Midnight Express Mushroom Pasta

If you looked in my pantry, you would probably think that I am preparing for a long winter storm. I have at least 2 cabinets and a few drawers filled with tea, at least 6 pounds of pasta, jars of dried beans and grains, an 8pd bag of potatoes, and other items that I consider essential. Pasta is something that I always have on hand. It's filling, cheap (if you buy the right kind), quick, and you can easily dress it up or down. For those of you with intestinal troubles, like me, pasta is also a great bland food for when you're not feeling so great. 

Since I was a kid, noodles with butter and salt has been one of my comfort foods. A few weeks ago, I had a thought: why not try tamari and vegan butter? I tried it over some GF soba noodles and was floored. The combo of umami tamari and rich vegan butter was more than a success, so now I'm hooked. Last night I took the time to fancy it up a little by adding mushrooms and green onions. I'm not sure why I'm calling it Midnight Express Mushroom pasta, but let's just roll with it. It's quick, cheap, and damn delicious! Make it as rich as you want it to be, just don't use too much tamari or it will be too salty.

Midnight Express Mushroom Pasta

• 1 pd GF pasta or soba noodles (I recommend soba)
• 3-4 cups thinly sliced cremini or shiitake mushrooms
• 2 TBS vegan butter, divided (do not substitute this with oil), plus more for serving
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced diagonally (you could use a whole bunch)
• 1.5 TBS GF soy sauce (tamari), plus more for serving

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook your noodles according to package directions. Note that soba noodles are cooked differently than pasta. When finished, drain and rinse and return to your pasta pot.
2. Heat a small or medium sized skillet on medium heat. Add 1 TBS vegan butter and swirl it around the pan until melted. Add the mushrooms, a tiny pinch of salt, and stir. Cook mushrooms until buttery and soft, about 10 or more minutes. They should be wonderfully browned and almost caramelized.
3. Add the green onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions become lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Add the last 1 TBS of vegan butter and 1.5 TBS of tamari. Stir well and let cook for about 30 seconds, letting a thick sauce form. Immediately pour over the pasta.
4. Stir the mushroom mix into the pasta evenly. Taste for vegan butter and tamari, but do not add salt because that's what the soy sauce is for! I added about an extra tablespoon of vegan butter and two teaspoons of soy sauce. It just depends on how rich you want it to be!

Pantry Fried Rice

There are two things I always have on hand, no matter what: eggs (or any type of protein) and short grain brown rice (or any grain). When you take these two things and add vegetables, soy sauce, and other ingredients, you can create a delicious meal in less than 10 minutes! You can change the ingredients based on what you have or your preferences, just make sure you cook the longest cooking vegetables (like carrots + squash) in the pan before the shortest cooking vegetables (like garlic + green onions). You can also easily make this vegan by subbing crumbled tofu or edamame for the eggs!

Pantry Fried Rice

• 2 eggs (for vegan: 1/2 C finely crumbled tofu or 1 C thawed edamame)
• 2 C cold, cooked brown rice (or quinoa, millet, white rice, or jasmine rice)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced (or leave it out, if not on hand)
• 1-1.5 C vegetables (I used leftover steamed kale but feel free to use whatever you have and chop it small! See note above about cooking times)
• 1 TBS GF soy sauce
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• splash of rice vinegar
• sriracha for serving
• additional add-ins: fresh herbs like Thai basil or cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, thinly sliced carrots, finely chopped steamed broccoli, finely minced ginger

1. Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Add sesame oil and rice (I also added the kale here now to get it crispy and warm; add your long cooking vegetables now). Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes, until starting to warm and crisp up. 
2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs together in a small bowl until smooth with a fork (for vegan, just crumble your tofu finely or thaw the edamame). 
3. Now add the garlic and green onions (if using; add other short cooking vegetables). Stir to combine and cook 1-2 minutes, until the green onions and garlic starts to brown lightly. Drizzle in the soy sauce and vinegar, and stir to combine. 
4. If using the eggs, make a well in the center of the rice and add them in. Let cook for about 1 minute or more, until starting to set on the bottom. Stir into the rest of the rice (for vegan, simply stir in the tofu and edamame, until browning).
5. Stir and flip the rice occasionally until the rice and eggs become lighly browned, about 3 minutes or more, until the eggs are cooked to your desired consistency. Serve with plenty of sriracha!

