Fresh Summer rolls with Tofu

This one i also made a while ago. Fresh summer rolls are so good and to make them, is not so complicated either. This recipe is with marinaded and fried tofu in them and also couple of sauces to dip. It takes a while until you learn how to roll a perfect roll, but it's not rocket science so anyone can do it! You can basically put anything inside the rolls, what you feel like. Here's a recipe of how i made these ones.
You need:

For Rolls:
Rice paper
Firm Tofu
Glass noodles or thin rice noodles
Carrots
Paprica
Iceberg salad
Cucumber
Sprouts
Fresh Coriander

Spices for Tofu:
Sesame oil
Chilipowder
Soy sauce
Salt
Pepper

First cut the Tofu on long slim slide cubes ( see the picture) and marinade the tofu for about 15 min with the spices listed above. Then fry the tofu on oil in a hot pan. Set a side when the tofu has golden brown skin. Prepare the vegetables and the glass/rice noodles. Chop the vegetables also long slim slides. Boil some hot water and put the noodles in for about 10 min to them to get soft. Pour out the water and rinse some cold water thru the noodles. Let them cool down. Meanwhile you can do the sauces, so jump in the sauce recipe. After the noodles and tofu has cooled down a bit you can start making the rolls. First put some warm water on a deeper plate and dip the rice paper in. Set the wet rice paper on a clean cutting board and start piling stuff in, salad first, then tofu and vegetables, noodles and some fresh coriander. Then roll it once forward, turn both sides (left and right) on top of the roll and roll the rest paper over. The roll should just close by it self since the rice paper is sticky. Set the ready roll on a plate and cover it with wet towel. This prevents the roll to get dry. Keep on rolling the rest same way, probably the first ones don't go so well, i messed up some in the beginning too, hah!When you're done, take the dips out from the fridge and dip rolls into them. Enjoy!

Coconut-Curry sauce:

You need:

1 can of creamy coconut milk
Salt
Curry powder
Hint of pepper

Just mix about 3 tea spoons of curry powder in to a bowl with the creamy coconut milk. Add salt and a hint of pepper. Taste that has nice and smooth curry flavor. Put to fridge to spice up for a little while.

Sweet chili sauce: 

You need:

Fresh coriander
Garlic ( one small clove)
Fresh Chili ( as much as you like to heat it up)
Ginger ( tiny piece)
Fish sauce (optional soy sauce)
Honey (running)
Sugar
Salt

Add a hint of warm water in a bowl, about 1/5 dl.  Add some sugar and honey. Mixx well to make them melt in the water. Add thinly chopped chili, garlic and ginger in. You can also mash those in a mortar if you want to make more like a pasty to add in. Add fish sauce and hint of salt. (optional soy sauce), Add fresh chopped coriander. Taste that has enough sweet taste and also same time a bit salty from the fish sauce. Add more if needed. The sauce is supposed to be sweet but also a bit salty at the same time.

Warm Quinoa salad with fried Tofu

This is a salad i made a while ago. Really refreshing, filling, tasty and healthy dish. People who say, they hate salads, have propably always eaten tomato-lettuce-cucumber salad with some crappy dressing or without anything.. and that's all. I have heard so many times from peoples mouth, SALADS are BORING. Honestly, i just think people are ignorant and not willing to try out stuff. I really believe in the saying "Better food, Better mind" and i think people should really start thinking what they put in their mouth. Not eat the same crap all the time like most people do. Try out something new, live out a bit! You could be suprised how much you actually might enjoy things more!

Well back in business, here is how to make this delicious, fast and easy salad!

