It's Pho Time

Ingredients Broth: 2 pcs star anaise 1 stick cinnamon 1 onion quartered 1 carrot, coarsely chopped 2 inc fresh ginger root, peeled and halved lengthwise 1 tsp corriander seeds 2 Tbsp soy sauce 5 cups vegetable stock some salt to taste

Toppings: Flat rice noodles, cooked according to packaging Fresh bean sprouts Sliced lime Bokchoy Spring onion, chopped Thai basil Corriander leaves Min leaves Some chili or Sriracha yeah! Hoisin sauce (optional)

1. Heat vegetable broth in a pot.
2. Dunk all broth ingredients , except the salt, and bring it to a boil.
3. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
4. Taste and check if it needs salt. If it does, adjust accordingly. 
5. Arrange all the toppings in a huge plate or separate bowl, whatever rocks your boat. 
6. Put some cooked rice noodles in a huge bowl. Place some bokchoy leaves.
7. Add the very hot broth.
8. Put as much topings as you like. 
9. Finish off with a dash of sriracha and hoisin sauce.

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Cherry Tomatoes and Mushroom Salad

There was a sudden kick of inspiration to cook and to take photos today. I was really feeling good. On Saturday I finished all my cleanup tasks and had an 8 hour sleep, so I woke up well rested, and with a clean house. The feeling is just great and positive (and it lasted for a day, hurray!).

I love fresh salads, especially easy to prepare ones. So here's my quick cherry tomatoes salad with bits of mushroom.

Ingredients:
- a bunch of fresh greens. This one looks like alfalfa (but I'm not sure). I love flavourful leaves.
- 5-10 pcs cherry tomatoes, depending how much you want to consume.
- slices of fresh or preserved mushrooms. (White button or baby portabello)
- a dash of extra virgin olive oil.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Vinaigrette (optional)

1. Toss them together and give it a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. That's pretty much it. You can also use vinaigrette to dress it. In my case, I used my own favorite dressing - mixture of olive oil, white wine vinegar + a teaspoon of honey. Then drizzle dizzle!

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Scrambled Tofu

I first got the idea of making a scrambled tofu from The Kitchenist, while searching for tofu recipe. Tofu is one of  my many favourites, but I'm seriously tired of deep frying them all the time, since it's the only way I know how to prepare it. So I got excited to try the scrambled tofu, and curious how it would turn out.

I tweaked the recipe a bit and made it more personal - I added more ingredients and other spices. I used silken (soft) japanese tofu with these, although in my opinion, it would have had a better texture if I used the firm one, which is usually used for deep frying. But over all, it's very yummy. It's like a substitute for egg scrambled, if you are vegan :).



Ingredients:
- 1 silken tofu (or firm), drained and crumbled
- 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, leaves separated and chopped
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- spanish paprika
- ground coriander
- salt and pepper

(note: do not over crumble the tofu as you would want to preserve some chunky texture).

1. Heat oil in a pan and saute onions until soft.
2. Toss in the red and green bell pepper.
3. When the pepper is a bit soft, toss in the green peas.
4. When the green peas is soft and cooked, add the tofu and mix well.
4. When the tofu is almost dry, add the celery stalks.
5. Start seasoning it with salt and pepper according to your liking. Add a dash of ground coriander and spanish paprika.
6. Toss in the chopped celery leaves and mix well.

Serve with toasted bread. Serves 3.

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