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.

Another Milkless Monday

Tonight's dinner: Quinoa pilaf with Crimini mushrooms & sautéed Brussels and spinach.

Tonight's dessert: Kava Stress Relief Tea & a Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Cookie

Milkless Mondays

So as many of you guys know the period of Lent started this past week. The idea is that you give up a certain lifestyle choice for 40 days. Now in our family we often times give up a lifestyle but sometimes we add an act to our every day lifestyle, for example, one year Michelle did a daily Bible verse every day for 40 days. This year I decided to do a sketch every day and post to my art blog. I also decided to alter my diet. Now most people go vegetarian or participate in meatless Mondays for this time period. But seeing as I am already a vegetarian, I decided to come up with milkless Mondays. So every Monday until Easter I will stick to a Vegan diet, which means absolutely no animal product of any kind. No dairy products and no honey. My first day was last Monday and it went well, even with the temptation of a coworker bringing in Krispy Kremes for everyone. I realized that being vegan is not only about discipline but its also about being observant of all indgredients in every dish. I didn't realize how many foods have dairy in them.

Well tonight I decided to cook a meal that I was supposed to make last Monday. Turns out lots of Indian food is not only vegetarian but vegan. So I decided to pick up some Curry sauce and make a tasty meal that I could eat this coming Monday. For my Curry I used 2 red potatoes, 2 celery stalks, 1 green pepper, and some chickpeas. I first half cooked my potatoes by boiling them in a pot of hot water. While the potatoes were boiling I started to cook my brown Basmati rice. Now I have never cooked brown rice before let alone Basmati rice and ended up having too much water but hey, you live and you learn. Once my potatoes started to boil I drained them and then in a separate skillet I sautéed some yellow onion in 2 tsp of Sunflower Oil. Once the onions were soft I added the pepper, celery, potatoes, and chickpeas. I seasoned the ingredients with lots of Cayenne and some extra Curry powder cause I like my food spicy and flavorful. I then added the Madras Curry Sauce and let the mixture simmer for 15min.

Once the mixture was done simmering I topped it on top of a few scoops of Basmati rice. Overall, I was very pleased with my dinner. Since I used brown rice, a little went a long way and I only ate one serving. But it allowed for plenty of leftovers for during the week. If I could make any changes though, I would get a 'Hot' simmer sauce rather than 'Medium' because I found myself adding extra seasonings.

Mushroom "Mondays"

I know today is Tuesday but I had yesterday off making today my 'Monday'. Tonight's dinner was based on Crimini Mushrooms I had bought last week on a whim. I discovered a quick and easy recipe for Quinoa Pilaf this weekend, which I planned on trying out. I worked an early shift and was able to swing by a local market after work to pick up a few additional ingredients for my meal.

At first I was a little nervous because I have never cooked with Crimini mushrooms before but the recipe was so easy it was hard to mess up. I ended up pairing the pilaf with sautéed kale & Brussels sprouts, seasoning with dill, green onion, and jalapeño. Overall I was very pleased with the meal and the pilaf simply hit the spot on a cool fall night.

Quinoa Pilaf with Crimini Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon kosher for Passover olive oil
• 1 small shallot, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed well and drained
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves removed from their stems
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups vegetable stock, or water

Directions

Place a saucepan on high heat and get it hot. Add the olive oil and swirl it around to make sure the entire surface is covered with oil. Add the shallot and sweat (cook until translucent but not brown). Add the crimini mushrooms and cook until brown. Add the quinoa, thyme leaves, bay leaf, kosher salt and black pepper to the pan and stir. Let the ingredients heat up and roast a little to bring out all their fullest flavors. The steam coming up should be very aromatic.

Slowly and carefully add the vegetable stock (it will spatter because the pan and ingredients are hot). When it comes to full boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and allow to steam for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, turn off the heat, remove lid and fluff the quinoa and then replace the lid and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.

Taste for seasoning and adjust, if necessary. Serve.

Quick Dinner: Tofu edition

Managed to stop by a local market today and pick up some fresh veggies. Tonight's primary objective was to use some tofu that had been sitting in the fridge. I pan-fried the tofu in olive oil and garlic and seasoned it with pepper salt and basil. I paired the tofu with some tricolor quinoa and some sautéed greens ( kale,spinach, and zucchini). The meal was a little thrown together but was light, tasty, and healthy.

Can you say Quinoa anyone?