Fresh Herb & Tofu Summer Rolls

 Lately I've been feeling uninspired in the kitchen, so I usually go back to eating things I love or want to eat more of: enter the spring/summer roll. They are fairly quick, easy to make, and can be made with whatever you want! I chose pretty simple ingredients, but you can substitute or change anything. My only rule is do not skip the fresh herbs. It makes a huge difference in eating a bland spring roll without them. I also want to say that I was afraid of making spring rolls for the longest time, which is silly because of how easy they are. Don't be afraid! You will be so proud and then kick yourself for ever thinking these were difficult (like I did).

Fresh Herb & Tofu Summer Rolls

Makes 12 (or more)

• 1 package spring roll wrappers
• 14 oz. extra-firm tofu, pressed for at least 30 minutes and cut into thin strips
• 1-2 tsp toasted sesame oil/olive oil
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• 2-3 green onions, green & white parts, sliced
• 2-3 cups of shredded romaine/iceberg lettuce
• 2.5 TBS fresh mint leaves
• 2.5 TBS fresh cilantro leaves
• 2.5 TBS fresh Thai basil leaves (or regular basil)

1. Make sure all of your ingredients are prepped before you start rolling. I like to put my filling ingredients on the largest plate I have, so I can easily grab and roll. Make sure you have a cutting board or plate to roll on too (cutting board is recommended).
2. Preheat a large skillet on medium-high. Add about 1-2 tsp of sesame oil. Add the tofu strips and cook 5 minutes, until browned. If the tofu starts to stick, add a little more oil as needed. Flip, cook 5 mins more until browned/crispy and remove to a plate. Feel free to skip this step completely and leave the tofu raw.
3. Fill a large skillet with enough water to submerge a spring roll paper. Bring to a boil, then gently simmer on low. 
4. There may be a way to do this without slightly burning your fingers, but this is how I do it (mostly because my fingers are used to burns). Grab a spring roll paper. Place it in the water. When you notice the edges coming up, gently press them down into the water. Submerge for 10-15 seconds (or according to your package directions).
5. When removing the paper from the water, gently try to stretch it out to its original shape, which you can do more successfully on the cutting board. Just be careful not to tear!
6. In the middle of your paper (I tend to do middle but slightly more towards the bottom, leaving some space), put a small handful of lettuce. Top with 2-3 slices of tofu, then 1 slice of avocado. Add a sprinkling of green onions then place a few of each herb leaves of top.
7. Gently fold the sides in towards the filling. Take the bottom of the wrapper and gently, yet tightly, roll upwards and over the filling until the spring roll is wrapped. You did it! Yay!
8. Feel free to serve with Thai peanut sauce, sweet chili sauce or sriracha. These definitely get better after sitting in the fridge for a bit.

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

This is possibly my new favorite cocktail because it tastes like a sweeter version of a Negroni. I've been searching for different ways to use pomegranate molasses and this might be the tastiest way yet! If you've never tried Campari, I highly recommend it, but only if you like slightly bitter, strong alcohols. 

For  Father's Day last weekend, I decided to make dinner for my parents and Mike. I grew up eating lots of Southern food (minus the lard and ham hocks), like collard greens, fried cornbread, BBQ chicken and black-eyed peas. Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry encompasses everything I loved as a child, and more, minus the meat and dairy. If you love Southern/Soul food, I can't recommend this book enough. These are the first recipes I've made from it, but they were so easy and pretty much every recipe does not require "special" ingredients. For this dinner, I made Creole Hoppin'-Jean and Johnny blaze cakes (aka johnny cakes with jalapenos). I think I could eat this meal every single day and never tire of it. The texture of the Johnny blaze cakes were incredible, even though they were a little tedious and took a while to cook (it's totally worth it though).

