Chilled Peanut Butter Noodle Salad - "The Mental Salad"

Golden West Cafe in Baltimore has one of my all-time favorite dishes: the vegan Mental Salad. It is essentially a romaine salad topped with cold peanut butter sauce-covered noodles, carrots, scallions & sesame seeds. It is so delicious and I just had to replicate it! I needed a starting place, so I used a Table For Two recipe as a guide. My recipe was enough to feed two people dinner, plus a few days of leftovers (these noodles are perfect for leftovers, since they have to be chilled anyway). Enjoy!

Spicy Peanut Butter Tofu Stir Fry

This recipe was a first for me. Preparing tofu is always something I get nervous about every time I make it because it is such a finicky food (it can go anywhere from tasting like an amazing and filling meal to tasting like a sponge). This recipe is based off of a peanut butter tofu recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen and turned out really well. It wasn't as smooth as the original recipe made it look, but it was every bit as delicious as I wanted it to be. Pro tip: the meal tasted even better as leftovers, so try to save a little if you can handle it. This recipe makes about 4-5 servings.

Creamy Ricotta Pasta

This pasta dish is very creamy without being too high in calories. It's really easy to throw together and you can toss in whatever veggies you have on hand. It is served warm, so it is perfect for these winter months. Here is the original recipe. This recipe serves two to three.

Miso Soup with Udon Noodles

This is a brothy, vegan soup to keep you warm and full in the colder months. This recipe creates six to seven cups of soup. Here's the recipe's original source.

Tofu Stir Fry

This tofu stir-fry is a go-to anytime you have extra veggies in the fridge and a big appetite. It's pretty easy to put together and you can serve a range (from individual to a huge group).

Ingredients

6oz of thin noodles -- I used whole grain thin spaghetti
6oz of tofu -- I marinated mine for about 12 hours in teriyaki sauce
Two (2) tablespoons of butter -- I used vegan butter

Teriyaki-marinated tofu

Four (4) cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of diced mushrooms
One (1) diced, boiled Russett potato
1/2 onion, chopped -- You can use more, I just had an extra half-onion in the fridge
1/2 cup of asparagus, chopped
Three (3) bulbs of green onions, chopped
1/2 cup bean sprouts

Directions
Cook noodles as directed on box. Drain and set aside.
Melt butter in a large pan (another reason to use my wok!)
Once butter is melted, toss in garlic.
Next, toss in the asparagus, mushrooms, potato, and onion.  Let heat.
In a separate pan, sear marinated tofu.
Once seared, toss tofu into pan with veggies and let simmer for a couple minutes.
Turn heat up and toss in noodles. Ensure that noodles are completely coated. You can also sear them in the pan at this time if you so desire.
Garnish with bean sprouts and serve immediately. This should serve three to four.

Garlic-Scallion Noodles

This recipe has everything I love: a quick cooking & clean-up time (the longest part was waiting for the water to boil), a hearty amount of food and a lot of garlic.

Ingredients

8oz of thin noodles -- I used whole grain thin spaghetti, but I imagine that even thinner noodles, like angel hair would be delicious.
Four (4) tablespoons of butter -- I used vegan butter

Five (5) cloves of minced garlic -- If you are using garlic in a jar, five cloves equal 2 1/2 teaspoons
1/2 cup of chopped scallions/green onions -- I didn't actually measure this out, but I did use one bundle from the grocer
Two (2) tablespoons of soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar

Directions

Garlic, butter & scallions simmering

Cook noodles as directed on box. Drain and set aside.
Melt butter in a large pan (I'm pretty pumped that I got to use my wok for this one.)
Once butter is melted, toss in garlic and scallions.
Cook for about five minutes on a medium-low heat.
Stir in brown sugar and soy sauce.
Cook for one minute.
Turn heat up and toss in noodles. Ensure that noodles are completely coated. You can also sear them in the pan at this time if you so desire.
Serve immediately. It should serve four.