Peach Fried Rice

When you are looking for a new apartment, there are a lot of things to consider: the price, size, neighborhood, amenities, access to public transportation, etc.  But for me?  It's all about the kitchen. Obviously.

Is there a dishwasher?  What kind of storage are we talking about here?  Will I have space for fermenting kimchi?  Is the apartment close enough that I can walk to a farmers market or a food co-op?  And don't even get me started on access to natural light for photographing food.  That's a whole other post.

I'm pretty resourceful when it comes to space.  For the last two years I've been living in a 460 square-foot apartment with my partner and two cats.  That's a huge feat right there.  But we've definitely outgrown the space and now it's time to move on to something a bit bigger.  But I sure will miss my kitchen...

Peach fried rice is the perfect way to say goodbye.  Whether it's goodbye to a visiting relative, the end of peach season, or goodbye to your adorable little kitchen, I think this dish will leave a lasting impression.

I recommend making the rice ahead of time so it has a chance to cool in the fridge. (Cooling it first will give it the best texture in the fried rice.)  I also recommend soaking the rice in water for a few hours or overnight to help increase its digestibility and the ability of your body to absorb all of the nutrients from the rice.  If you're in a time crunch, you can skip this step or you can substitute a quick-cooking grain like quinoa.  This recipe is very adaptable so feel free to substitute any veggies of your choosing.

Peach Fried Rice
Serves 4

1 cup brown rice, soaked overnight
2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 block organic extra-firm tofu, drained and diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 zucchini, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 peach, pitted and diced
2 tablespoons Bragg liquid aminos
1/4 cup fresh basil chiffonade
sea salt and pepper to taste

Soak rice in water for a few hours or overnight (this will help to increase its digestibility).  Drain.  Add rice to a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid.  Add 2 cups of water.  Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes.  Check the rice.  If the rice is slightly chewy, remove the lid and cook until the rest of the water is evaporated. If the rice is still hard, replace lid and continue to cook for about 15 minutes, until rice is chewy. When rice is ready, remove from heat.  Allow to cool in the refrigerator until using.  

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan over medium heat.  Add the tofu and saute 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tofu is evenly browned.  

In a separate pan over medium heat, add the remaining tablespoon of oil.  Add onions, zucchini, and carrots and saute for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and saute 1 - 2 additional minutes, until fragrant.  Add the peach, cooled rice, and liquid aminos and saute for 5 - 10 minutes, until veggies are crisp-tender.  Add the fresh basil just before serving and season with salt and pepper as desired.

Glazed Donut Peaches with Vanilla Creme

When you're running your own business, fellow entrepreneurs are more than happy to give you advice and tell you stories about best marketing practices and the nightmare that is tax season.  Business owners will also comfort you with stories of how long it took for their website to go live and how they aren't even on speaking terms with their web designer anymore. (Since my web designer is my partner, I certainly hope my situation has a different ending.) 

Here is something that other people don't tell you about starting your own business... For the first few months, you will probably eat a lot of dessert while sitting in front of your computer stressing out. I'm not gonna lie. I did.  They also won't tell you that soon after your sweet craze you'll look in the mirror and will be horrified by where that dessert ended up. 

Don't worry though.  I got your back.  This week I created these glazed donut peaches with raw vanilla cashew creme so you can enjoy a sweet, delicious treat without all the oil and refined sugars. Finally a donut that you can feel good about eating. 

First, start with some perfectly ripe donut peaches.  I highly recommend buying local if possible and definitely buy organic. (Note: Peaches are on the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" list because conventional peaches contain a high amount of pesticide residue. If you purchase any of the items on this list, you should definitely buy organic.) 

The fun thing about these donuts is that you can add whatever toppings you desire: sprinkles, unsweetened coconut flakes, and chopped nuts are my personal favorites.  I tried two versions of these: one with peeled peaches and one with unpeeled peaches.  When peeled, these definitely take on a closer "donut" texture so the extra effort is worth it in the end.

Glazed Donut Peaches with Vanilla Creme
Adapted from Veggie Wedgie
Serves 8

Vanilla Creme Glaze:
1/3 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight then drained
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 medjool date, pitted
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 - 3 tablespoons water, as needed

Begin by soaking the cashews overnight in water.  Drain.  Add cashews to a food processor or high-speed blender.

Cut the vanilla bean open by slicing down the middle to open up the pod.  Scrape the seeds into the food processor and discard the pod. Add the date, maple syrup, and 2 -3 tablespoons of water to the food processor and process until smooth and liquidfied (but not watery), scraping down the sides with a spatula as necessary.

Glazed Donut Peaches:
8 ripe donut peaches
Toppings of choice (e.g. sprinkles, unsweetened coconut flakes, chopped nuts, etc)

Pit the peaches by using a small paring knife to cut around the middle and remove the pit.  Peel the peaches using your fingers.  Place peaches in freezer for 10 - 15 minutes to harden while you are preparing the vanilla creme glaze.

Once glaze is ready, remove peaches from freezer and dip in glaze.  Sprinkle with toppings.  Place peaches back in freezer for 10 minutes to allow the glaze to "set."  Serve immediately.

Cucumber Peach Salad

I am an ugly crier.  No really.  Remember in Bridesmaids when Rose Byrne is crying and Kristin Wiig says that she is an ugly crier?  She doesn't even know what ugly crying is.

