Tofu Tortilla Soup

With the recent stint of cold weather, averaging about 27 degrees in the morning, all I had a craving for was comfort food. Soup is one of my personal favorite comfort foods, I mean next to Mac N' Cheese. I decided to try a recipe I had saved on Pinterest for vegetarian Tortilla soup. It was simple and is an adapted version of chef Rick Bayless' tortilla soup. 

The recipe called for some unfamiliar flavors, Epazote and Negro Chiles, but Whole Foods had both in stock. I ended up topping my bowls with queso fresco, avocado, and tortilla chips. The result was delicious and the pot was finished in a few days. 

• Tofu Tortilla Soup 
• 
  

• 3 large dried pasilla (negro), ancho or New Mexico chiles (see Note)
• 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 4 cups vegetable broth or âno-chickenâ broth
• 4 cups water
• 1 large sprig epazote
• 1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu
• 4 cups chopped chard, spinach or kale leaves
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 ripe large avocado, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 2 cups roughly broken tortilla chips
• 3/4 cup shredded Mexican melting cheese, such as Chihuahua or asadero, or Monterey Jack or mild Cheddar (optional)
• 1 large lime, cut into 6 wedges

Directions

1. Holding the chiles one at a time with metal tongs, quickly toast them by turning them an inch or two above an open flame for a few seconds until the aroma fills the kitchen. (Alternatively, toast chiles in a dry pan over medium heat, pressing them flat for a few seconds then flipping them over and pressing again.)

2. When cool enough to handle, stem and seed the chiles, break them into pieces and put them in a blender along with tomatoes and their juice. (A food processor will work, though it won’t completely puree the chiles.)

3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 6 to 9 minutes. Scoop up the onion and garlic with a slotted spoon and transfer to the blender with the tomato mixture. Process until smooth.

4. Return the pot to medium heat. When quite hot, add the puree and stir nearly constantly until thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 6 minutes. Add broth, water and epazote (if using). Bring to a boil, then adjust heat to maintain a simmer.

5. Drain tofu, rinse and pat dry; cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu and cook in a single layer, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the tofu to the soup and simmer for 30 minutes.

6. Add chard (or spinach or kale) to the soup and season with salt to taste, depending on the saltiness of the broth. Cook, stirring, until the greens are wilted, about 2 minutes, depending on the type of greens.

7. Ladle the soup into 8 soup bowls. Divide avocado, tortilla chips and cheese (if using) among the bowls. Serve warm, with lime wedges.

Ingredient Notes: Pasilla chiles, sometimes called negro chiles, are medium-hot dried peppers with a flavor that defines tortilla soup in central Mexico. Find them and other dried chiles in the produce section of large supermarkets or online at melissas.com.

Epazote, an herb used in Mexican cooking, has a pungent, distinctive flavor unlike any other herb. Look for it fresh at farmers’ markets or find it dried at Latin markets or online from melissas.com.

Read more: http://main.kitchendaily.com/recipe/vegetarian-tortilla-soup-152660/#ixzz2ncK7NiVZ

First soup of the season

With the weather finally starting to cool down, I decided to make my first batch of soup for the cold weather season. Last season my favorite was my Wild Rice soup but I wanted to try something different this time around. The Red Chard and White Bean Soup on Yoga Journal’s webpage caught my eye because of it’s simplicity and abundance of greens. The result was great! It was very easy to make and the taste hit the spot on a cold night in my forever cold apartment. I opted to add Upton’s Naturals Italian Seitan for some protein and per my mom’s suggestion. 

Red Chard and White Bean Soup

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
2 medium-sized bunches red chard (1 to 1 1/4 lbs. total), leaves torn to bite-sized pieces, stems and ribs chopped
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups cooked or canned cannellini or white kidney beans (drained and rinsed if canned)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and the chard ribs and stems. Sprinkle lightly with salt, reduce the heat slightly, and saut´ until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the garlic and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 more minutes until garlic is fragrant but not browned.

3. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in the beans and the chard leaves. Cover and simmer until the chard leaves are wilted and tender to the bite, 5 to 7 minutes longer.

4. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Staying In & Eating Up

Hi all!

I apologize for our hiatus from posting - life as twenty-somethings gets a little hectic at times. Between Monique preparing for graduate school applications and me applying to "big girl jobs," there hasn't been much time to record yummy eats lately. However, never fear, we are still sampling, exploring, and creating new meals and loving every minute of it.

With the weather getting chillier by the day, our family has been staying in and cooking more meals at home rather than eating out. Whether that be my smothered pork chops (Dad's recipe) or Monique's chili (Mom's adapted recipe), the Little's are cozying up and eating well! Even Dani, since moving out of the dorms and settling into apartment life, is joining in the home cooked meals. Last weekend she dappled in avocado-topped taco casserole (my recipe).

Hopefully we'll resume capturing these meals and posting them soon!

A whole lot of Stuff

While most individuals had a short work week, I worked and didn't get to luxury of enjoy the Labor Day sunshine. But just cause I wasn't relaxing didn't mean I couldn't have good food. I decided to try another Pinterest recipe: Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers.

Now to add fuel to the fire. Not only was I working on Labor Day but I also had a cold. Yeah, that was fun. Well my cold affected my taste so it was hold to determine just how tasty it was. But after eating some leftovers a few days later I determined this dish is a definite must for my recipe arsenal.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

6 oz. fresh baby spinach

3 carrots, grated (1 1/2 cups)

3 or 4 large bell peppers

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 Tbsp cumin

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican or pepper jack cheese

Directions

Rinse and cook quinoa according to directions. Meanwhile, prepare veggies.

In a very large skillet, saute onion for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add cumin and garlic, saute 1 minute.

Stir in spinach, drained tomatoes (pour tomato liquid into bottom of 9x13 baking dish). Cook 5 minutes.

Stir in black beans, cooked quinoa, carrots. Heat for a few minutes.

Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt/pepper.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise (remove inner ribs with a spoon). Fill each pepper with heaping amount of quinoa mixture, packing it down, and place in baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake 1 hour.

Uncover, sprinkle peppers with cheese. Bake uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Drizzle with pan juices before serving.

** I did make some adjustments to this recipe.

-added fresh lime juice to my cooked Quinoa. (I used the tri-color blend at Trader Joes)

-I used diced tomatoes that were roasted and had peppers to add some spice.

-added fresh cilantro, roasted corn, and Trader Joe's beef-less ground beef to my filling.

-opted out of the carrots since I did not have any.

**I also realized after stuffing the peppers that I made way to much filling. So during the week I ate the filling just like one would eat chili and topped it within sliced avocado, some shredded cheese, corn chips, and salsa. It's a super tasty alternative and because of the quinoa, very filling.

Little Ladies

It's summer time again and for our family that means a slew of birthdays. Well this weekend we kicked off 4th of July and my mom's birthday. My sister's and I always collaborate for our parents birthdays and holiday gifts and this year was no different. But as we get older, we find it harder and harder to get our parents gifts. I mean what do you get someone who has everything?

One day we were bouncing off ideas in a group text message and Dani suggested, "What about a girls day?" And it just clicked. That's what we'll get her. I mean what woman doesn't love a good a girls day? So I have a connection at La Note, a local Berkeley restaurant and staple for the Ladies Who Brunch, and booked us an appointment for a nice breakfast to begin the day. Dani then scheduled the second half of the day by booking us mani pedis at a local nail salon. Michelle then put it all together, as only a ultra planner does, by creating a invitation to send out as a surprise.

We ended up celebrating the birthday a day early and that weather could not have been more perfect. It was sunny but still comfortable enough for a jacket. My mom had not been to La Note in quite some time and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Plus it was such a big advantage having a reservation, weekend wait times can typically be at least an hour wait. 

Michelle and I picked out some nail polish and surprised her with a small gift.

