I think that having a weekend away (or really, dining on food other people made) has reset my tastes: I’m feeling the noodle, sauce, and veg bowls that I’d gotten a bit weary of last week. And that’s good news, because they are just so easy.

Tonight I tried out the mock pork I purchased a few weeks back, making a veganized version of this hoisin pork recipe. The “sauce” in that recipe is meant as a marinade, so I altered it a bit (reducing the soy sauce, mostly) and thickened it up to function as an actual sauce.

I used my ubiquitous green beans from the garden and shredded carrots as the veg in this recipe and served it all over soba noodles rather than rice noodles — I prefer the former, not least because they’ve got more protein! I topped it off with sliced scallions and a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds.

The results were… not nearly as tasty as my mock duck experience. :( First, the pork itself is just inferior. The duck had unique, specific flavor and texture, whereas the pork really didn’t. Second, the sauce was not great. There is a LOT going on in that recipe, to its detriment. The one I made for the duck was far tastier. So, altogether, it was not a terrifically inspiring dinner, though it certainly wasn’t bad. Just a bit of a disappointment, and it sat in my stomach for quite a while — we just got back from a post-dinner trip to the gym, and I’m feeling a bit queasy. (Though that probably won’t stop me from devouring a bowl of ice cream that Steven apparently bought yesterday. Surprise ice cream is the best ice cream!)

In fresher and tastier news, today a coworker brought in a huge bag of fresh organic peaches — she buys them at a farmers market for $10 a bucket, but can’t use them all, so she very kindly shares them with us. She brought in a bag last week, and I helped myself to a few, but this week I was a bit greedier. There were quite a few left at the end of the day, so hey, why not take a bowlful?! I already blanched, peeled, sliced, and froze the ones from last week, and I’ll probably do the same with these. It’ll be nice to have summery peaches as the weather cools. (Assuming I can exercise some self-restraint and not bake with them, like, next week!) I may also make some peach jam. I did that with some apricots and nectarines last month and it was just so tangy and delicious. Maybe peach-basil jam for something fun?!