Whenever I make pie, I always ask myself why I don't make pie more often. For dessert on Father's Day, I made this chilled chocolate pie with an oat-almond crust. I left out the strawberry compote and bought some rice whip instead (mostly because we devoured all of our local strawberries). This is probably the easiest vegan/GF pie I've ever made. The crust held up wonderfully and everything came together smoothly and quickly. My favorite part about this pie? The texture was incredible. Getting the texture right for a vegan pie filling is something I've had trouble with in the past, but this one was creamy, thick, and delicious. 

I made this Tuscan kale + tomato pasta this week, which actually ended up giving us two dinners. The sauce was very "soupy", which I liked in some ways. We omitted the Parmesan rind, which I'm sure would add a lovely flavor to the sauce, so ours turned out slightly bland. If going the vegan route, add some dried Italian herbs/oregano/salt when the sauce is finished and extra fresh thyme and basil leaves for serving. This sauce came together quickly and was very easy to make, but I think I liked it better the second night (see below).

I had a ton of leftover tomato sauce from the Tuscan kale pasta, but did not want to eat pasta again. Two pounds of pasta in two days (for both of us) is not okay with me, as crazy as that sounds. Suddenly I remembered the eggs in tomato sauce that I've been making for weekend breakfasts every now and then, and wondered if I could do the same thing here. Here's the beauty of this recipe: we left the tomato sauce in the pot we cooked it in, with the lid, in the fridge. For dinner, I just put it on the stove to boil, straight from the fridge, lowered the heat to simmer (covered) for 10 minutes. Then I cracked four eggs gently into the tomato sauce and cooked 5-7 minutes until pretty much set, then 2-3 minutes off the heat uncovered. We ate these eggs over buttered toast with extra tomato sauce, fresh thyme and basil. You could also serve this over Italian polenta for an extra delicious dinner!

The most abundant herb in my garden is fennel. I hate licorice candy, but I am a sucker for how fennel smells and tastes. Plus, the big, green fronds are so pretty shooting every which way from the middle of its pot. But what on Earth will I do with all of this fennel? Yes, I can take out the root and eat it, but then I will have to grow fennel all over again. Well I did find one way: potato soup! Fennel fronds are the perfect balance for a creamy, potato-corn soup. I used this recipe with these changes: I omitted the tofu bacon, used 4 fresh corn cobs instead of 1 cup, omitted the nutritional yeast and jalapenos. I also broke my corn cobs in half and added them to the soup while it simmered, then removed them before taking it off the heat to blend it. I think I used about 1/4-1/3 C of torn fennel fronds to stir into the soup. Also, this soup is a cinch to make. There is no sauteing, or oil, and it takes about 30 minutes or less with prep time included. Always a plus!

One thing I am trying to be better about is using leftovers from one dish for a completely different one in the same week. Earlier this week, I made this curry soup with jasmine rice and tofu croutons (not pictured because I have made it before). There was a ton of rice and half a package of tofu leftover. Last night I used both of these to make peanut butter + kale fried rice. I added broiled sesame tofu, Thai basil, sriracha and chopped peanuts. Sadly there are no leftovers because we ate all of it in one sitting. This is definitely going on my "too busy to care" meal rotation during the school year. The ingredients are simple and it takes maybe 10 minutes to pull together. The sesame broiled tofu is something I go back to again and again because of how simple it is. You can find the recipe in this post.

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

This is one thing I've been wanting to make for a long time: African peanut stew. I've seen many recipes for it with different variations, like adding quinoa, cilantro, etc. After buying Angela's first cookbook, I vowed to finally try her recipe for African peanut stew because it looks so delicious! And it did not disappoint! This stew came together in no time and it's SO good. Would be perfect for a cold day, which hopefully NC is done with for now! But it still makes a great hearty, healthy stew for a weeknight. 

I've had my ice cream maker for about a year now, and this is only the second time I've made ice cream! I definitely want to start using it more because I forget how easy it is to make vegan ice cream. This time, I made coconut mint with fresh mint and coconut milk. The fresh mint gives it a very different flavor than with mint extract. I loved it with the chocolate sauce (which didn't really melt) and it was SO easy. I will definitely make this again!