We started off our meal with an order of the Toasted Cinnamon Brioche with Hot Cocoas and Mochas all around. And yes, that is a bowl that they come in.

*Cote Nord - two eggs lightly scrambled with cream cheese, over toasted levain bread and served with home fries and Provencial tomatoes

*Omelette A La Confiture- orange marmalade omelette served with grapefruit and a croissant.

*Omelette De Pommes De Terre- potato and carmelized onion omelette, served open face, with Provencales tomatoes and a croissant.

The whole day ended up being a great success and my mom really enjoyed herself. It was nice having a day for just us girls, and I'm sure my dad enjoyed the peace and quiet. We are hoping to do this again when our Aunt Joni comes into town.

Fa La La La La!

About a month or so ago I tried my hand at making my own falafel. There were a few hiccups; misreading tbsp for tsp of salt and some frying issues, but overall they were great. Ideally, I was planning to fry the falafel but every time I attempted to fry them they fell apart. I opted to bake them thanks to my mom's suggestion and they came out nice and crunchy. I actually was happy that I baked them because it was a lot healthier and less messy. Misreading measurements was such a rookie mistake but hey everyone has their off moments, especially when your cooking late at night. Fortunately, I was able to compensate the saltiness with lots of hummus in my pita. 

I know summer is almost over but this meal is great on a hot summer day. The recipe also works because it makes of leftovers for a variety of meals. The first night I ate them in a stuffed pita but during the week I opted for falafel salads: complete with spring mix, tomatoes, and feta since they were easier to package on my bike commute.

HOMEMADE FALAFEL

Ingredients

2 cans chickpeas (each can is 15 ounces)

1 small red onion

5 garlic cloves

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup flour

a sprinkle of black pepper

Instructions:

In a food processor blend up the chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley and cilantro into a thick paste. I had to do this in two batches since my food processor couldn't handle this entire recipe all at once. You'll also notice there is no liquid added, which makes it rather hard to blend. Keep at it and don't add water no matter what! Adding water will likely result in falafel that won't hold together during the frying process.

Once you've blended everything into a paste spoon it into a large bowl and add the salt, baking powder, flour and pepper. Stir until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours. If you're in a time crunch you can place it in the freezer for an hour instead. But don't skip this rest period, because it will result in falafel that falls apart when fried. 

In the meantime make your dressing by combining 2 cups greek yogurt, 1/2 large cucumber (finely chopped) and 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill. Stir together and allow to set for at least 30-45 minutes before serving so the flavors and blend together.

In a deep fryer or large, heavy pot heat enough oil for the falafel float. You want the oil temperature to reach around 350°F. You can use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature or you can test it by dropping a little batter in. It should start to bubble/fizzle and the batter should float after a few seconds. Once the oil is ready, drop small balls of the falafel batter in and allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oil and place on a plate lined with paper towels, to remove excess oil.

***Again, I failed at deep frying and opted to bake. If you also struggle or want a healthier alternative I recommend making small balls out of the batter and bake the falafel on a cookie sheet an inch or so apart for about 20 min at 350F or until golden and crispy.

Enjoy!

Buttery Goodness

On a recent trip to Trader Joe's I picked up a pack of Butternut Squash Triangoli. My friend recommended the item to me and I figured I'd give them a try. Now since I'm not a fan of creamy white pasta sauce and usually cook with tomato based pasta sauce, I was unsure how to eat these due to the squash's sweet taste. My friend suggested keeping it simple and tossing the triangoli in olive oil and adding a little cracked black pepper. However, I remember eating a similar dish long ago at Pasta Pomodoro that used brown butter sauce. I decided to try my hand at recreating that dish and turns out its quite simple. Once my pasta was done cooking (only took 4min) , I added some freshly chopped sage to 8 tbsp of butter and sautéed them together in a sauce pan. Once the butter turned brown I removed the pan from the heat and spooned a desired amount on my pasta. I then topped the dish with a little cracked pepper and Parmesan & Romano cheese. 

