Cooking With UBC Students

During March we teamed up with ‘UBC Reading Week‘ which is an opportunity for students to learn from and share their skills with community organizations.

Three students were placed at Gordon Neighbourhood House where they planned and hosted a vegetarian cook-a-long for our community members. All ingredients were purchased for participants ahead of time and the group prepared tofu ramen with salad rolls. Recipes below!

Ramen with Tofu

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• Extra firm tofu packet
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 packages of instant ramen
• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 4 green onions
• (optional – for extra flavour!) 2 packets of Miso soup packets

Steps:

1. Drain the tofu and cut it into 1/2-inch cubes.

2. Add the water, vegetable broth, and soup base of the instant ramen packets to a small sauce pot. (optional: can add miso soup packets here too!). Whisk until the soup bases (and miso) have been dissolved.

3. Add the cubed tofu to the pot, place a lid on top, and bring it up to a boil over high heat.

4. Once boiling, add the instant ramen noodles. Boil for one to two minutes, or just until the noodles begin to soften and pull loose from each other.

5. Add four handfuls of fresh spinach and stir it into the hot broth until wilted. The noodles will finish cooking as the spinach wilts.

6. Slice the green onions and sprinkle over top of the ramen just before serving.

Veggie Salad Rolls

Ingredients (for 8 rolls):

• Warm water
• 8 rice paper wrappers
• 1 cup white mushrooms
• 2 medium carrots
• ½ english cucumber
• 1 cup red cabbage
• ½ yellow bell pepper

Steps:

1. Slice mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, and bell peppers.

2. Fill a medium shallow bowl with warm water and set near your work station.

3. Dip a rice paper wrapper in the warm water for a few seconds, submerging completely. Remove and lay flat on a smooth, clean surface, such as a plate.

4. Add a combination of sliced mushrooms, sliced carrots, sliced cucumber, sliced cabbage, and sliced bell pepper to the middle of the wrapper. Be careful not to overfill, or rolling it will become difficult!

5. Fold both sides of the rice paper over the vegetables to secure.

6. Lift the bottom edge of the rice paper and carefully fold it over the top of the vegetables, tucking it under on the other side, then gently roll until the vegetables are completely covered and the top edge of the wrapper adheres to the spring roll.

7. Set the spring roll aside and cover with a damp paper towel to keep fresh while you repeat with the remaining ingredients. Once you’ve finished making the spring rolls, chill in the fridge.

OPTIONAL SAUCES BELOW: You can also make sauces for dipping the salad rolls to further enjoy with the food!

Peanut sauce:

• ¼ cup natural peanut butter
• ½ teaspoon ginger, minced (optional)
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil (optional)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup or another liquid sweetener 
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Whisk until combined.

Fish sauce:

Add water, sugar, lemon juice, and fish sauce. Whisk until combined. Can top with garlic cloves too! It’s 2-2-6(?). 2 tablespoons of fish sauce with 2 tablespoons of sugar, then roughly 6 tablespoons of water but you adjust here if the taste is too strong = add more… Then a squeeze of lemon/lime and walah. I hope that helps!