641.563 Swanson: Super Natural Cooking

The other day I peered into the fridge. Then the freezer. Then the pantry.

"There's nothing to eat," I said, petulant, staring at the pile of foil-wrapped, unlabeled, frozen mystery meats, the bags of frozen veggies, boxes of grains and noodles, miscellaneous half portions of fresh produce. The Husband is currently immersed in back-to-school madness, so I couldn't rely on him to whip up a healthy, satisfying, delicious meal for me like usual. The onus was on me. I hate the onus.

I stopped pouting and took inventory of what we did have. Tofu - a good start, but worthless on it's own, let's be honest. A handful of baby spinach, a half box of soba noodles, miscellaneous everything. I wasn't comfortable enough with our assortment to throw it all together without a plan. I sat down with a few cookbooks for inspiration. One of my favorites is Super Natural Cooking, by fellow food blogger Heidi Swanson (of http://www.101cookbooks/).

The book focuses on integrating whole foods (rather than highly refined, over-processed ones) into your every day diet. Swanson starts out by showing how to build a "natural foods pantry." She describes the different types of flours and the effects they have on our bodies, and how to use the healthier ones in place of the not-so healthy ones. She discusses fats and oils, sugars and other sweeteners, spices and other staples. The remaining four chapters each help you tackle another aspect of natural cooking: The chapter on "Explor(ing) a Wide Range of Grains" highlights whole grains, what to look for and how to use them. In "Cooking by Color," Swanson discusses the benefits of phytonutrients: components found in vibrantly colored foods such as tomatoes, carrots, blackberries, kale, and turmeric, to name a few. Next, Swanson discusses "Superfoods." These "straight-from-the-source" ingredients are among the most nutritious foods available. The final chapter encourages us to "Use Natural Sweeteners," and with the number of healthier options she provides, along with incredible recipes, Swanson makes this easy to do. (Her whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies are amazing. And I should know, I had the Toll House recipe memorized by the time I was ten.)  She also includes a section on basics, and one on sources, since our giant grocery store chains are still a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to offering a variety of whole foods. (The one exception would be, I suppose, Whole Foods.)

Super Natural Cooking is full of great looking recipes, and not in an "I-can-feel-my-insides-getting-cleaner!" sort of way. Considering (or maybe despite) my challenging and slightly sad state of dinner provisions, there was one recipe that looked particularly promising: "Big Curry Noodle Pot." Some of the ingredients it called for were a bit uncommon: red curry paste, coconut milk, coconut oil (or clarified butter), turmeric, natural cane sugar, tofu, udon noodles (others were less so: veggie stock, peanuts, shallots, cilantro, onion, garlic) -- but I had a good feeling about it. I headed back to the pantry, book in hand. I knew we had red curry paste - we tend to stock up on harder-to-find Asian or Indian ingredients for no reason, especially if they have a long shelf life. I knew we had the tofu, I knew we had natural cane sugar (from the cookies recipe), and I knew we had soba noodles (close enough). I pushed jars of pickled jalapenos and cans of chickpeas out of the way, and found a can of coconut milk. We also had peanuts. And turmeric. We didn't have coconut oil, but Swanson offers a recipe for clarified butter in her book, and it's really very easy. But, in the back of the fridge, I found a jar of ghee, which is simply an exotic and fun-to-say word for clarified butter! We had soy sauce, vegetable stock, red onions, shallots, and garlic (as always). We had cilantro, but it was old and gross. I tossed it and grabbed the green onions that still had some life in them, and again figured, close enough (not really of course, but I was on a roll).

Who says you can't have it all? I did - I had it all! I danced around the kitchen for a minute, gloating by myself, then got a grip and set to work. Like many Asian-y dishes, it's good to have all your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking. Actually, that's true with all types of cuisine (the French and their culinary minions call it "mise en place"), but with Asian food it seems like there are so many little bits that go in, one after another, that I find it especially true. So you chop up your onions and garlic (I do this in about 2 seconds in my food processor), measure out your soy sauce and your spices, squeeze a lime, press and slice your tofu, open your cans of curry and coconut.

The noodles cook in boiling water for a bit, while you make the curry sauce. You start by sauteing the onion, garlic, and curry paste in the ghee (hee hee), add the tofu and the coconut milk, add some spices and such, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir a bit of lime juice into it, top your noodles with the curry, and garnish with peanuts, sliced shallots, and cilantro (or sliced green onions), and you're done! We added that sad last handful of baby spinach too.

The dish is full of vibrant, complex flavors. Not too spicy, but warm and comforting. It's a "slurp and slop" bowl as Swanson describes it, meaning you need a spoon and a fork to get it all. It's creamy and rich, but not heavy or overly filling. The peanuts and shallots lend a great crunch to the tender tofu and silky broth.

I was amazed we could put such an interesting, flavorful, and easy meal together using just a few forgotten ingredients and pantry staples. And I was thankful that the recipe made six portions, which meant I could be lazy and avoid the grocery store for days.