Noodles Redux...

Well, I know I already made noodles back with the first batch of goodies, but I really wasn't sure what I was going to do with a head of bok choi (other than soup, possibly), so yesterday I thought I would go back to a stir-fry with the udon-style noodles.

Instead of oyster sauce, I went with a (fully vegetarian) black bean sauce. Here's the recipe for the sauce I mixed in at the end of the stir-fry with the noodles to heat through:

• 2T black bean garlic sauce
• 1t black Chinese vinegar
• 2t mirin
• 1t dark sesame oil
• 1t honey
• 2t siracha (or other chili sauce)

For the rest of the stir-fry, I cooked up: a 10-oz. package of fresh sliced mushrooms, tofu squares/wedges (I pressed and cooked up some extra-firm tofu - if anyone wants the technique on that, just let me know), one head of bok choi (stems and greens sliced separately), and green onions.

It was pretty much the same technque as before - sauteeing a little garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes with the bok choi stems and mushrooms in some vegetable oil and dark sesame oil. When those softened up, I added the tofu squares and the dark green of the bok choi leaves (make sure those are cleaned through) until they were heated through, and then added the noodles (two 7 oz. packages of udon-style noodles, cooked and drained) and the sauce (combined, see above). Finished with sliced green onions (I used the tops of that sweet onion with the "edible tops").

In addition to the stir-fry, I made a garlic scape pesto - there wee not enough garlic scapes to make a decent amount of pesto in weeks one and two of the CSA, so I bought more from the Courthouse farmer's market. The pesto freezes well, and I was planning on giving a bunch out, so I bought about a pound or so and went to work. You could use pine nuts if you want, but I chose to go with cashews for a bit of a sweeter pesto to hopefully offset some of the fresh garlic "bite".

Garlic Scape Pesto:

• 1lb. garlic scapes (cut into inch-long dice)
• 1/2 Cup cashews (toasted slightly and cooled)
• 1 1/2 Cup parmesean cheese
• 1 1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt and pepper

Place scapes, cashews, lemon juice, and cup of olive oil in a food processor, and blend until smooth. Add in the parmesean cheese and add enough oil, drizzling it in, until pesto comes together (should still be thick). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The third picture is of some cauliflower (one head) I diced up into chunks, tossed with some olive oil and maybe a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the scape pesto, and then wrapped tight in some tin foil and baked in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour. I then opened the foil and ran the cauliflower under the broiler to brown. You could eat it as is as a side dish, but I decided to toss it with some whole wheat spaghetti. I sauteed up some bacon, onion, green pepper, pine nuts, capers, some of the roasted cauliflower, and a bit more of the pesto until melted through to make a thick "sauce" of sorts.