Soulful Creations

...you just have to given in and make it yourself rightaway. A few days ago I was craving Nam Nam noodle's seven spice tofu rice platter and I realized that I find myself wanting to eat this fairly often- so decided to take charge and create my own version of this really flavorful dish. For the tofu Remove the tofu from the packaging. Place the tofu in some paper towels and keep heavy weight on the tofu in order to drain all the liquid , about an hour(keep removing excess liquid every 20 - 30 minutes or so) Cut the tofu into slabs and marinate with the concoction below (WARNING: the marinade is spicy) ~ 2-3 tbsp tamari ~ 2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce ~ 1 tbsp minced ginger ~ 1 tbsp sesame oil Rub the marinade on both sides of the tofu slabs and refrigerate for at least an hour (can do overnight too) Bake the tofu in an oven preheated to 350 F for an hour turning every 20 minutes or so While the tofu is baking, cook jasmine rice as per packaging instructions ...

A wonderfully refreshing, perfect-for-summer Polynesian drink- of course with a bit of my own experimentation. You can read about this drink which is now considered to be mostly of Tongan origin here at wiki. Ingredients 2-3 cups of watermelon 3/4 can of coconut milk 1 tbsp grated ginger few sprigs mint (fresh from the garden) 1/2 cup coconut sugar Method In a food processor, blend the coconut milk, sugar, ginger and mint. Then add the chopped watermelon and pulse it a few times (ideally it is grated with a fork but come on....a lazy me...nah ah..) Enjoy it cold! A vegan mango milkshake with almond milk and scented geranium leaves  Stay Cool mes amis!

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished! "An empanada (or empada , in Portuguese) is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Western Europe , Latin America , and parts of Southeast Asia . The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread" -source wikipedia I think of an empanada as a variation of Indian samosa... anyhoo on to the recipe     Empanada Dough (a recipe using wheat flour from “La Empanada Gallega”) Servings: 6 Ingredients 3½ cups (500 gm) all-purpose (plain) or bread flour 1 cup (240 ml) warm water ½ cup less 1 tablespoon (100 ml) of liquid fat (oil, margarine, lard) 1 satchel (1 tablespoon) (15 gm) dry yeast or (1 oz) ...