Heat Wave!

Minneapolis had a pretty intense heat wave this past week. I live in a 106 year-old house. It was bought by an investment company who flipped it- and it was a good flip- but despite having a new roof, new electric, new appliances, and being spoiled with a completely turn-key house that we practically bought for a song, they did not install central air conditioning. We bought two window units, but a friend of ours lives in an old apartment that faces the sun all day long, and two special-needs pets. We knew we could live with one air conditioner and give her one. We pulled it off last year during a heat wave of similar temperatures (Awesome side note: I was 9 months pregnant when this happened, and we decided to ward off the heat by going to the lake, wherein I was approached by a local news anchor and interviewed about how ridiculously hot it was... I never did see the news story, haha).

The worst part of life for me during extra-hot temperatures was that I couldn't cook. We all holed up in the bedroom where the AC unit was, lived off of cold sandwiches and quickly-melting ice water. For the first couple days I thought I could tough it out- I got up at 7am before the sun was fully ablaze and did the dishes, and I got away with making chocolate chip cookies the first 100 degree day. The next day I made green chile enchiladas and corn bake. When all was said and done, my thermostat read 87 degrees. It was miserable.

Two nights ago there was a lovely storm that dropped the temperature about 10 degrees, and tonight was the first where I could cook. Maybe I'm rubbing off on Lars or he's just playing along, but he said he felt like "eating something healthy for dinner." I got a free jar of Kalbi marinade (Kalbi is a Korean barbecue sauce that has a song sesame taste) from a local upscale grocery called Kowalski's, so I decided to put it to use.

The best part of using marinade in a vegan dish is that you don't have to waste it! That was the worst thing for me while preparing meat- having to throw away a ton of this beautifully-seasoned sauce because it was contaminated with mystery bacteria. I marinated the tofu for a couple hours and while I was fry-crisping it, I just poured the remaining marinade onto some freshly-steamed vegetables. I served it all on top of some jasmine rice I cooked in a vegetable broth and garnished with some peanuts and green onions.

Lars loved it (the kids had a version with no sauce or tofu because it contained soy sauce which is made with wheat). For dessert Lars made a beautiful fresh-fruit spread.

 I am going to be trying a variety of meat substitutes but I was a vegetarian for so long that even when I started eating meat, I didn't feel that a main dish had to have meat to be complete. At my old job I would bring in my own lunch and more than one co-worker had asked if I was a vegetarian because there was no meat in the food (maybe this is a Midwestern thing). I really won't miss meat too badly and there are lots of "meaty" things I love- mushrooms, tofu and mock duck- but dairy will be a challenge. I was talking with my vegan friend Jennifer and I gathered that the trick to being a successful vegan is to become intimate friends with cashew butter, coconut milk and avocados, since they all have a rich flavor that provides good-for-you fats and are so hearty you won't be pining for dairy.