Coffee & Quinoa

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Links
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Archives for asian

Vegan Thai Pizza

September 18, 2013 by Erica

Vegan Thai Pizza from Coffee & Quinoa

Today I come to you with a very important question: How do you eat your leftover pizza?

This is one of those conversations we’ve had about a million times in the lunchroom at work. The reason is that one co-worker, a New Yorker and self-proclaimed pizza snob, refuses to microwave his leftover pizza. He claims it makes the crust soggy and ruins the pizza. Another former co-worker was dead-set against eating cold any food that was supposed to be eaten hot, and found it completely unacceptable not to microwave leftovers. And soooo this same topic was hashed out and re-hashed whenever anyone brought pizza for lunch.

Vegan Thai Pizza from Coffee & Quinoa

Me, I’m not against microwaving pizza. If I’m at home, I’ll use the toaster oven instead to crisp up the crust, but at work (or at home now that our toaster doesn’t seem to have survived the move) I’ll stick it in the microwave. I’d usually rather do that than eat cold food – eating a cold lunch in our over-air-conditioned office makes me sad. But I discovered that what I really like to do (and this goes for all leftovers, not just pizza) is to take one bite cold and then heat up the rest. I’m not sure why… maybe I’m just impatient? Or I like to take the opportunity to see what the dish tastes like cold, which I obviously didn’t have the night before when it was fresh? It’s a mystery, and it might be quirky, but that’s just what I like to do.

People have strong feelings about their pizza, clearly. I’m not too picky, other than my preferred reheating method – it all sounds good to me, and that’s probably the reason that I love the idea of this vegan Thai pizza. With neither tomatoes nor cheese, this is clearly not your typical New York- or Italian-style pizza. Instead, it’s made with a peanut butter sauce and veggies that roast to a crunchy perfection as it cooks. It’s actually kind of like the pizza version of my favorite noodle dish! I think it’s clear that we can add a peanut sauce to anything and I’m in love.

… 

Read More »

Filed Under: Pizza, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: asian, peanut butter, pizza, thai, vegan, vegetarian

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

May 10, 2013 by Erica

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

This was originally supposed to be a soba noodle salad.

The other day at work, I got really fixated on making one. I just knew it would be perfect with the various leftover veggies lurking in my crisper. I wouldn’t even have to go to the store! Major success.

Then I got home and found we had no soba noodles. Major failure.

Massaged Kale Salad with Veggies and Toasted Ramen

So I went to the grocery store. AND THEY ALSO HAD NO SOBA NOODLES.

What. The. Hell.

So back home I went, dug wayyyy to the back of my (very deep) cabinet, and pulled out some ramen noodles. Cha-ching! Salads with ramen noodles are totally a thing. I know because my mom and grandma make one, and that makes them official. And also delicious. A few minutes later, I was digging into this!

… 

Read More »

Filed Under: Salads, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: asian, avocado, bell pepper, dressing, edamame, ginger, green stuff, kale, pantry, salad, vegan, vegetarian

Spelt Berry Sushi Bowl with Roasted Cauliflower

April 10, 2013 by Erica

Spelt Berry Sushi Bowl

Good morning and happy Wednesday!

I wouldn’t be so chipper (I feel morning chipperness is generally uncalled-for), but just look at all these colors. Food like this makes me happy to be alive.

(If you’re still half asleep and don’t feel like eating sushi yet… I apologize. I kind of have a thing for colorful food.)

Spelt Berry Sushi Bowl

In case you missed it, this is Pantry Week here at Coffee & Quinoa: a week of me attempting to simultaneously clean out my cabinets and teach myself to put a meal together without a trip to the store.

This dish is a random weeknight creation that truly belongs in my pantry series. Pawing through the fridge after work one night, I found some leftover veggies and cooked spelt, plus some cauliflower with only a few more days of life left in it. For some reason my sweet potato sushi bowl came to mind. I decided to go for it, but was pretty doubtful as I whipped up the dressing… an Asian dish with cauliflower and spelt, really?

