Kat's delicious dumpling dipping sauce

One of our go-to lunches is the Sum-m! Sesame Ginger Dumplings from Costco (which we keep in the freezer) with dipping sauce and salad. The dumplings come with sauce but in my opinion this one is far superior! 

When we're feeling splurgy, we get the dumplings from Dumpling Drop instead. If we were really on the ball, we would make our own dumplings... it's really not that difficult! And I know, from witnessing it firsthand, that they can even be assembled by headlamp in the bow of a canoe for a truly gourmet camping meal (first night only to make sure the filling is fresh).

Ingredients:

Roughly equal parts of the following (I normally use about 1.5-2tbs I think?):

• Soya sauce
• Rice vinegar

 Slightly less but almost the same amount of:

• Sweet chili sauce 

A few drops of:

• Sesame oil

(Optional) Either a little or quite a lot of:

• Minced cilantro 

Directions:

Put all of the above into a small bowl and mix well. 

Substitutions/alternatives:

• If all you have is soya sauce and rice vinegar, then roughly equal parts of each makes a perfectly fine sauce. 
• If you don't have rice vinegar, try to use something else reasonably mild but reduce the quantity by a little bit (eg. white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar can work but don't use too much)
• If you prefer a spicier sauce that is less sweet, consider using Sambal Olek instead of the sweet chili sauce (you may want to use slightly less). Or if you want spicy and sweet, just add some in!
• The cilantro is certainly not necessary, but if you have it, it is a very nice addition!
• If you don't have the sesame oil, just omit it.
  

Sweet and Sticky Tofu bowls

 based on https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/asian-garlic-tofu/

Ingredients:

• 1 block of extra firm tofu
• 1-2 heads of broccoli cut into small florets
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste
  
• rice
  

Sauce:

• 1/4 c hoisin sauce
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  

 Garnish:

• Toasted sesame seeds
• diced spring onion or cilantro or...

Method:

1. Put the rice on to cook (and set a timer to cook for an appropriate amount of time.. no hand-holding on this part!)
   
2. Prepare tofu by slicing into 3 slabs horizontally, placing them on a clean folded tea towel on a large plate, place another clean tea towel on top followed by another plate, then put something heavy on top of that to press the excess water out. Leave for 10 - 30 minutes or more.
3. Meanwhile... mix together the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl.
   
4. Cut the tofu into small bite-sized cubes and toss in the sauce. Leave to marinate about 30 minutes
   
5. Meanwhile, prepare the broccoli for roasting by tossing in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt to your taste. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and heat the oven to about 375F. 
   
6. Put broccoli in oven and roast for about 15-20 minutes then flip and roast a further 15-20 minutes on the other side (until crispy and tasty)
7. (This would be a good time to toast your sesame seeds in a dry frying pan if they're not ready yet)
   
8. Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan (cast iron or otherwise). When oil is hot, add in the tofu without too much of the sauce (but don't worry if a bunch goes in). Spread it out in a single layer and fry/sear (mine didn't get crispy since I put all the sauce in but it was still delish). Ideally, cook till crispy then flip to the other side and fry till seared.
9. At this point I would add the rest of the sauce to the pan and cook it a bit longer, stirring frequently.
10. Toss the sesame oil and diced spring onion/cilantro with the cooked tofu (either in the pan or a large bowl)
    
11. Assemble in bowls with rice, roasted broccoli, tofu, and sesame seeds sprinkled over top.
    

Yummy speedy vegetarian pasta sauce

This is a shortcut pasta sauce very loosely based on a recipe I haven't tried but that sounds delish if you have time to go for it: https://www.happyveggiekitchen.com/spaghetti-sauce/

I will write down approximately what I did, though there's certainly room for some variation and these measurements are not precise.

Ingredients

• 1 can tomatoes (I used diced ones but doesn't really matter)
• roughly 1.5-2tbs tomato paste
• 1/2 can sliced mushrooms
•  a good swig of worcestershire sauce (maybe 1/2 tsp?) 
• 3 cloves minced/sliced garlic
• 1/2 onion, diced small
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• glug of olive oil
• roughly 1 tsp mixed italian herbs (oregano, basil, etc)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbs brown sugar
  

Method

Again, I will write what I did (as best I remember it), which probably sped things up a bit, but you could just doing everything in one pot and add the tomatoes and tomato paste after frying everything up, if you want to save on some dishes.

1. Empty the can of tomatoes into a medium-large pot and heat to simmering
2. Meanwhile, heat a cast iron frying pan on another burner then add olive oil. The next bunch of steps happen in the frying pan (until you combine everything again in step 10).
   
3. Fry garlic till fragrant
4. Add onions and fry a bit
5. Add mushrooms and fry some more, stirring periodically
6. Season generously with salt and pepper
   
7. Once you've cooked off some steam/liquid, add in the worcestershire sauce and stir well
   
8.  Add balsamic vinegar and fry briefly, stirring constantly
9. Add red wine and cook until liquid evaporates, stirring constantly
10. Add herbs, stir, then empty the contents of the frying pan into the simmering tomatoes
11. Stir in tomato paste and brown sugar (add extra tomato paste if it seems too runny and you don't have time to cook it down)
    
12. Continue to simmer the sauce while you prepare your pasta and the rest of your meal
13. Either leave it chunky or give it a whiz with an immersion blender

Enjoy!