I've been eyeing these cocktails for a while and finally decided to try my own spin on them. For mine, I did: 1 shot vodka and some torn fresh mint in a cocktail shaker with ice. After shaking, I poured it in a glass and topped with mango kombucha. For Mike's: 1 shot coconut/whipped rum over ice in a shaker with a generous drizzle of sriracha and torn fresh mint. After shaking, I poured it in a glass and topped with mango kombucha. I can't wait to experiment with other kombucha cocktails! 

So I finally started loving cabbage, and now I'm a little obsessed, but now I'm trying to get us to eat it every week. It has so many health benefits that we'd be crazy not to! I made this Asian rainbow salad with spicy mango dressing and sesame broiled tofu for dinner this week. These salads were HUGE! It took me a solid 20-25 minutes just to eat one! It's filled with napa and red cabbages, romaine, avocado, toasted sesame seeds, chopped red onion, chopped carrots, cucumber, and cilantro. The dressing is awesome and spicy, but on the second day I also used some bottled GF peanut sauce which was also great. I will post the sesame tofu recipe from Isa Does It because it's my favorite, quick way to make tofu:

Preheat oven to broiler (high setting). Chop a block of tofu into 8 pieces widthwise (press tofu if you have time). On a dinner plate, mix 3 TBS (GF) soy sauce and 2 TBS sesame oil. Dredge each tofu slice in this mixture and place on baking tray. Broil, 3-5 minutes on each side, being careful it doesn't burn and flipping after the first 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into any shape

More easy meals this week: lentils with spicy tomatoes over polenta with harissa! This was super filling, easy to make, and the polenta was delicious. I skipped the 8 hour setting time for polenta and just served it mushy and warm like it is (because I am supremely lazy, or a student). To make it vegan, I skipped the cheese and used a mix of vegan butter, veg broth, garlic powder, salt + red pepper flakes to add flavor to my polenta. I will definitely use more harissa powder next time because it wasn't very spicy to me.

I love love love trying new spices. Here's a few that maybe you haven't tried yet: garam masala (favorite), za'atar, berbere, coriander, harissa, chinese 5-spice, herbes de provence, Jamaican curry powder, panch phoron. Do any of these ring a bell? I guess when all you do in your free time is cook/bake/read food blogs/read cookbooks/read about food, you start to become familiar with these weird things. So yes, I love buying spices and I finally went to my local Savory Spice Shop to register for a class when I came across panch phoron. Panch Phoron is a Bengali spice blend of (essentially) cumin seeds, mustard, fennel, fenugreek and other delicious spices. I used it in this DELICIOUS cauliflower red lentil dal, which is possibly my new favorite Indian dish. This spice blend has so many layers of flavor that change through out eating this dish. I seriously can't wait to try other spices and other dishes with panch phoron. My advice about new spices is give it a shot! Buy the smallest amount possible (I bought 2 oz of panch phoron for $2) and try it out. You will be amazed at what new flavors you discover!

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

I've been craving bibimbap recently, so I finally got around to making some. The great thing about bibimbap is you can you seriously put anything in it and it's awesome. For this version, I used cooked short grain brown rice (jasmine would also work), sliced cucumbers (feel free to pickle them!), sliced + steamed sweet potatoes, sliced radishes, sliced green onions, miso horseradish kimchi, fried eggs + sriracha. If you want a 'real' recipe: vegetarian sweet potato bibimbap, with crispy tofu + kale and with pickled cucumbers + black rice. 

We love pasta, but I always want to try different variations on it. Last week I adapted this lemon garlic cream pasta to be GF/V. I used 1/2 almond milk instead of cream, no cheese, and GF pasta. This pasta is SO easy to make and such a great variation on basic "red" pasta. Next time I will definitely add greens, which I forgot. I also added a bit of vegan butter at the end to make it a little more decadent. 

Raw burritos we got at Lunas Living Kitchen in Charlotte this weekend! They were made of collard wraps, raw cauliflower rice, raw "refried" sunflower seeds, pico de gallo, guacamole, raw hot sauce, and a raw salad with brazil nut "parm". This was SO good, but definitely not cheap. I can't wait to try re-creating this at home!