… 

Read More »

Filed Under: Grains, Rice Bowl, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: asian, cabbage, cauliflower, edamame, pantry, spelt, vegan, vegetarian, whole grain

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold (Vegan)

January 9, 2013 by Erica

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold | Coffee & Quinoa

I guess I forgot to knock on wood last week when I said that I had a cold, but wasn’t going to stay home from work.

On Friday morning, I woke up coughing and sneezing all over everything. Gross.

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold | Coffee & Quinoa

I thought I was done with colds this winter, after fighting one off just before the holidays, but it turns out that was wroooong. And based on my recollection of getting sick right around the Bachelor premier 2 years ago, apparently I get sick at this time every year.

It doesn’t help that it’s been absolutely freezing in Salt Lake for the past week – highs in the teens. Who wouldn’t get sick?

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold | Coffee & Quinoa

So on Friday morning, instead of going into work, I cuddled up on the couch with my laptop, a box of tissues and a cup of tea.

Tea is good… but soup is better.

Luckily, I also had the ingredients to make this soup.

Soup fixes everything. So I made it and proceeded to eat it for lunch and dinner all weekend.

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold | Coffee & Quinoa

What is it about soup that makes me feel so much better – nature or nurture? It must be both… warm fragrant broth to warm you up from the inside out and clear the sinuses, plus the recollection of exactly the same sensation every time you’ve been sick since childhood.

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold | Coffee & Quinoa

Mmmmm… yep, nothing better to cheer you up when you’re sick than hot, noodley soup.

So can I recommend that you make this immediately? If it’s cold where you live, if you’re coming down the the sniffles, if your boyfriend or roommate or co-worker just sneezed… take action and cook up a big pot of (vegan!) soup. And don’t forget the sriracha… or tissues!

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold | Coffee & Quinoa

4.8 from 4 reviews
Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold (Vegan)
 
Print
Hands-on time
5 mins
Cook time
25 mins
Total time
30 mins
 
This fragrant vegan soup will warm you to your toes. Recommended for times when you're sick and feeling sorry for yourself.
Author: Erica
Yields: 3-4 bowls of soup
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 heaping Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1/2 a jalapeno, seeds removed and thinly sliced
  • 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (preferably one without tomatoes, such as Whole Foods 365 Organic)
  • 3 green onions plus extra for serving, sliced
  • 3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 3 baby bok choy, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into very thin coins
  • 7 oz extra-firm tofu, cubed
  • 5 oz soba noodles
  • chopped cilantro, for serving
  • sriracha sauce, for serving
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, heat sesame oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add jalapeno, vegetable broth, and green onions. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes.
  2. While broth is simmering, cook soba noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. (These are cooked separately to keep your nice broth from getting murky!)
  3. Strain broth into a large bowl. (This step is optional, but I prefer to remove the solids.) Once strained, pour broth back into pot. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, vegetables, and tofu, and simmer until veggies are heated through, 1-2 minutes. Add soba noodles and heat for 1 more minute, until both noodles and broth are hot.
  4. Remove soup from heat and ladle into bowls. Serve alongside sliced green onions, chopped cilantro, and sriracha.
  5. Note: This soup is best eaten immediately, as it won't reheat well once the vegetables and noodles have been added. If you're planning to have leftovers, I recommend saving half the broth just after straining and before adding anything else. For leftovers, you can assemble the bowl of soup just before reheating, which will prevent mushy veggies and noodles.
3.2.2045

 

Filed Under: Noodles, Soups, Vegan Tagged With: asian, ginger, soup, sriracha, tofu

Noodles in Spicy Lemongrass Broth

December 7, 2012 by Erica

noodles in spicy lemongrass broth

Things I want to do before Christmas:

1) Take a week off from work and wander around Whole Foods.

2) Take a week off from work and bake Christmas cookies.

3) Take a week off from work and make Asian soups.

Shoot. I don’t even have enough weeks before Christmas, never mind vacation days. Will someone pay me to do those things? Great.

noodles in spicy lemongrass broth

Well, I may not have started on the Christmas cookies yet (or my Christmas shopping – eek! – which sadly cannot be done at Whole Foods), but I’ve been making my fair share of Asian soups lately because:

1) I just finished Lisa See’s Dreams of Joy, which left me craving Asian food (which is odd because there is a lot of starvation in the book as well as, uhhh, cannibalism).