• 1 packet of Firm Tofu
• 1-2 dl Quinoa 
• Celery (fresh not the root)
• Cucumber
• Chickpeas ( i used the ready canned ones)
• Some mixed salad ( I used salad mix with lettuce, carrot, cabbage etc.)
• Sunflower seeds or seed mix. Pine nuts are exelled too!
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil
• Herbsalt ( I use Herbamare)
• Salt & Pepper
• For dressing i used some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing which goes really well with this

First cut the tofu on cubes. Heat up pan and add olive oil & sesame oil on the pan and the tofu cubes.
Add some pepper & salt ( or mixed up spices if you want to spice up the tofu some more). When the tofu is fried nice and crispy, put it a side to cool down a bit. Prepare the salad. Wash salad mix, cut the celery and cucumber on small pieces. Put them on a bowl. Add some chickpeas, sunflower seeds or pine nuts. Mix well and add some herbsalt and pepper. Boil some water and add the quinoa in the boiling water. Let it boil about 5 minutes until the quinoa is soft. Stir all the time while boiling. Pour the water out from the pot. Add the warm quinoa and the fried tofu in the salad. Mix well and serve. Add some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing and enjoy!

Vegetarian Noodle soup with Tofu

I have made this type of dishes a lot lately, just because i love noodle soups. Especially here in Sweden, there is lot's of Thai/Vietnamise restaurants that have exellent noodle soups on their menus. So i have got my inspiration of these from those restaurants. This is quite basic soup, lot's of differet veggies and tofu stir fried in oyster sauce and served with rice noodles and vegetarian broth. Here is a recipe how to make this delicious dish:

You need lot's of vegetables, you can choose what you want to use,  but here is a list what i used:

• Zuccini
• Carrots
• Fennel
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Fresh champions/shiitake mushrooms
• Leek
• Cabbage
• Garlic
• Bamboo shoots
• Fresh Coriander
• Chili
• Mixed salad ( i used mixed salad bag with fresh spinach, lettuce, etc)

You also need: 

• Rice noodles 
• Tofu ( i used the ready fried one)
• Oyster sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• Vegetable broth
• About 1/2-1 liter of water
• Ginger 
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil

First prepare all the vegetables, wash well and chop to pieces. Boil some hot water on a tea boiler and also measure about half or one liter water on a pot on a stove. Add vegetable broth in it, some fresh chili, garlic and graded ginger. Add Some pepper and salt. Taste that has enough taste. Let it come to boil and after that put a side to wait. Same time that you are making the broth,  the tea boiler is also ready, so add the rice noodles in a big bowl with a lit. Pour the water in so that it covers the rice noodles. Add lit and let it stand there about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile start preparing the stir fry. Add some olive oil, sesame oil, fresh chili and garlic on a pan, heat up and add tofu. Fry it like a minute or so. Then add carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.  Add some salt, pepper and oyster sauce. Mix well and cover with lit for 1-2 minutes. After that add rest of the chopped vegetables (not the salad and coriander). Pour some more oyster sauce in, add oil if needed. Add again some pepper and salt. Mix well and cover with lit like for 3 minutes. Then mix again. Keep the heat enough down, that the vegetables don't go too soft. They need to be still a bit crispy.

Then pour the water out from the ricenoodles. Add some noodles on a deep plate.First add some salad on top, then some stir fried vegetables on and  last pour some broth in. Sprinkle some coriander  and little bit oyster sauce on top and enjoy. So "Helvetin Hyvää" as we say in Finnish ( which means so "F*king good, haha)

Tofu steaks, Creamy Garlic Potatoes & Fennel sauce

I was on a experimental mood couple days ago. So i wanted to try out to make my own recipe of tofu steaks. I also love the taste of fennel so i decided to try out to make a sauce by using it, and damn it was good! Here is a recipe how to make this delicious dish:

Tofu Steaks

• 1 packet of Tofu ( i used the ready marinated one)
• About 3 dl Frozen Spenach
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Onion
• 2 eggs ( i used one for these, but i think it wasn't enough)
• About 1 dl bread grumps
• About 2 dl Flours
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Chili powder
• Santamaria Roasted Cummin-Pepper mix
• Santamaria Garlic & Pepper mix

First chop the tofu on small cubes and  melt the spenach. Chop the Onions and garlic too. Add everything in a big bowl. Use Hand plender to chop the mix down to almost like a puree. Add the spices and eggs. Mix with using a spoon. Add the bread grumps and the flours (not all at one time) and some olive oil (about 1/2 dl). Mix until it comes more stiff. Add more flours, if it looks too soft. Add some Olive oil on pan and heat it up. Make flat handsize steaks with your hands and put them on the hot pan. Fry both sides until the steaks get colden brown. Ready to serve!

