Thursday, April 22, 2010

crazy’d up sandwiches

A sandwich, fruit, and veg is a fairly normal lunch, but my sandwiches are always sort of weird.

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I made tofu salad again! 4 oz-ish of firm tofu, cubed up, tossed with plain yogurt, capers, and dill. I sprinkled some paprika on top, which added to both its beauty and deliciousness. It was also, of course, on top of some of my awesome homemade brown soda bread. Mmm.

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Do other people really really like raw green beans? I do! The apple was the other half of a new (to me) kind I tried for breakfast: Pacific Rose. SO SWEET! And a beautiful red. Like if Red Deliciouses weren’t disgusting (overbreeding, vair tragic).

For dinner I had a “burger”, “fries”, and “slaw”.

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“Slaw” was the last of the green papaya salad.

“Burger” was a black-eyed pea burger! I hadn’t made one of these for awhile and I’d forgotten how delicious they were! For two burgers I drained and rinsed one cup of blackeyed peas. I microwaved to soften, then added bread crumbs, garlic powder, cumin, and a dash of hot sauce. Then I mashed them, let them cool down and set up a little, and made them into patties which I broiled for four minutes a side.

Atop some Romaine with a pickle! No, I haven’t gone all Atkins on you. I had just already eaten so friggin’ much bread that day!

Finally “fries” were sweet potato fries. I need advice- how does one get crispy sweet potato fries? I have tried the Cooking Light potato oven fries technique (450 degrees) and they browned up too quickly without cooking in the middle, so this time I tried the Hungry Girl butternut fries technique at 375 and while they were delicious and sweet, they were not crisp! Any tried-and-true sweet potato fries methodologies out there?

9 comments:

Jess said...

Tofu salad? I have never had that!!

Sweet potato fries are so good! Umm, I usually bake them at 425 for 25-ish minutes, but I like my fries a little soft!

<3 jess
xoxo

Tamara Marnell said...

It's not a no-fail technique, but for crispy regular Idaho fries (I just bought my first sweet potatoes last week and haven't tried it with them yet) I cook it on low heat first, like 375, before flipping and putting it back in for a blast at 400 (maybe 425 if your oven isn't as unreliable as mine) to crisp up at the end.

Astra Libris said...

Your tofu salad looks SO yummy!! Capers and dill = perfection! :-)

This sounds like a silly method for making sweet potato fries, but it works for me... :-) I "bake" them in the microwave first, then toss them with a wee bit of olive oil and put them on the top rack of a 475 degree oven to crisp up... That way, the oven time is pure crisping, and I don't have to worry about them over-browning while waiting for the insides to cook! :-)

sue said...

i think you have to precook the sweet potato a little first...either on a lower temp in the oven or in the microwave for it to be able to crisp in the oven without burning. they never get as crisp as in the restaurants though- at least not for me. why do oil fried things have to taste so good?!

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

yummm tofu looks so good!

sweet potatoes I cut them in THIN pieces and place then in the oven when its hot wiht a little olive oil, salt and pepper at 400 degrees until they crisp up then the last few minutse when they are almost done, I change the oven to BROIL

Jessie said...

Weird sandwiches are the best! Will you send me some of your awesome brown soda bread? :P

I find that the thinner I cut my fries, the crispier they get. Good luck!

Lori said...

I haven't seen tofu used like this before. I'm not a big tofu fan, but I do enjoy it in some Asian dishes.

I'm as lost as you about the fries. :) I can never seem to get them crispy either. Good luck! Thanks for swinging by my blog.

Sook said...

Wow, I love all these healthy dishes you created. Yum!

Susan said...

I lovee tofu salads!

I bake my tatties at 425 for 35-40 minutes, flipping halfway through. I like 'em crispy though!