Also from the raw restaurant: raw lemon raspberry cheesecake topped with microgreens + raspberries. I will definitely be trying my hand at raw desserts/food soon! Eating at Luna's really inspired me to branch out with more raw foods.

This is officially my new favorite vegan sandwich: blackened tempeh sandwiches with sriracha mayo, lettuce + tomato. This tempeh is so easy to make because it requires no marinating, just a dry rub/oiling process. The flavors of the blackening spice reminds me a lot of spicy chicken sandwiches that I used to love, but this is obviously the cruelty-free and healthy version! I can't wait to make these all the time in the summer.

I love recipes that are I can add fridge items to. I almost always have ingredients to make this rainbow rice + beans, as it turns out, which makes me really happy. I try to always have frozen organic peas and corn in my freezer, rice in the pantry, and these spices are pretty much always in my spice drawer. I used chickpeas instead of black beans because that's all I had, and I also added a thinly sliced jalapeno. The spices are a strange mix, but they work very well: coriander, mustard seed, oregano, fresh cumin seed, vegan soy sauce + vegan worcestershire. 

 

Since the weather is finally warmer, I've been trying to make us eat more salads lately. This rainbow jeweled beauty is a crunchy peanut quinoa Thai salad with peanut dressing. It was super easy to make and very satisfying on a warm day! I don't eat enough red cabbage, so I'm trying to try different recipes with it now. Also, because I had just returned home from a business exam, I used this GF peanut sauce with a squeeze of lime instead of making the dressing.

I think it's a common misconception that making ethnic food at home is complicated. This is funny to me because making ethnic food at home is almost always easier to make than other recipes. This Indian butter tofu took 30 minutes to make and it was cheaper, healthier, and tastier than any Indian food I've ever had a restaurant. Don't fear making ethnic food at home! I feel like I have more freedom making this at home, mostly because most restaurants do not have GF options.

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

When I made fajitas a week or so ago, Mike claimed that we don't eat Mexican food enough, and I must agree. So now I'm trying to incorporate it into our weekly meal plan a little more often. Last week we made these sriracha sweet potato black bean tacos with homemade guacamole. Mike had never had sweet potatoes with black beans, which is always amazing! The sriracha marinade is a little sweet, which gives the sweet potatoes a great flavor. These were definitely a favorite for both of us!

Mike was away this weekend, which almost always equals mac and cheeze. This weekend I was out of cashews however, so I had to do some quick searching for a vegan recipe without cashews. I stumbled upon this baked mac with peas that is made with coconut milk, GF flour, and other delicious things. I put them in individual baking dishes topped with GF panko, which made them even tastier! The crazy part is Mike actually ate this, even though it had nutritional yeast in it (note: this is unheard of for him). 

I've been falling behind on making us salads lately, so I made us gigantic bowls with Cajun roasted broccoli, carrots, cucumber, chickpeas, iceberg lettuce (underneath everything), fried polenta rounds and vegan ranch hummus. I was going to follow the original recipe, but it was a little too involved/salt-heavy for me. The hummus is a great topping for this or any other salad, and it really does taste like ranch! It also makes a great dip for carrots, cucumber, and chips. 

I felt guilty about not making us a St.Patricks day meal, so we celebrated (more than a week late). We had garlic roasted cabbage, garlicky pepper tofu and salt n vinegar kale mashed potatoes. This is a little more involved than most of my weeknight meals, but I guess the craving really hit! This tofu recipe is awesome because it requires no marinading and it has a lot of flavor (especially with hot sauce!). The roasted cabbage was amazing and had to be put up before we both ate all of it. Oh and the mashed potatoes were obviously my favorite. They weren't hard to make and the flavor is awesome. Next time I will definitely put them under the broiler, as the recipe says. 

