Fattoush Salad

This Lebanese salad, with slightly sour dressing and crunchy pita chips tossed in, is SO GOOD (even with raw garlic, which I generally despise).

2 cups shredded lettuce
1 large or 2 small cucumbers, diced small
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley, leaves only, no stems
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves, no stems
1 bunch green onions, finely sliced
2 pieces of pita bread
a few tablespoons olive oil
za'atar

Dressing:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper

Brush pita with olive oil, sprinkle with za'atar, and toast 'till it's crispy. Break into pieces the size of a quarter.

In a small bowl mix all dressing ingredients well.

Put all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 to 1 cup dressing. Serve immediately.

Lettuce-Wrapper Tofu

Yummy, and easy if you toss everything in a blender/food processor!

Start with:
1 block of extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled.

For the tofu marinade, combine the following ingredients:
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp dry sherry
2 tsp water
1 tsp soy sauce
dash of pepper

Pour over tofu and stir to coat; let stand for 15 minutes.

Now, prepare cooking sauce:
2 1/3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs dry sherry
2 tbs water
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients and set aside.

Finally -- the real ingredients! All of these need to be minced; you can toss all of them into the food processor.
8 medium-sized mushrooms, minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, minced
1 can bamboo shoots, minced
1 can water chesnuts, minced

To cook:

Stir-fry marinated tofu for about 3 minutes, until hot. Set aside.

Add about 1 tbs of oil to pan and heat. Add ginger, garlic, and onion and cook for about one minute. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chesnuts to pan and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Return tofu to pan. Stir cooking sauce, add to pan, and cook, stirring, until sauce bubbles and thickens.

To serve, you'll need:
about 30 lettuce leaves, washed and drained
hoison sauce
brown rice

Spread each leaf with hoison sauce; add a spoonful of rice and a spoonful of the tofu mixture. Wrap up in a little package and eat!

Peanut-ey Tempeh Lettuce Wraps

Serves about 4. Scrumptious!!

1 package tempeh
about 2 cups of cooked brown rice
3/4 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons lite soy sauce (or a little less, if you're using full strength)
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons rice or wine vinegar
1 - 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic (we sauteed it first, but only because I hate raw garlic)
cayenne pepper to taste
black pepper to taste
1 head of lettuce (preferably butter lettuce, but any old kind will do), washed and carefully separated into individual leaves

For the filling:
Cut the tempeh up into teeny tiny pieces. Saute it over medium-high heat in a bit of olive oil until it's turned golden brown and smells nutty and delicious. Stir in the brown rice and set aside.

For the peanut sauce:
Combine all other ingredients (except lettuce!) in a small mixing bowl. Add hot water (start with 1/4 cup) until mixture has a consistency a bit thicker than that of heavy cream. Right before serving, add peanut sauce to tempeh and rice mixture and stir well.

To eat, spoon a bit of the peanut-ey yumminess onto a lettuce leaf; wrap it up into a little packet and eat it. (Be prepare to get rather messy and not care at all).