The result was delicious. It was quite rich so I only ate about 5 or so triangoli but it made for 2 servings of leftovers. I actually used Earth Balance (which is vegan butter made of natural oils) in this dish so technically it wasn't "butter" but I still really enjoyed it and it literally took about 6-7 minutes to make. If you are looking for a quick mid week meal I would highly recommend trying this or any of the other pre made ravioli at Trader Joe's. 

Vegan Fiesta!

Finally, I am back to cooking. I have been pretty busy with work and life in general but this weekend I was determined to cook myself something nice. I was feeling in a Mexican mood, maybe it was because of the long weekend and warm weather, so I swung by Trader Joe's to see my options. Now in the past I have made tacos with black beans & chickpeas as my "meat" and have even used veggie "meat" crumbles but I found a recipe on Pinterest that use tofu so I wanted to give it a try.  But first with any Taco dish, I had to have some guacamole. I whipped up a batch from a recipe that my mom always uses and it was simple and delicious. Seriously, this recipe never fails.

Mom's No Fuss Guacamole

Ingredients

-3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded, and peeled

-1 lime

-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

-1/2 ground cumin

-1/2 teaspoon cayenne

-1/2 medium onion, diced

-2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

-1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

-1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold I'm the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. 

I like my guacamole spicy so I also add a little bit of Mrs. Renfro's Jalapeño Green Salsa and mix to taste.

Once the guacamole was all set I placed the pits back in the dip so it would stay nice and green and put it in the fridge to keep cool. I then started slicing sticks of tofu to pan fry up as my "meat". I heated a little oil in a skillet, then placed in the tofu and seasoned with a little taco seasoning and let them fry up until crispy. While the tofu was cooking I also sautéed up some roasted corn, black beans, onions, tomato, and jalapeño in another skillet to have as my side dish. Once the tofu was crisp, I place them on a paper towel to drain and fried up 2 Corn & Wheat Trader Joe's tortillas, if you haven't tried them I highly recommend-soft with a tiny hint of sweet. After the tortillas were done it was time to eat. I filled the tacos with some chopped red cabbage, tofu, and topped with guacamole.

This meal was really simple to make and even better, it was very filling. I only ate this plate and was done for the night. If you interested in trying an alternative to the traditional meat tacos I would give this recipe a try.

Carb Loading

Hey Y'all! Well, the day that we have all been training months for has arrived. Tomorrow at 7am we will all running in the Nike Women's Marathon here in Washington DC. For those unfamiliar with what that distance equates to, it is 13.1 miles. Our course will be an amazing route that goes around all the monuments and ends at the Capitol building. Needless to say we are beyond excited.

So tonight for dinner we went out for pasta since we wanted to load up on carbs before the race. My dad is volunteering for the marathon and ended up making some friends. One of which suggested visiting Maggiano's. Maggiano's is a family style Italian restaurant in the Chevy Chase area of Washington DC. It was recommended to us because of it's good food and large portions. Oh man, this place did not disappoint. All of it was great---pasta, vegetables, seafood, appetizers, and desserts. We definitely got our fill. Now we are going to rest up and get ready to crush 13.1.

Appetizer: Calamari Fritte 

My Meal: Crab & Shrimp Tropheo
hand twisted pasta, grape tomatoes, zucchini and lemon garlic sauce

Dani's Meal: Taylor Street Baked Ziti
italian sausage, pomodoro sauce and ziti topped with a layer of melted Provolone & Parmesan

Mom's Meal: Chef KB's Lobster Carbonara
spaghetti, lobster, smoked bacon, snap peas and garlic cream sauce

Dad's Meal: Linguine di Mare
lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams and spicy lobster tomato broth

Dessert: Vera's Lemon Cookies

Happy Carnival!

Every spring CMU hosts their Carnival featuring rides, booths, buggy rides, and of course FOOD! And what's the best food to get a carnival/festival/amusement park? Funnel Cake! Warm, deep fried, sugary goodness.... quite simply my favorite warm weather treat.

Spring Carnival 2013

The Main Event