Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup peanut butter (I use crunchy)

½ cup butter or margarine (I use Pure) (or about 1/3 cup oil)

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 egg

½ tsp salt (if there is no salt in the peanut butter)

1¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup chocolate chips

 

Instructions:

1. Cream the butters and sugars together.

2. Add everything else except the chocolate chips and mix well.

3. Add the chips and stir.

4. Drop by teaspoons or tablespoons onto a lined baking tray.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 190 C.

Peanut Tofu with Noodles

I love fast, healthy meals. This kind of recipe can be varied endlessly.

Ingredients:
1 container tofu (about 300 g)
tamari sauce (you can use soy)
oil
1 chilli pepper
1 red pepper
2-4 spring onions
1 package sugar snap peas (about 200 g)
5-7 tbsp peanut butter (I use crunchy to get nice peanut bits)
1 tsp lemon juice
noodles (Thai-style ribbon noodles work well with this, but any kind is fine)
1-2 eggs, as desired

Instructions:
1. Sprinkle the tofu with tamari sauce and marinate it for a few minutes. Bake it in the oven at 150 C for 10 or so minutes, so it gets a bit of colour.
2. Warm up the oil. Wash and dice the chilli and pepper and fry them in the oil.
3. Wash and chop the onions and wash and trim the sugar snap peas and add them. Remove the tofu from the oven, dice, and throw into the pan.
4. Add the peanut butter, lemon juice, and another dash each of oil and tamari. Cook over low heat for 5 or so minutes.
5. Put the noodles in, and the eggs if using them. If you use the eggs, stir them so they break into small ribbons. Cook for a few more minutes, then serve.

Light Lunch

Usually about once a week, I work from home. You might think this sounds ideal and that I loaf around on the sofa, but that’s actually not how the day goes. I work harder from home than I do from the office because there are in some ways fewer distractions. I don’t have meetings to attend, I don’t run into people every time I nip down the hallway to the loo, I don’t have students knocking on my door, and so on. Instead, I just sit at my computer and work (except for short breaks to make another cup of rooibos tea).

I certainly don’t take the time to make myself a big lunch. My staple lunches include matzoh topped with crunchy peanut butter and slices of banana or grilled cheese sandwiches. For the latter, I’ve lately been adding slices of Cheatin’ Meat for a little extra protein and I put the cheese and “meat” on hearty rye bread or whole-grain pita (such as Food Doctor’s cereal pita) before toasting or grilling it for a few minutes.

I end up with a fast, light, healthy lunch that doesn’t take time away from my work.

Aubergine Stir-Fry

Aubergine is not the typical ingredient in a stir-fry, but it works well as a base for other flavours. Here, for example, I give it a slightly Asian taste with miso paste and udon noodles.

And I like to eat a spoonful of peanut butter while cooking for an extra shot of protein.

Ingredients:
1 large aubergine
salt
oil
1 package sugar snap peas
5-6 radishes
other veg as desired
1 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp yogurt
1 package udon noodles
chilli flakes

Instructions:
1. Wash and chop the aubergine into small pieces. Salt the pieces lightly and then fry them in oil, stirring often, for 8-10 minutes.
2. Wash and add the sugar snap peas. Wash, slice, and add the radishes. Add any other veg. Stir-fry another 5-10 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add the miso, peanut butter, and yogurt. Mix well.
4. Add the noodles and stir-fry for another 2 or 3 minutes. Season with chilli flakes.

Pad Thai

Okay, so this isn’t completely traditional pad thai. So what? It’s close enough and it’s tasty!

Ingredients:
frozen vegetables (I used what I had on hand – about 200 g broccoli, 50 g corn, 50 g broad beans)
oil
1 block tofu (if desired)
lime leaves
2 tbsp peanut butter (or 50 g crushed peanuts)
2 eggs
300 g pad thai noodles
bean sprouts (I didn’t have them on hand this time, but I’ve often added them at the end)

Instructions:
1. Stir-fry the vegetables in the oil in a big frying pan or wok. Add the tofu (cut into cubes), if you’re using it, and the lime leaves.
2. When the vegetables have defrosted, mix in the peanut butter (or peanuts) and push the veg to one side. Break the eggs into the middle and stir them, so they scramble into pieces.
3. Add the noodles and cook for about 2 more minutes. Add the bean sprouts.
4. Serve.

Starring...Celery

Poor celery, that much ignored vegetable. People rarely seem to give celery a starring role in any dish. Instead, it’s relegated to an extra bit of crunchiness in a salad, or else used as a snack by those on a diet. But actually, celery has quite a lovely little bite, and I like to keep it around to munch on or throw into a variety of dishes.

When I was a child, I remember being given “ants on a log” as a snack at school. This involves spreading celery with peanut butter and topping it with a few raisins. In my opinion, this is a still a tasty combination. I think celery and peanut butter work together well and it’s easy to imagine a peanut butter sandwich with a few pieces of celery on it.

My lovely M recently introduced me to celery and cream cheese as well. I was sceptical at first, but she converted me. Celery, of course, works well with dips, but then it’s usually served along with carrots, peppers, and other veg, just one out of many. So why not focus on celery and let it be the main player in a dish or snack?