Fennel Sauce

• About half of the Fennel
• Half Onion
• 4-5 dl Cream
• Salt & Pepper
• Santamaria Cummin-Pepper mix
• About 2 tablespoons of flours
• Olive Oil  

Chop the fennel and onions in to a small cubes. Pour some olive oil on a pot and heat the fennel-onion mix in it. Let it cook until the fennel gets smooth and soft. Put the heat down to smaller heat and add the cream. Mix the flours with a hint of cold water in a mug, until it's liquid. Pour it into the the pot. Sterve well until the the sauce starts to get thicker. Add a hint of salt and pepper( I use mixed black and white pepper roast). Add also some roasted Cummin ( I used Santamaria Roasted Cummin-pepper mix). Ready to serve!

Creamy Garlic Potatoes

• About 10 potatoes
• 5 Cloves of Garlic
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Santamaria Garlic-Pepper mix 
• Santamaria Barbeque & Grill mix
• About 4-5 dl cream

Peel the potatoes and chop them into small cube shaped slices. Heat up the owen to 225 degrees. Pour some olive oil on a flat oven bin. Add the potatoes, chopped garlic and spices. Mix well and then last add the cream. Let it cook in the oven about 30-40 minutes, until the surface looks colden brown. Ready to serve!

Beetroot Risotto with fried Tofu & Eggplant

I love Risottos. This one i tried out, since beetroots were in the season and really cheap at stores. They give a lovely color for the risotto. Normally my favourite risotto is basic mushroom risotto, but this one simply got one of my top lists! I served it with fried tofu that i just marinade with soy sauce, pepper, garlic and some herbs and fried it in pan. Also served it with pan fried eggplants and some salad. Here is a recipe how to make this delicious risotto:

• 1 pack of risotto rice (Aborio is good one for risottos)
• About 2- 3 small beetroots
• 1 onion
• Pecorino cheese
• White wine
• Vegetable broth
• Water
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil

First mesure about 1 liter water in a pot and add the vegetable broth into it and some pepper and salt. Taste that it has enough salt. Let it come to boil and keep in small heat. Meanwhile peel the onion and beetroots. Cut them both in small cubes. Add some oil on the convex shape pan and add the beetroots in. Let it heat up about  5-10 minutes that the cubes start to get a little soft. Add onions into the mix. Then add the rice. Pour some more oil and start turning the rice over and over until it gets "translucent gloss". Start adding the vegetable broth little by little, that the rice is covered with the broth. Add some white wine, about 1dl is fine, depends how "winy" you like it to taste. Put a lit on and let it boil. Stir the risotto often and add broth when the rice has sucked in the last added broth. Let the risotto cook in medium heat about 30-40 minutes, depending how good stove you have. Remember to stir it a lot, that the rice don't burn. When rice starts to be soften add some grated Pecorino, salt and pepper and stir again. Serve with the tofu or what ever you like, or just eat it like that. Grate some Pecorino on top before eating. Enjoy!

I love Sushi

Sushi is one of my favorite foods. You can make so many different variations of maki-rolls / nigiris. Simply love them! I love the pickled ginger too, so that pink one is my favorite. Nowdays you can find almost all the ingredients from local food stores, but ofcourse you can find them in Asian stores too.  Here's one little recipe how i like to make Tofu-maki rolls.

