai noodle dish. This worked out beautifully in my wok with some collard greens, tofu and mushrooms, although I did hold back on the amount of water mixed with tapioca starch as my Lard Nah seemed adequately hydrated. This is really a tasty stir-fry dinner with delicious sauce that I look forward to trying with other garden greens.

A note of caution to other gluten-free folk who want to check out this great blog. Fresh Ginger is able to tolerate spelt, so if you can't eat any kind of gluten, not just wheat gluten, please do not cook up any recipes using spelt.

If you are interested in adventurous cooking from around the globe, this is the blog for you. Fresh Ginger features lots of different cuisines: Scandinavian, Indian, Thai, Cuban, etc., and has a breezy, fun writing style, so it's a lot of fun to read. I look forward to cooking up some more of her wonderful recipes, and soon!

The Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger Event, started by Sea at the Book of Yum, continues until May 11, 2008, so look for a roundup after next weekend. There's still time to participate in this event and if you are interested in doing so, check out this link.

Spring Rolls for Spring

No photo here. Yikes. Too unappetizing. My attempts at Thai spring rolls are not pretty, but having tried them twice, I must say the insides are pretty tasty. I just haven't got the knack for making dainty little packages and deep-frying them. So, I think I will end up just making this as a nice noodle stir-fry and get my Spring Rolls from a restaurant.

I got the recipe off of www.cooking.com and changed it a wee bit. I tried it with both rice vermicelli and the cellophane (or glass) noodles and while I think the clear cellophane noodles look pretty cool, they are off-puttingly wormlike to my kids.

Here's the recipe:

Spring Rolls

4 oz. dried Chinese mushrooms
2 oz. cellophane noodles or rice vermicelli
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I used peanut oil)
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. peeled and grated gingerroot
2 cups shredded green cabbage
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup fresh bean sprouts, rinsed (I used a can of canned bean sprouts)
2 tsp. fish sauce


Place mushrooms in a small bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let steep 10-15 minutes. Drain and chop.

Soak noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and roughly chop into short lengths.

In a wok or frying pan, heat oil. Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add cabbage and stir-fry until cabbage is softened, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in carrots, bean sprouts, noodles and mushrooms and fish sauce.

*****This is where I stop now, and just eat this as a stir-fry, as my exploding over-stuffed packets of delight did not have too many takers the first time around. But for the experienced and intrepid who would soldier on to spring rolldom, here's the rest of the recipe:

Take 18-20 frozen spring roll wrappers, thawed (I used the dry rice wrappers I found at my health food store which I soaked one at a time for 30 seconds in cold water to soften). Working with one wrapper at a time, place on work surface. Mix together 2 tsp. cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. water to form a paste. Using your fingertips, wet edges with cornstarch paste. Place 1 heaped Tbsp. of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Roll diagonally, tucking in edges. Seal edge with cornstarch paste. Repeat with remaining wrappers.

Heat several inches of oil in wok or frying pan to 375 degrees. Fry spring rolls in batches, for 1-2 minutes until golden. Drain on paper towels.

Enjoy!