Miso Ramen with Lime

Another cooksmarts recipe adapted for my family. This one was not amazing but I have found writing out the recipes really helped me while cooking. I have tweaked the below to try for my next trial of cooking.

Link to original recipe

Servings: 6
Prep time: 30 minutes

• 3 days ahead - 10 minutes
• 5 days ahead-  20 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time:  55 minutes

Ingredients:

• Garlic - 6 cloves, minced
• Cauliflower - 1.5 lbs, chopped or 1 head
• Green onions - 2 stalks, chopped finely
• Margarine - 6 Tbsp
• Miso, any type - 4 Tbsp
• Bok choy, baby, bokchoy or zucchini - 1 1/2 lbs, chopped 
• Oil, cooking - 2 Tbsp
• Soy sauce, low-sodium - 3 tbsp
• Stock, any type - 8 cups
• Noodles, dried ramen, soba or udon - 12 oz 
• Edamame, shelled - 2 cups
• Lemon juice- 1 tsp 

Prep:  (how long it will take and how many days ahead you can do it).  Steps will be written as if you are cooking the day of so you don't waste time.

1. Chop cauliflower (1.5 lb or 1 head) 
• 10 minutes/5 days ahead
2. Make Miso-lime butter: 
• chop green onions (2 stalks)
• Mash in miso (4 tbsp), green onions, lemon juice (1 tsp), margarine (6 tbsp)
• 10 minutes/ 5 days ahead
3. Chop bok choy (1.5 lbs) 
1. Halve lengthwise and then rinse thoroughly in cold water in case dirt got trapped in the stems
2. Drain and then chop
• 10 minutes /3 days ahead. 

Make: 

1. Heat wok over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil (2 tbsp). 
2. Add bok choy to heated oil - saute for 2-3 minutes until tender
3. Add miso-lime butter and then cauliflower and garlic (2 tbsp) 
4. Saute for 1-2 minutes
5. Transfer to large pot
6. Add soy sauce (4-8 tsp) and stock (8 cups) and bring to a simmer
7. Simmer until cauliflower is tender (5-8 minutes)
8. Add noodles (12 oz) and edamame (2 cups) and cook until noodles are tender (3-6 minutes depending on thickness)
9. Season with salt and pepper while it's cooking
10. Remove from eat and add lime juice if desired. 

Cost: ~11

• Cauliflower - 3
• Green onions - 0.99
• Bok choy, baby, bokchoy or zucchini -2
• Sauces: 1.5 
• Noodles- 1.10 
• Edamame, shelled - 2.50

Drunken Udon Noodles with Tofu

I've been cooking with cooksmarts since May. It's a meal planning service that has been incredibly helpful but I wanted to create a catalog of recipes and update it for my purposes - cooking for a family of 5. I make more at one time also since I want to have leftovers for the rest of the week. This is for me to keep track of recipes that I love from  all over the internet adapted for my family. I will only post those that I would definitely make again. The recipes will all be vegetarian since I have a rule of not eating meat at home.

A note about prep time: I listed the prep times for each step and which ones can be done ahead of time and when. If you notice the prep time is 45 minutes and the prep times for any prep done a day ahead is 45 minutes, it's because it's very passive. While you press the tofu, cut the other ingredients and make the noodles.

I cook half of the recipe at once since my wok won't accommodate all the food. I have a 12.5 inch wok.

Link to original  recipe 

Servings: 6
Prep time: 45 minutes

1 day ahead - 45 minutes 

3 days ahead - 5 minutes

5 days ahead - 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Tofu - extra firm - 32 oz -  2 packets of 16 oz of tofu sliced into 32 pieces of tofu
• Broccoli/Broccolini - a large plateful or however much you want 
• Mushrooms, any brown - 8 oz sliced (can double if desired)
• Udon noodles - 12 oz 
• Cilantro - a handful
• Eggs - 4 whisked
• Cooking oil - 4 tbsp 
• Garlic - 4 cloves chopped
• Ginger - 4 tsp grated
• Brown sugar - 4 tbsp
• Soy sauce - 8 tbsp
• Rice vinegar - 4 tsp
• Sriracha - 1 tsp
• Cornstarch- 4 tsp

Prep: (how long it will take and how many days ahead you can do it).  Steps will be written as if you are cooking the day of so you don't waste time.

1. Press tofu - take a plate, put down a clean towel or 3 paper towels, remove tofu from package, put another towel/paper towels on top of tofu, place another plate on top of tofu and then weigh it down with any heavy cans you have in your house. Preheat oven to 400 degrees about 15 minutes in. Leave for 30 minutes and then slice. Place tofu on silicone mat and bake for 15 minutes.
• (30 minutes to press, 15 minutes to bake/1 day ahead)
2. Noodles 12 oz - cook according to package. toss with oil to prevent sticking
• (10 minutes/1 day ahead)
3. Chop broccoli/broccolini
• (5 minutes/ 5 days ahead) 
4. Make sauce (10 minutes / 5 days ahead) - split into 2 bowls. The amount listed is what should go into each bowl. 
1. chop garlic (4 cloves chopped)
2. Grate ginger (4 tsp grated)
3. Combine: 
1. 4 cloves garlic
2. 4 tsp ginger
3. 4 tbsp (0.25 cups)brown sugar
4. 8 tbsp (0.5 cups) soy sauce
5. 4 tbsp (0.25 cups) water
6. 4 tsp rice vinegar
7. 1 tsp Sriracha
5. Slice  8oz mushrooms 
• (5 minutes/ 3 days ahead)
6. Cilantro - chop cilantro
• (3 minutes/ 1 day ahead)
7. Eggs - 4 whisked (day of)
8. Place 2 tsp of cornstarch in 2 bowls to make slurry while cooking. (day of)

Make:  

1. Heat wok with 2 tbsp of oil over medium-high heat
2. Add tofu and let cook, without stirring, until golden brown on one side. (3 minutes)
3. Once one side is golden brown, flip tofu every couple minutes until evenly golden brown, cooking tofu for about 8 minutes total. 
4. Move tofu to one side of the pan and pour eggs into the other side. Scramble eggs until just set. 
5. Set tofu and eggs aside and return wok to heat.
6. Add 2 tbsp of oil and then broccolini and mushrooms to heated wok. Saute until vegetables are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
7. Remove half of the broccolini and mushrooms
8. Pour sauce (one bowl) into wok, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring sauce to a simmer.
9. Add 1 tbsp of water to one of the bowls with cornstarch and whisk. 
10. Add it to the wok. Simmer until sauce starts to thicken slightly, ~1 minute.
11. Add half of the tofu, eggs, and noodles back to pan and toss everything to combine.
12. Remove from wok. 
13. Add back the other half of broccolini and mushrooms with second bowl of sauce. Bring sauce to a simmer. 
14. Add 1 tbsp of water to one of the bowls with cornstarch and whisk. 
15. Add it to the wok. Simmer until sauce starts to thicken slightly, ~1 minute.
16. Add half of the tofu, eggs, and noodles back to pan and toss everything to combine.
17. Serve noodles with cilantro on top and some extra Sriracha on the side.

Cost: ~$12

• Tofu - 3.25
• Broccoli: 3.08
• Mushrooms: 1.99
• Udon noodles: 1.10 
• Cilantro: 0.25
• Eggs:1.50
• Sauces, garlic and ginger: 0.75