You need:

• One packet of hard Tofu
• Avocado
• 1 Carrot
• Cucumber
• Iceberg lettuce
• Nori (Seaweed)
• Wasabi
• Rice vinegar
• Sesame seeds
• Soy sauce
• Heinz tartar sauce (or cream cheese, mayonnaise)
• Sushi rice or plain porridge rice
• Sesame oil, Chili oil, salt, pepper & Soya sauce for the marinade for tofu
• Cooking oil for frying the tofu. 
• Rolling mat

First cut long thick slices from the tofu and marinade them. Put the rice in a rice cooker or in a pot. I myself use rice cooker, because it's easier to cook rice in it and you don't have to watch after it. Nowdays you can find rice cookers really cheap in basic home elektronic stores. Start preparing the vegetables next. Cut long thick slices and put them a side. Prepare some big wide slices from the lettuce. Fry the tofu slices in oil on a hot pan until all the sides are nice and golden brown. Put the tofu on cooling down. Meanwhile the rice sould be ready. Pour the rice on a flat bowl/dish and let it coold down. When the rice has cooled down, pour some rice vinegar all over ther rice, but be carefull that you don't pour too much! The key of making really good sushi is to make perfect rice. It takes a long time to learn it, but practise makes perfect! Mix the rice gently. Prepare the nori on top of the rice mat. Be sure that you have the right side on top. So put the shiny side down. First add some tartar sauce with using knife (you can also use mayonnaise or cream cheese, but i like tartar in my maki)Then add the lettuce. Then add rice, make a nice little ball in your hands and put it on top and start pushing it flat on the matt. Make sure you leave about 2-3 cm free space on top of the nori. Add  a little stripe of wasabi by using your finger in the middle of the rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Then add some tofu, carrot, cucumber & avocado evenly on top. Start rolling the maki with the mat. Squeeze it tight in every roll and when you come near to end, stripe some water on the end of the nori seaweed with your finger and roll the maki to the end. Cut about 2-3 cm thick pieces with using a sharp knife. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. Enjoy!

Fried Tofu with Spicy Carrots and Vegetables

This is simple and easy home-cooked meal. My mom taught me the recipe for the delicious spicy carrots and i love to make variations of it often. Here is a recipe for you:

Ingredients:

• Summer potatoes
• Carrots
• Tofu (Hard)
• Asparagus
• Cherry tomatoes
• Rocket
• Spring onions
• Sour cream
• Honey
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh Tinjam
• Santamaria Lime & pepper or lemon pepper
• Olive oil
• Butter
• For Tofu marinade: Sesame oil,  Santamaria Garlic & pepper mix, Santamaria BBQ & Grill mix

First marinade tofu with some sesame oil, salt, pepper, and variation of mixed spices listed above or you can variate your own mix. Put the potates, carrots and asparagus boiling on seperate pots. Mix some lemon pepper ( i used Santamaria Lime & Pepper mix) , honey, salt and pepper with sour cream. Put it cool in the fridge. Start frying the tofu on a hot pan. Make the salad; Add some rocket, cherrytomatoes and springonions, some salt & pepper and some olive oil. When the carrots are ready, pour the water out, add some butter, salt & pepper, garlic & pepper mix and fresh tinjam on the pot. Mix it well. Pour the water out of the asparagus, add some pepper, salt and butter. Serve the fried tofu with boiled potatoes, spicy carrots, asparagus, rocket salad and the sour Cream sauce. Enjoy!

Papaya Salad with Tofu & Edamame beans

I found Papaya couple years ago, when i first ate papaya salad in a lovely Thai restaurant in Helsinki, called Lemon Grass. It was one of the greatest and simplest salads i had ever eaten. The power of the flavors are amazing! I made my own variation of the basic Papaya salad by adding some tofu and edamame beans in. Normally you put green beans and salty peanuts on in, but this one is without them.  The Recipe goes like this:

Ingredients:

• 1 green Papaya (You can fid this in most of the Asian stores)
• 2-3 Garlic cloves
• Red Chilies ( as much as you can take the heat! In Thailand, they make it really strong!)
• 1 Carrot
• Cherry tomatoes
• 1-2 branches of Spring onion
• Ginger
• Soy sauce (Kikkoman or other light soy)
• Fish sauce
• Sesame oil
• Basic cooking oil
• 2 limes
• Tofu (hard)
• Edamame beans (You can find these frozen in some stores and most of the Asian stores)
• Lettuce (Optional, for decoration if you want)