2) I am fighting off a cold and want to eat ramen noodles all day long. (Why is that? It’s uncontrollable.)

3) OK, three things. Did I mention it looks like this outside?

Fortunately, this soup contains only plants and is healthier (and MUCH spicier) than ramen. You can cut back on the chilies very easily, though, and it will still be plenty flavorful with the lemongrass, ginger, etc.

Basically, you add a bunch of flavorful Asian things to a pot (or Dutch oven if you haven’t done your dishes recently!) with some broth:

noodles in spicy lemongrass broth

And simmer until it looks like this:

noodles in spicy lemongrass broth

Then strain the solids out. Get your bowl ready with noodles, tofu, and veggies!

noodles in spicy lemongrass broth

And then pour in as much broth as you like! I didn’t use much here, as you can see, but you can certainly fill your bowl to the brim.

noodles in spicy lemongrass broth

Then slurp, slurp, slurp!

I love this broth and can’t wait to make it again soon. It’s perfect for that pea soup whether we’ve been having recently, not to mention colds.

Have a great weekend! Next week, Christmas recipes – I promise. Plus an announcement!

noodles in spicy lemongrass broth

Noodles in Spicy Lemongrass Broth

Adapted from Sunset

Serves 3

Time: about 40 minutes

Ingredients:

3 stalks fresh lemongrass (10 to 12 inches long)
1/2 bunch cilantro, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped green onions (including tops)
6 thin slices (quarter size) peeled fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 fresh red Thai chilies, rinsed, stemmed, seeded, and quartered (if you can’t handle spicy food, I recommend cutting the chilies down to 1 or skipping them altogether and serving sriracha sauce alongside the soup)
1/4 tsp ground pepper
5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
4 oz thin rice noodles
7 oz firm tofu, cubed
3 baby bok choy, rinsed and chopped

Instructions:

First, prepare the broth. Rinse the lemongrass and cut off and discard tough tops and root ends. Peel off and discard the coarse outer leaves. With the flat side of a knife, crush the inner lemongrass stalk. Chop cilantro leaves and set aside for garnish. Reserve the stems – these are what you will use in the broth.

In a pot, combine the crushed lemongrass, cilantro stems, 1/4 cup green onions, ginger, chilies, garlic, ground pepper, and vegetable broth. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Pour through a strainer over a large bowl and discard the solids.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Divide noodles between two to three soup bowls. Top with tofu and 1 baby bok choy per bowl. Ladle broth over noodles. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and remaining 1/4 cup green onions.

Enjoy!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Filed Under: Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: asian, lemongrass, noodles, soup

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next Page »

Welcome

Hi, I'm Erica! I'm a lover of all types of food, although I’m mostly vegetarian these days. I like salad, but I LOVE chocolate. This blog is a place where I try to balance the two.
Read More…

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

Subscribe via email

Get new posts delivered straight to your inbox!

Recipes by Category

Mocha Yogurt + a Cookbook Giveaway!
Coconut Quinoa Granola Bars
Summer Squash Loaf Cake with Fennel and Almonds // Coffee & Quinoa
Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups
Copycat Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt

Archives

my foodgawker gallery
my healthy aperture gallery
View my Tasty Kitchen Profile

Connect

Hi, I'm Erica! I'm a lover of all types of food, although I’m mostly vegetarian these days. I like salad, but I LOVE chocolate. This blog is a place where I try to balance the two.

My Ultimate Avocado Toast | coffeeandquinoa.com
Herbed Tomato Soup with Cornbread Croutons | coffeeandquinoa.com
Our Wedding - Part Two | coffeeandquinoa.com
Blueberry Kale Stem Smoothie | coffeeandquinoa.com
Shredded Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad | coffeeandquinoa.com
Our Wedding 9.20.14 | coffeeandquinoa.com
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

Copyright © 2025 · Coffee & Quinoa · Site Design by Heather Mackan · Built on GenesisWP