I suppose this wouldn't be too much of a problem except that I tend to cry during movies... a lot.  The Vow?  Yep.  Hunger Games?  Check.  Brave?  Definitely.  And don't even ask me about the Finding Nemo incident of 2006.  That was a legendary ugly crying moment.

Here's the important thing that you need to know as an ugly crier:  how to hide the signs.  No one wants to go out in the world with red, puffy eyes.  No one. So you quickly learn tricks like using chamomile tea bags and (my personal favorite) cucumber slices to calm the eyes.

If you're an ugly crier, I advise you to keep cucumber on hand at all times.  And, if you happen to have a cucumber and a peach handy,  you might want to consider making yourself this salad.  After all, you probably need a snack after all that crying.

This recipe is so easy and the lack of cooking makes it perfect for summer.  I love packing it up for picnics because it also travels really well.  If you find yourself stuck in a situation without a fork, this salad will be just fine as finger food.

Cucumber Peach Salad
Serves 4

1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 medium peaches, pitted, and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh basil chiffonade

Thinly-slice the cucumber and marinate slices in rice vinegar for at least 1 hour in the fridge.  Toss with the peaches just prior to serving and garnish with basil. 

Asian Soba Noodle Salad with Fresh Peaches

Cool: Listening to the Inception soundtrack.

Super cool: Listening to the Inception soundtrack at your office. It will make your life seem epic, promise.

Cool: Watching the sun rise.

Super cool: Watching the sun rise while running along your favorite trail and listening to the Inception soundtrack. Even more epic.

Cool: Eating soba noodles.

Super cool: Eating soba noodles topped with edamame, sesame seeds, fresh veggies, and sliced peaches. Incredible.

Soba noodles are one of my favorite things at the moment.  They are made from buckwheat flour and can be found at your local Asian or natural foods market.  One cup of cooked noodles only contains 113 calories, but has 6 grams of protein!  They don't have any fiber (unlike whole wheat pasta), but when paired with fresh vegetables and beans they make the perfect hearty meal.

One of the perks of soba noodles is that they don't go mushy overnight.  I made a batch of this salad and have been pleasantly surprised to find that it still retains its texture over a couple of days.  I love using fresh, sliced peaches while they're in season, but you could substitute mango or mandarin oranges, or leave it out altogether.  This is the perfect weekday lunch and the only thing that could possibly make it better (yep, you guessed it) is eating it while listening to the Inception soundtrack.  Totally cool.

Asian Soba Noodle Salad with Fresh Peaches
Serves 4

1/2 pound soba noodles
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon hot chili oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup  cilantro, chopped
1/2 cucumber, shredded
1 cup spinach, chopped
1 cup purple cabbage, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

3 scallions, chopped

1 cup edamame
1/4 cup peanuts
1 peach, pitted and sliced
sprinkle of sesame seeds

In a medium pot, fill with water and bring to a boil.  Add noodles and cook about 7 - 9 minutes, until they are fully cooked but not mushy. Once cooked, cool noodles down quickly in an ice bath (or run under cold water).  Drain.

Mix sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, hot chili oil, soy sauce, and sea salt.

Add olive oil to a small pan over low heat.  Sauce garlic and ginger for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add garlic and ginger to oil mixture and toss with noodles.  Mix in cilantro, cucumber, spinach, cabbage, carrot, and scallions.

Top with edamame, peanuts, peach slices, and sesame seeds.  Refrigerate until serving.

Firsts, Lasts, and Baked Peaches

Firsts...
Apples started showing up this weekend. Their little red faces popping up at the market, ready and eager. It was as if they were saying, well it's about time. Yes it is.

Were you at Seattle Tilth's Harvest Fair on Saturday? I hope so. I hope you were one of the people crowding around to look at the most beautiful peppers. Or maybe I ran into you at the book tent where I bought one of my favorite cookbooks, The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook by Debra Daniels-Zeller. Nonetheless I hope you were there too, taking in the harvest, the last bits of sunshine, and the last bites of summer peaches.

Lasts...
I've mentioned that I'm moving at the end of the month. I'm definitely ready and excited for this change, but moving into a much smaller apartment means giving up a lot. Last night, it meant giving up my kitchen table.

I was okay with this idea. I mean, I was the one who posted it on Craigslist for sale. But for some reason, once it sold it was hard to let go. It's not hard to let go of the physical posession, but rather what that dining table meant. It was the first piece of furniture I bought myself. A lot of life happened at that table. A lot of growing up, change, conversations, and food happened there.

So there I sat for the last meal. Waiting for the person from Craigslist to arrive, reading my cookbook by candlelight, letting go, and making room in my life for what's next to come.

Baked PeachesIt would not have been a proper goodbye without baked peaches. I had always considered myself to be a bigger fan of nectarines than peaches, but somehow that changed this summer. It only seems right to spend my last meal at my dining table eating my new favorite food.

Once you try baked peaches - especially over Coconut Bliss ice cream - it will become your favorite too. Even if you're not fond of the fruit itself, there's something that happens in the oven that makes it absolutely magical.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe for baked nectarines in The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook.
Serves 2.

2 peaches, halved and pitted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon agave nectar (if you want it sweeter, you can add a second tablespoon)
freshly grated nutmeg
dash of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the peach halves, cut side down, in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with the lemon juice, nutmeg, and drizzle with agave. Bake uncovered until very tender, about 30 minutes. Serve over vegan ice cream or yogurt with a dash of cinnamon.