For roasted cabbage: preheat oven to 400. Slice cabbage into 1/2" "steaks" or wedges (good luck because mine didn't stay intact). Spray a large baking tray or two with non-stick oil. Place cabbage pieces on top. Smash 3 garlic cloves and rub each cabbage piece with garlic (I kept the garlic in the pan to roast with the cabbage). Brush each piece of cabbage with olive oil. Roast 30 minutes, flip, brush with a little more oil, and roast 30 minutes more until starting to brown. Smaller pieces may brown more quickly, so be sure to remove them first. Roasted cabbage is also incredible with hot sauce (like everything else).

Sometimes cooking in the middle of being really busy is actually very rewarding. It lets me shut my brain off and not think about the 500 things I need to do. Last night's distraction consisted of this lovely French lentil soup with fresh fennel, kale and chipotle "yogurt" (I used vegan mayo instead). This soup was super easy to make and you definitely can't skip the mayo because it gives it a lot of flavor. I love French (de puy) lentils because of their shape and when they cook, it smells like tea!...okay, am I the only person who thinks this? Maybe I'm nuts. Anyways, this is a great easy soup for any weeknight!

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

I finally tried the wonderpot pasta that has been all over Pinterest! Because you cook everything together, the natural starch from the pasta creates a wonderfully thickened and flavorful sauce. It takes less than 5 minutes to prep and it's only on the stove for a total of 15 mins. No draining and only one pan! How crazy is that? I left the spinach out because Mike cannot eat it, but it was still delicious. Here is a spinach artichoke variation and here is a vegan eggplant + mushroom version.

I used to LOVE ordering fajitas at Mexican restaurants, so I'm not sure how it's taken me til' now to make a vegan version! These roasted chickpea, onion, pepper fajitas were so easy to make and they taste authentic! I made my own fajita mix because all the store bought varieties had horrible ingredients, so I used this simple recipe. Also, don't skip the cashew cilantro crema. It makes the dish even more delicious and is a good replacement for avocado, if you don't have any. And if you're anything like me, you'll want to serve these with strawberry daquiris.

Usually when I roast vegetables for soup, I just puree everything together and that's it. This is a normal tomato soup with the usual stuff, but with the addition of roasted cauliflower. The result is a lovely tomato soup with lots of swiss chard and delicious roasted bites of cauliflower. Next time I think I'll roast a whole head of garlic and add it for more roasty flavor. This soup is perfect for a cold winter night, for those of you with normal weather!

The perfect ice storm lunch: soba noodle miso soup with tons of kimchi + sriracha. Just cook some soba noodles (one bundle), then make miso broth. Pour broth over noodles and add lots of kimchi, then sriracha. Add any greens or vegetables you have on hand!

It's been quite a long time since I've made chili. I think I can blame being on a meal plan for this since there was a chili recipe almost every week, and none of them were very good. I decided to try again with this slow-cooker potato curry chili, since it's not a "standard" chili. The result was great, especially with lots of lime juice and hot sauce! This chili doesn't take long to pull together and is great for a cold night!

I made something a little different for dinner one night: vegan chickpea pancakes with soy gourt, cilantro and spiced roasted rainbow carrots. I also made some garlicky sauteed Swiss chard. These pancakes were SO easy to make and a nice change in pace from our usual dinner. The carrots were also delicious, and colorful! I like to think that maybe this will force Spring to come around soon because I am SO sick of snow/ice.

Recently, my wonderful mom gave me a jar of miso horseradish kimchi so I made some kimchi fried rice for dinner tonight. It was one of the quickest, easiest meals I've made in a while. We were out of green onions, so I just made plan kimchi rice with the other ingredients, plus eggs over easy, sriracha and cilantro. I think it would be easy to add any other vegetables you have in the fridge as well! To make vegan, just scramble some tofu where the recipe says pork/seafood (which I obviously left out). 

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

We were iced in last week, so I had to use only pantry ingredients for breakfast. Luckily, we always keep a few packages of tofu on hand, so I made some kimchi tofu scramble. I just sauteed some shallots and green onions, then added a package of extra-firm tofu, which I crumbled with the spatula. Then I added garlic powder, onion powder, salt, heavy dose of turmeric, and some coriander. Then I added the liquid from my kimchi jar. After this, I added about 1-2 cups of chopped kimchi. SO GOOD!

