Recipe Round-Up: Isa Does It

The newest book from Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Isa Does It was much anticipated. It certainly lived up to all the hype. A beautiful book full of gorgeous photos and, most importantly, some stellar recipes!

Omaha Yakisoba with Red Cabbage and Corn and Sesame Tofu: Who doesn't love a big colourful bowl of noodles and veggies? The noodles are delicious! I used 6oz of dried udon noodles (that I cooked) rather than the precooked variety you can buy as I prefer them. It says it serves two, but they are GIANT serves. But it is so yummy that you won't want to stop. The sesame tofu was super fast to make (no marinade time) and was a tasty addition.
Rating: Yakisoba :D, Tofu :)



Pureed Split Pea and Rutabaga Soup: I scaled this recipe down to one third of the original as I had just enough dried split peas for this. It made one large mug of soup for my dinner (along with grilled cheese and sauteed kale). This is a thick, satisfying soup. I really liked the flavour that the star anise gave it.
Rating: :)



Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Purple Kale: I subbed in green kale for this recipe because I couldn't find purple kale, so maybe it wasn't as pretty as it could have been, but it yummy regardless. I was cooking for just myself with this, and a half recipe made one big serving. I forgot to put on the sriracha for serving, but it had a nice enough heat for me anyway from the curry paste.
Rating: :)



Shroomy Hot & Sour Soup: I love hot and sour soup, which is amusing for someone who doesn't like things too spicy, a nice gentle heat is my preference. I made this when I was under the weather one day, it is my favourite get better food. I was able to manage my heat preference easily here, and it had a wonderful sour flavour from the rice vinegar. I didn't serve it with the optional chow mein noodles, and got about three big servings from it.
Rating: :)



Harira with Eggplant and Chickpeas: This is in the soup chapter, but is thick and packed full of food - chickpeas, lentils, noodles and eggplant. It says serves 8-10, but we got 4 serves (served over baby spinach).
Rating: :)



Sesame Slaw with Warm Garlicky 'Seitan': For one big dinner, make a half serve of the cabbage mix but a whole batch of the Miso-Sesame dressing (which was a bit spicy). Hell yeah! The cabbage goes a bit soft in the marinade, it is amazing. I didn't actually have any seitan so I used the gluten free option of using some of the Sesame Tofu instead, which was great.
Rating: :)



Sunflower Mac: I am always looking for new mac and cheese recipes, but this left me a little disappointed. It was still good, don't get me wrong, but I found the sunflower sauce was a little bitter and was hard to get completely smooth, it was a bit gritty. Sorry sunflower seeds, cashew still gets my vote. The sauce seemed to make way too much for the 8oz pasta the recipe calls for, but I used gf pasta (I just had some lying around) and it didn't seem to expand as much as regular pasta did.However, you can always find uses for extra cheese sauce! I served this with kale and some sauteed sliced sausages.
Rating: :)



Tempeh Meatballs and Spaghetti: Balls are fun (tee hee), and these are great, tempeh-based and nice and juicy. I got 11 balls out of the mix. They are pan-fried, and I found that I needed to use quite a bit of oil to get them to brown nicely all over. Everything is doused in the Spicy Slurpy Spaghetti Sauce, which is studded with bits of sweet onion and very nice.
Rating: :)



Garden Shiitake and Chard Fusilli: This was a bit meh. In theory garlic, shiitake, tomatoes and silverbeet should got very nicely togehter, but it just didn't quite meld, the flavour and texture was just a bit odd. I included the option of a tin of white beans to bulk it out.
Rating: :|



Roasted Butternut Alfredo: OMG this is so delicious you will never want to stop eating it. The sauce is just gorgeous - cashew-based with mashed butternut, miso and nooch! Hell yes. I served this with some new spelt spiral pasta that I found, which was also really nice. Served with some kale and sauteed Fry's chick'n-style strips. It makes lots of sauce, so there is extra to put on top and mix with your greens.
Rating: :D



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Dim Sim is thinking about running up the stairs.

I'm still working on the holiday posts, so watch this space!