2013 Vegetarian Holiday Delights-Noodle Salad and Unconventional Sweets

I'm really surprised I hadn't shared this recipe with you, one of my old favorites from Epicurious, with a few adjustments. Inspired by hearing about how much meats were going to be dominating holiday feast this year, the lonely semi-vegetarian set out to add more veggie power. This recipe is wonderful if you receive or grow  large seemingly unmanageable amounts of dill.  It is somewhat similar to the post earlier this year about the spunky grapefruit noodles salad in that it's a refreshing, sweet-spicy salad.

Also, how surprising and embarrassing, I found out I'm saying the main spice (tumeric) in the recipe wrong! Courtesy of my friend Kelvin, learn about those foodie words we have been saying incorrectly : 

#48 TER-muh-rihk. Not tomb-er-rick.

Also the rooster sauce...SHREE-ra-cha is the right way? Oh dear. It's like telling me to call the Wild Animal Park, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. It hurts.

Pineapple Noodle Salad topped with Sweet Turmeric-Tofu and Roast Cauliflower

 Serves 4-6

Apologies for no time estimate, I was also cooking molasses macaroons and a lime bar recipe at the same time...

Salad

1/2 cauliflower head (yield about 1.5-2 cups chopped)

Olive oil

1 fresh lime

4 cups of chopped lettuce (recommend 1 cup of lettuce per person)

1 pkg Saifun noodles (lists as 4 servings on package)-plan to use about 4 oz dried noodle per person. Use any thin rice based noodle for it to be gluten free.

 Tofu Marinade

14 oz package of firm tofu

2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

1 tsp tumeric

Dressing

 1/2 cup fresh dill chopped (I might increase this next time, I could not taste it that well, but this was another herb that I froze and had leftover from summer-all I had on hand. Cilantro or mint might taste nice with this too.)

 1-14 oz can pineapple rings and juice

 2 garlic cloves

2 tsp lime juice

1 tbsp sugar

1/4-1/2 cup soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Amino (to taste)

1 thai chili (I used one "ice cube" of chili I froze from the summer)

TO DO FIRST, THINGS THAT TAKE A LITTLE EXTRA TIME: 

*First, get the cauliflower (1.5-2 cups) chopped into bite sized pieces -Squeeze of half lime and toss with 2 tsp olive oil. Save the other half of the lime for the dressing below. Roast at 400F on a foil sheet for 20 minutes until you can easily pierce with a fork but is still has bite to it.

* Drain & chop 14 oz block of firm tofu into bite-sized cubes. Use 2 tbsp sweet chili garlic sauce and 1 tsp tumeric to toss with tofu in a medium mixing bowl or tupperware (just be careful, tumeric can stain plastics and woods yellow). If you have time, let marinate for 10-30 minutes.

*Get water boiling:  Boil or soak noodles-I used saifun (rice and cornstarch based) noodles and soaked them for 10 minutes, and then boiled another 3-5 minutes or until desired softness. Drain and rinse in cold water. One thing I really liked about saifun is they stayed pliable after being refrigerated. Other noodles may need re-heating to be able to be eaten with favorable soft texture.

WHILE WAITING FOR CAULIFLOWER AND TOFU:

*Chop lettuce (I used about 6 leaves-it made about 3 cups) thinly. Chop green onion or onion tops. 1/2 a cup.

*Make the dressing  in a blender: 1/2 to 1 cup fresh dill chopped,  1 can pineapple rings and juice, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tsp lime juice, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/4-1/2 cup soy sauce or for gluten-free option Bragg's Liquid Amino.

* Place 1-2 tsp oil in the frying pan and heat over medium a few minutes before you want to cook the tofu. Place the tofu in the pan and let it sizzle and lock in the flavorings for at least 5 minutes.

Molasses macaroons (original posts-substitute molasses for syrup or agave)

Since I've done this Chocolate Covered Katie recipe before, just wanted to report that I substituted molasses for the original plain flavored macaroons' stevia/agave and think they are just warm and fuzzy! These were my back up desert to my vegetarian lime bars (no eggs, no gelatin. I did use butter only because it was in my freezer, am pretty sure coconut oil would taste just fine)-which I will hope to get better pictures for you and post within the next 30 days about.

FYI, macaroons are different from macarons if you read the mispronounced foodie link above.

Another fun finding: at the holiday feasting Albert showed us a new Taiwanese dessert he discovered at a street fair, he dubbed ice cream burritos. Vanilla ice cream with peanut-brittle bits and cilantro leaves wrapped in a spring roll type paper (not sure if it has a specific name, it's not the Vietnamese spring rolls that you have to soak in hot water first, you can just take these paper thin pieces right out of the bag and roll them up-though if you're looking for gluten-free/wheat free this dessert must omit the wrapper unless you make your own or find one to substitute-if such a thing exists do share!) Any how, this blog A Hungry Girl's Guide to Taipei,  shows us some pics from a vendor and the peanut brittle is actually shaved! There are soy-based ice creams or even coconut based vanilla ice creams (I have had and love the SO brand from Sprouts and now Target even carries it) if you're not doing dairy.

What's left on your holiday to do list?