So lately I have been super lazy when it comes to cooking. Usually I am pretty good about sticking to making meals out of the items I purchased at my local grocery store but this last week I was slacking. I ate out twice within in the week. Now for most people that doesn’t seem like much but for me (and Michelle will probably agree) it is kind of a big deal. I found that cooking is not only way more cost effective but more fun. Anyways, awhile ago I was in Trader Joe’s and for whatever reason I felt compelled to buy quinoa. If you are unfamiliar with quinoa, its a type of grain and can be used in any recipe where you would normally use rice. Now I have never cooked with quinoa but I had eaten it once before. I went home and searched the internet for some simple recipes using quinoa. I stumbled upon a recipe for Pineapple Fried Quinoa on my one of my favorite blogs, Healthy Happy Life , which is full of yummy vegan recipes. Just to set the record straight, I am not vegan but I do enjoy good food so I decided to give this recipe a shot.

Meal Prep & iPad with recipe

Prepping Tofu
This was my first time cooking with tofu.

Sautéing tofu with mushrooms & red onion 

Finished Product!!
Pineapple Fried Quinoa with Sautéed tofu and topped with mint & Tahini 

Overall I was really happy with result. This recipe called for a lot of items (Tofu, Quinoa, Shiitake mushrooms, Tahini) that I had never cooked with before. I did have to make some adjustments to my meal because I was missing a few ingredients. I had to unfortunately opt out of the maple syrup. I also forgot to buy safflower oil and instead used sesame oil, which I already had. I didn’t know what tamari was so I googled it (Mom, you would be proud..lol) and apparently it relates to soy sauce so I just threw that in where the recipe called for tamari. Trader Joe’s didn’t have solo Shiitake mushrooms so I opted for a mushroom blend instead. I also opted out of using pineapple juice (because I was low on pineapple) and nutritional yeast. Finally, instead of blending my dressing I instead topped my quinoa mix with a dollop of Tahini sauce and a sprinkle of fresh cut mint. Quinoa I realized is very filling so I only ended up eating one serving, which was nice and now I have leftovers for another day. Even with all the changes I made I can definitely say I would eat this meal again. 

Here is the recipe : 

 Pineapple Fried Quinoa

INGREDIENTS:

first saute:
Tofu Triangles
10 mini sized tofu triangles
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp tamari
fine black pepper
add in:
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced

second saute:
1 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, diced
4 cups cooked quinoa (I used Trader Joe's Multicolor Quinoa)
1/4 red onion, diced
sauteed shiitakes + red onion from tofu saute pan
1 cup kale, shredded
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp dried jalapeno (for spicy accent)
to taste: splash of maple syrup and pinch of salt

Garnish saute:
1/2 cup finely diced pineapple
1 Tbsp mint, chopped

safflower oil for sauting

Tahini Pineapple Dressing
2 Tbsp Tahini
3 Tbsp pineapple juice
1 tsp chopped mint

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook your quinoa. I used 1 1/4 cups dry quinoa + 1 cup water + 1 cup veggie broth + pinch salt. Set cooked quinoa aside.

2. For your first saute, you will cook the tofu, shiitakes and red onion. Cooking them all in the same pan helps to season the tofu a bit. Start off with a thin layer of safflower oil. Add tofu triangles (dry them as much as possible). Allow to sizzle for a minute or so. Then add in tamari and maple syrup with a generous layer of black pepper. Cook on high 2 minutes on both sides. Then add in the shiitakes and onions. Cook until the veggies are tender. Remove tofu from pan and set aside. You can leave the mushrooms and onions and any excess liquid in the pan.

3. For the next saute, add the quinoa, pineapple, more red onion, mint, kale, nutritional yeast and jalapeno to the pan with a splash of safflower oil. Turn heat to high and cook for about 3 minutes - moving quinoa around so it cooks on all sides. A few crisped bits of quinoa is a good thing. Do a quick taste test and add a splash of tamari or maple syrup if needed. Transfer the fried quinoa to a bowl. Set aside.

4. Quickly saute the pineapple garnish. Just brown the edges a bit. The pineapple will pick up the flavor left in the pan.

5. Mix your dressing. Set aside.

6. To plate you can either use a pre-hollowed pineapple or a simple bowl. Add the fried quinoa.Then the pineapple garnish over top. Some fresh chopped mint on top is nice too. You can serve with the dressing and tofu on the side or you can add right over top this dish.