I FINALLY made Isa's brussels sprouts fried rice and I was not disappointed. I'm not sure how it has taken me so long to make fried rice with basil, but oh my gosh. The basil, lime and cilantro here are essential and amazing. I will certainly be making this again and again. In case you were wondering, they also make a great breakfast!

Mike has been cooking for me this week (see below for the reason why) and he's been doing a great job! I cooked the black-eyed peas a day ahead, pre-injury, and he did the rest for the black-eyed pea masala. I loved the peas in a masala dish, especially when paired with jasmine rice, cilantro and steamed collards! The masala recipe is easy, satisfying, and perfect for those who are still having winter weather!

After having two and a half wonderful days of spring break, great food, and hanging with friends, this happened: I stupidly dropped a couch on my toe. This couch is the one Mike bought for the theatre and it was only $50 (?!!) and it's in great condition/real leather. So I have been hobbling around all week, resting, and trying to heal before classes are back on Monday. I also tried this new "GF" beer I found at Deep Roots. It was alright, not my favorite GF beer, but pretty decent.

I have to admit, I have a slight weakness for childhood favorites made GF/vegan: vegan BLTs, pretzels...and sour cream and onion chips. I can't explain my excitement when I saw these! They're also low in fat, sodium, and non-GMO. These and the cheddar ones are both incredible. Mike was actually convinced that the cheddar ones had dairy but they're vegan! If you're in GSO, I found them at Whole Foods. I discovered these chips because of this recipe for sour cream + onion buttermilk crusted tofu (?!!!)...which I will obviously be making soon!

Now that I'm limping a little better, Mike and I tried cooking together tonight, which turned out great! I've been avoiding going to the store since I don't trust people to not step on my feet, so we pulled this out our pantry items: sweet chili lime tofu with quinoa and wok-steamed collards. It sounds complicated, but it was actually super easy and SO good. The sauce has lime zest, juice, mint, and other usual Asian sauce ingredients that make an incredibly flavorful sauce. I may have to cave in and get her cookbook now!

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

Things have been crazy around here, hence the lack of recipes, and I haven't been cooking every night. But spring break starts after class tomorrow (!!!) so hopefully I will get back on track with school and cooking!

I've been eyeing this mujaddara for years now. It's quick, easy, and the only thing I had to buy was vegan yogurt. It seems like such a simple dish, but the flavors go together so well. I also love caramelized onions, which is one of the main components of this dish. There are many variations on this dish, but this is the one I made. Highly recommended for a busy night when you just want something simple!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I got a breadmaker for Christmas (thanks Mama Gulick!). This weekend, she showed me how easy it is to make bread in a breadmaker using this mix. The result was wonderful! A light, airy not dense or mouth-scraping GF bread! I will definitely be making more bread soon. It's hard to eat Udi's bread after having fresh GF bread!

Some delicious cranberry cider I bought for the ice storm on Monday.

I'm definitely putting this in my easy weeknight meal rotation! I used this easy ginger shallot broccoli recipe, cooked brown rice and this spicy tofu recipe for an easy dinner. I doubled the tofu sauce, which I poured over the tofu after pan-frying so that it would glaze it better. The result was an amazingly easy Asian dinner! If you're interested in me doing a post of easy weeknight meals, please leave a comment below!

I've had this blood orange olive oil cake for YEARS now, and I finally made it! It was one of the first recipes I converted to GF when I first started baking. The result was a tender, orange-flecked cake with a great crust. I think the blood orange compote on top would make it even better, but I only had three blood oranges. For conversions, I used: scant 1/2 C vegan unsweetened yogurt, 1 C millet flour, 1/2 C sorghum flour, 1/4 C tapioca starch and 1 tsp xanthan gum. 

Confession: I have never had a real Reuben before. But like many things, I have now had the vegan version! We used GF bread, sauerkraut, this tempeh recipe, and this Russian dressing recipe. This made a very easy and delicious sandwich! Also, it's likely that you have most of these things on hand to make them all the time (which is great)! We served ours with homemade Cajun fries