#cbmgf

Ingredients

2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil, like canola

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 ½-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced

¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, or to taste

4 bunches of baby bok choy, approximately 1½ pounds, cleaned, with the ends trimmed

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon chicken stock or water

Toasted sesame oil for drizzling

Directions

In a large sauté pan with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add garlic, ginger and red-pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 45 seconds.

Add bok choy and stir carefully to cover with oil, then cook for approximately 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, stock or water, then cover pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes more, until steam begins to escape from beneath the lid of the pan.

Uncover and continue to cook until liquid is close to evaporated and stalks are soft to the touch, approximately 3 minutes more.

Remove to a warmed platter and drizzle with sesame oil.

Possible modifications

Ingredients

For baking:

3 red peppers, seeded and quartered lengthways

3 medium potatoes, thinly sliced

oIive oil, as needed

salt and pepper, to taste

3 Tbsp rosemary

700 g shortcrust pastry (homemade or storebought)

flour, for dusting

For sautéing:

1 large brown onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

60 g packed spinach or kale

150 g firm tofu

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast

0.50 tsp ground nutmeg

250 g mushrooms, thinly sliced

To assemble:

2 Tbsp olive oil or vegan butter, melted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Place the red peppers on a lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the potato slices on another lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and rosemary.

Bake the peppers and potato in the oven for about 20 minutes or until they are both tender. Set aside.

On a floured surface, roll out 500g of the pastry to about 5mm (2/5in) thick. Transfer the pastry to a 20cm (8in) deep cake tin. Press the pastry against the bottom and sides to form a crust. Cut off any overhang. Use a fork to prick the bottom.

Bake the pie crust in the oven for 10 minutes and set aside.

Meanwhile, sauté the onion and garlic with a little olive oil until soft and fragrant. Set aside half the mixture.

Add the greens to the saucepan with half of the onion and garlic mixture and cook until wilted. Set aside in a food processor.

Add the mushrooms and remaining onion and garlic mixture to the saucepan. Cook until soft and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Add the firm tofu, nutritional yeast and nutmeg to the spinach or kale mixture. Pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

To assemble the pie, press the spinach or kale and tofu mixture into the bottom of the pie. Layer with the peppers, then potatoes then the mushroom mixture.

Roll out the remaining pastry on a floured surface in a circular shape. Transfer the pastry to cover the pie and cut off the overhang. Press the edges together. Use any excess pastry to make shapes for decoration.

Ingredients

1 14oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup salsa

1-2 tsp taco seasoning

6 small corn tortillas

1 cup vegan shredded cheese, divided

vegan butter or oil, divided

Directions

In a food processor blend the beans, salsa, and taco seasoning until combined (until a similar texture to refined beans).

In a skillet over medium heat add a teaspoon oil or vegan butter. When hot, add the black bean mixture in and cook it to heat it through, about 3-5 mins. Remove from heat.

When ready, spoon about 1/6th of the mixture onto 1 half of a small flour tortilla. Spread it out from side to side with a spoon. Add 1/6th of the vegan cheese, then fold it closed. Repeat with remaining tacos.

Gather Your Greens: Start with olive oil, garlic, greens (like kale, broccoli or broccoli rabe, green beans, etc.). I like a lot of veg, so I'll use a big bunch of kale (or 2 small ones) for 1 pound of pasta, or an entire bunch of broccoli (2 or 3 heads). While the water is coming to a boil, cut the greens into roughly bite-size pieces and chop the garlic.

Build Your Base: Cook the garlic in a small pan with a few glugs of olive oil. You don't want the garlic to be swimming in oil, but you need enough to coat the pasta. (You can always add more later.) Cook just until the garlic is golden brown. Dark brown garlic tastes acrid. Optional flavor add-ins for this stage: Red chile flakes, if you like heat; diced pancetta, bacon, or guanciale; some crumbled sausage; a couple of anchovies or pitted olives; even cooked leftover beans. Move the pan off the heat and let the garlic mixture sit.

Mind the Brine: Don't forget to season your pasta water. Most chefs say the water should taste like the ocean. It takes quite a bit of salt to achieve that, about a quarter cup of kosher salt for 6 quarts of water. I have forgotten the salt before, and it ruins the dish--adding it after the fact won't work.

Multitask: When the pasta is about halfway through its cooking time, add the greens. You could sauté them in the pan with the garlic, but I've found that this takes longer and you end up using about twice as much oil. The salted water will season the greens, and the vegetables will season the pasta. Grate some cheese while the pasta and greens cook. Before you drain the pasta, save some pasta water. It's salty and starchy and will help make a glossy sauce later. When you think the pasta is about a minute away from being done--slightly firmer than you want it to be--drain it. It will continue cooking in the next step.

The Big Moment: Put the pasta and the greens back in the pasta pot. Again, you could combine everything in the sauté pan with the garlic and oil, but--speaking from personal experience--this usually leads to pasta on the floor, oil splatters on my shirt, greens in the stove-top burners, and my husband telling me I'm "messy." When everything is in the pasta pot, I can mix and toss and stir vigorously and there are no escapees. Over the lowest heat, add the garlic and oil. Mix to death. (Tongs are useful if you've got long strands, like spaghetti.) Then add some pasta water and some cheese broth--it should look soupy in the bottom of the pan.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 scallions, white and pale-green parts chopped, dark-green parts reserved

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled, finely chopped

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 small daikon, peeled, sliced

½ cup kimchi

¼ block firm silken tofu

Directions

Step 1 Heat oil in a large saucepan over high. Cook white and pale-green parts of scallions, garlic, and ginger, stirring often, until softened and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add broth, then whisk in gochujang and soy sauce. Add daikon and gently simmer until daikon is tender, 15–20 minutes.

Step 2 Add kimchi and tofu. Simmer until tofu is heated through. Carefully divide among bowls. Thinly slice reserved scallion tops and scatter over.

Possible modifications

If you want to make this gluten free, DO NOT use soy sauce. Extra salt will work fine.

Be very careful and make sure you're using gluten free gochujang, as most brands contain wheat. In a pinch I've used two tsp of chili powder or red pepper flakes.

Ingredients

For the noodles

2 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil

6-8 ounces fresh egg noodles, such as lo mein noodles

For the sauce

¼ cup oyster sauce or abalone sauce

4 teaspoons sriracha sauce

4 teaspoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

4 garlic cloves, grated on a microplane

Your choice toppings, such as

Crab sticks (kani), sliced or shredded

Seaweed salad

Vienna sausages, sliced

Canned corn, drained

Sliced cucumber (lightly salted and drained after 30 minutes)

Mung bean sprouts, blanched

Director

Step 1 In a small skillet, heat the oil just until it begins to shimmer. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool. Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain and toss with the oil in the medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until cold.