Crunchy Tofu Noodle Salad

Meals at the Convent are planned and prepared by the Convent kitchen staff for each day of the week—except Sundays, when rotating groups take turns making dinner. This gives Sisters who don’t normally cook an opportunity to do so, and to select a favorite dish they particularly enjoy. Often these meals turn out to be “fun” or ethnic in nature, such as last night when an abundance of chopping, chatter and laughter resulted in a tasty, colorful Thai meal enjoyed by all.

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Crunchy Tofu Noodle Salad
SERVINGS
6people
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
people
COOK TIME
30minutes
PREP TIME
15-20minutes
READY IN
45-50minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
  2. Cut tofu into chunks about 1” square or ½” strips. Marinate in soy sauce and fry in oil in a sautee pan until slightly brown and semi firm or line sheet pan with aluminum foil, coat with a layer of oil and cook tofu at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until brown and semi firm.
  3. Meanwhile, bring another large pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, return to a boil, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Lift the sugar snap peas from the water with a slotted spoon and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. Drain.
  4. For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.
  5. Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers, scallions, fried tofu in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and the parsley and toss together.

Hot Chicken Salad Sandwich

What is it about sandwiches that make so many people so happy? It seems to me that the very same food served on a plate often gets less positive response than it does in a bun, on a roll, or even on a loaf of bread, as it was last night at the convent.Chicken salad was on the menu for our dinner and the cook of the day chose to serve it as a hot open faced sandwich, which surprised everyone. She sliced loaves of Italian bread lengthwise, placed a layer of chicken salad on each, topped them with grated cheese and melted them under the broiler for a few minutes. When they came out they were met with exclamations of “WOW, FANTASTIC, WHAT FUN!”

Because the meal was an informal picnic type, the loaf was served whole, allowing each person to decide what size piece they wanted cut for them. For a more refined touch it can be sliced in diagonal pieces and plated, and still be a sandwich!

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Hot Chicken Salad Sandwich
SERVINGS
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Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Combine chicken, onion, celery, almonds, grapes, water chestnuts.
  2. Mix mayonnaise, wine, salt and pepper; toss with chicken mixture.
  3. Spread chicken salad on bread, top with a layer of your favorite cheese and melt under a broiler.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

My favorite time of day is early morning especially whenever I am able to spend any of that time out in the gardens.  The thrill of discovering something fresh and new poking up through the soil, opening of buds and unfolding of leaves all give me incentive for the day.  It makes me expect good things to happen and encourages me to look for new life developing around me. Right now we are harvesting mostly lettuce. Big, full, beautiful leafy heads — Boston bib, Buttercrunch and several other red leaf types for variety of texture and flavor.

There is no end to the beautiful salads that can be created with these crisp tender leaves and we’ve been using them in that way for most of our meals. We also enjoy them for a main meal in the form of Asian lettuce wraps, a favorite at the convent year-round, but especially nice in this warm weather.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

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Asian Lettuce Wraps
SERVINGS
16wraps
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
wraps
COOK TIME
2mins.
PREP TIME
READY IN

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not to tear them.
  2. Set aside.
  3. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 Tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary.
  4. Drain, and set aside to cool.
  5. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently.
  6. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir.
  7. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked beef; continue until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
  8. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center.
  9. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf.
  10. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!