Last night I prepared Asian-Style Tortilla Rolls from 3 Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery by Seppo Ed Farrey with Myochi Nancy O’Hara. Everyone in my family who ate them loved them. Sadly, my 3 year old sat at the table for an hour refusing to even try them (she got leftover soup). This was very frustrating because I was sure she would love them. The rolls were filled with onion, garlic, ginger, carrots, green cabbage, spinach, lime juice & zest, tofu, tamari and hoisin sauce and were reminiscent of mu shu vegetables. Wrapped in the whole wheat tortillas and steam-baked on a bed of shredded cabbage these babies were, in a word, awesome! We would have felt like we were eating at an upscale creative Chinese restaurant, were it not for all the toys on the floor in the kitchen.
The only change I made to the recipe was leaving out the 1/2 cup of ground toasted walnuts (because Freddie hates them), but they were not missed. The toasting and grinding of the walnuts would have added a bit of time to preparation I did not really have anyway. In fact, in my rush to prepare this dish (which was not very Zen of me and went against all advice in the cookbook) I moved my hand into a knife on the counter and cut two fingers in three places. Fortunately, with the help of a few Hello Kitty band aids my husband had me fixed up in no time. Thank you, Freddie.
One nice thing I will remember for next time is that the filling can be made ahead. I love getting prepared for a meal in advance when things are not so hectic. Most nights I try to get a meal together in the time it takes for two Backyardigans videos, ideally during just one. Buddhist monks, I’m guessing, don’t have these time constraints as well as the frequent interruptions of the preschool set!
Tonight I tried another recipe from 3 Bowls called Spicy Rice Bake with Black-Eyed Peas, Collard Greens and Sweet Potatoes. Success! We had such a nice family dinner because the girls both dug right in. The older one picked out the collard greens, but told me she learned it is better to eat what I give her. She asked me to make it again and when I told her she could have leftovers for lunch she was even excited. What a change from last night. The recipe’s name gives away most of the ingredients, but the seasonings also came from some olive oil, salt, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, tamari and balsamic vinegar. This dish cooks for an hour and half, so I was able to get it started during nap time and spent the pre-dinner hour and a half playing with the kids (and reading other food blogs) in the playroom.
The only change I made to the recipe is using long grain brown rice instead of short grain brown rice, simply because that is what I was able to get. I served it with some sliced apples, just for some cool sweetness to counterbalance the flavors of this rice bake. Nobody complained it was too spicy and in fact had a kind of smoky flavor more than out and out spiciness.
Incidentally why are sweet potatoes labeled as yams at the grocery store? A quick internet search revealed to me that yams do not grow in the United States and therefore, unless you are at a specialty store, the “yams” you see in grocery stores are all sweet potatoes. This, to me, is insane. If we know what they are, why not call them by their correct name? Generally, receipes call them sweet potatoes, so why stores call them yams is beyond me. Anyway, I have had this cookbook for a long time and have not really delved into it much, beyond the recipe for miso soup. These two recipes inspire me to try more!
