Rubbishy Cookery

  I’m lifting another one of my rubbishy recipes from the hit bestseller cabbage cookbook: Last seen here in Recipe #35, and is now internationally famous: But never mind all that hoopla! We won’t let fame go to our heads, will we? Nevair! So it’s the third night of Hanukkah 2025, the news is beyond dreadful, I’m sick with laryngitis, and I’m already done with latkes. I needed a comforting, healthy, easy, and rubbishy dinner tonight. Soba noodles in the pantry, I’m gonna make my famous dish from the cabbage cookbook: Ann so loved my rubbishy contribution to the book she gave me a generously praising paragraph intro and named the dish after me!  Let’s go! Ingredients: I know it’s called Cabbage Noodles in the book, but I don’t have any cabbage today. The main point of this recipe is to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. The main ingredients are the soba noodles, the soft cooked egg, the tamari, and sesame oil. I would go so far as to say that the chopped scallions and to...

  This is a Japanese-ish light dinner that is simple, but will knock your socks off with the subtle complexity of its flavours and textures. I didn’t invent it by any means, but it’s a mish-mash modification of actual recipes and deconstruction of dishes I’ve had at Japanese restaurants. Ingredients: The broccoli isn’t really part of the recipe, I’m just making it as a side dish. Directions: First, prepare your mise en place: Finely chop the ginger and chop the scallion into fine rings as above. Try to handle your extra firm silken tofu gentler than I have so it emerges from its packaging in a solid block rather than two iceberg shaped pieces with extra bits. Chop the silken tofu into delicate bite sized cubes. I’m saving half of my block for another day, possibly for a miso soup (see Recipe #2): Meanwhile, as I heat up a pot of water in which to cook my soba noodles, why not take advantage of the resultant steam for my broccoli side: After a few minutes, I have perfectly steamed a...

  Back in my vegetarian student days, long before I had a good handle on rubbishy cooking from scratch, I relied on a lot of prepackaged meals and mixes. One such favourite was a boxed mix to add to tofu as a seasoning and binder to make “homemade” tofu burgers. It wasn’t just easy to use, but it was extremely tasty. I believe the brand was “Casbah” but who knows, because it’s long gone… Even though I’m no longer a vegetarian, I still love many of the vegetarian standbys from that phase of my life. I really loved those tofu burgers and have been determined to recreate the flavours I remember from the boxed mix. Many failed attempts, experiments, and 25 years later, I think I’ve done it! Behold! Ingredients: Missing from the above photo: neutral cooking oil, I use canola. Directions: Drain, then pat and squeeze dry your block of firm or extra firm tofu, using a clean tea towel. Then put the dried tofu into a shallow bowl and smash it up real good with a potato mashing device: Add a ...