First marinade the Tofu with Soy sauce, Fish sauce and Sesame oil.  Add little bit of Garlic, Chili and Ginger on the marinade too. Peel the Papaya with special peeler ( that one you can buy cheaply in Asian stores) Or if you don't have a special peeler, you can use normal vegetable grater. First take the green peel away. Start peeling long thin slides into a bowl from the Papaya. Peel as much as you need, but stop peeling when you reach to the hard center of the Papaya. Mean while you can start cooking the Tofu on a hot pan with some cooking oil on it. Peel some thin slides of carrot also into the bowl. Add some half cutted Cherry tomatoes and some Spring onion into the mix. Add finely chopped Garlic, Chili and Ginger into the mix. Melt some Edamame beans on microwave(about 3 minutes), peel them and add the beans into the bowl. Pour some Soy sauce & Fish sauce in and mix it well. When the Tofu is cooked golden brown, put it on side to cool down. Add the Tofu into the salad and mix again. Squeeze some lime juice on top mix and taste that it has enough spice and taste! Add more sauces if needed. Pile the salad on top of lettuce and enjoy.

Vietnamese style Vegetarian noodle soup

Today i made one of my favorite styles of food, Vietnamese. Never been in Vietnam, but sure would love to go there one day to taste the food and learn about their culture. This is a lovely comfort food for a cold rainy day! Here is a recipe for you to try out:

Ingredients:

Portion about 2-4 persons

• 1 packet of ready fried tofu (you can find this in most Asian stores frozen or fresh)
• 2-3 big cloves of Garlic
• Small piece of fresh Ginger
• Red chili ( as much as you can take, i put one big one, without the seeds)
• 3 small carrots
• 1 lime
• 1 branch of Lemon grass
• Salted peanuts
• Half eggplant
• Fresh Coriander
• Bean sprouts
• Bok Choy (you can find this in most Asian markets)
• 1 small Broccoli
• 2 fresh Shiitake mushrooms
• 1 branch of Celery
• 3 branches of fresh spring onion
• Vegetable broth (Knorr; Vegetable fond "Du Chef")
• Rice noodles ( You can find these in most Asian stores, i picked the wide ones)
• Soy sauce (Kikkoman)
• Sesame Oil ( i used special Sesame-Ginger mix oil)
• Fish sauce (optional) If you want to make a vegan version, just use soy sauce.
• Basic cooking oil

First chop the tofu into smaller pieces and marinade it with soy, sesame oil and fish sauce. Meanwhile start prepping the other stuff. Cut garlic cloves, ginger and chili into small pieces. Put them on side in a bowl. Cut vegetables (carrot, broccoli, eggplant, celery and Shiitake mushrooms) into pieces and put them a side in a bowl. Make the broth by adding about 1 liter water in a pot, one vegetable broth (i used the fresh one). Add some soy sauce & fish sauce into the mix. Cut some lemon crass (hack it with knife first) and add it into the broth. Add also some of the chilies, garlic and ginger into the mix. I also added little bit fresh spring onion. Heat up to boil, and let it be on a low heat. Taste that it's salty enough! Same time you can start cooking the tofu on a hot pan. Add some cooking oil, bring up to heat and fry the tofu nice and golden brown. Put the ready Tofu on a bowl to wait. Boil some water with water boiler, add the rice noodles in a big bowl and pour the water in. Let the noodles rest in the hot water for about 5-10 minutes, until they are soft and ready. Meanwhile start cooking the vegetables. Add some oil, garlic, ginger and chili on the pan after cooking the tofu and pour the vegetables in. Mix it well, you can let it cook under a lit if you have some, but don't cook it too long. Vegetables need to be fresh and crispy. When vegetables look to be quite ready, add the beansprouts, bok choy and the cooked tofu on the mix. Mix it well, let it cook for a little bit, until the bok choy looks soft. Pour the water out from the noodles and add a nice pile on a plate. Add the vegetable mix on top and pour some broth in. Squeeze some lime juice on top and add some fresh coriander too. Hack some salty peanuts in a mortar and pour it on the top. Enjoy!