Asian Noodle Salad

I adapted a recipe that I saw on PBS. Remember back when PBS was the only place to watch good cooking shows. Martin Yan, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, the greats. I remember they all had their own public television cooking show. Nowadays, everyone and their bubbly stay at home mom has a cooking show.

The recipe originally called for soba noodles. Fresh out of those. So I just substituted some whole wheat spaghetti that i usually keep the cupboard stocked with. I may like it better since it has a better texture than soba, which i don't care for too much.

Ingredients

1/2 lb of noodles (Spaghetti, Angel Hair, Ramen, Soba, whatever)
Broccoli, cut into florets (Green beans would also be really good)
Firm tofu, cut into small cubes

2 1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Roasted Sesame Oil
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Sesame seeds

1. Drain tofu very well with paper towels. Cut into cubes and place into a bowl lined with paper towels. Set Aside.
2. Boil a quart of water, salt and add broccoli florets, cook until crispy tender. Remove with a strainer, leaving water in pot. Rinse broccoli in cold water and let drain.
3. Add noodles and cook according to directions.
4. Dressing- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chopped garlic. Set aside.
5. Remove tofu cubes from paper towel and put into bowl. Spoon half of dressing over tofu. Set Aside.
6. When noodles are done, using pasta fork or strainer, remove noodles while still hot to dressing. The add the broccoli. Toss together until dressing is well distributed.
7. Add flavored tofu cubes on top of noodles and toss gingerly, taking care to not break up the tofu too much.
8. Cover bowl and put into fridge for an hour or so for flavors to meld.
9. Garnish with sesame seeds when ready to serve. mmmmm

Pancakes For One

According to Of Montreal, "Pancakes for one is always depressing, because having pancakes with you is such fun." When you live alone, i guess its just a reality especially when you love pancakes as much as I do! But only the unleavened, European kinds...none of those American buttermilk belly bombs that we all grew up eating at IHOP.

The problem with pancakes is that one batch is usually enough to feed 4 people or 2 people per half batch and by feed i mean stuff them to a comatose state. Well, I think i found a good recipe that is easy to measure, makes 4 thin 8-inch crepe-like pancakes here we go:

PANCAKES FOR ONE

1/2 cup AP flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

Fixin's
I like Lemon Juice and sugar

1. Melt the butter in a mixing bowl (in the microwave, not the stove)
2. Add half of the flour, sugar, milk, salt and 1 egg and whisk together until relatively lump-less
3. Add rest of flour and whisk together. Batter will be thin.
4. Heat skillet on Medium heat with some non stick spray or a bit of butter to prevent sticking
5. Pour batter in, spread around. When edges look done and middle looks dry, flip once.
6. Flip onto a plate. Repeat steps 5-6 until you have about 4 pancakes.
7. Fill with fixin's and enjoy!