Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

My last meal before getting my wisdom teeth out is one of my go-to easy meals: jasmine rice steamed with spinach (stir it in after cooking until it wilts), cubed farmer's cucumbers, sliced avocado, two eggs over easy (with garlic and smoked paprika in the yolks) and miso horseradish kimchi. I would also usually add a good amount of sriracha on top, and any other vegetables I have on hand.

Here's everything I prepped before my wisdom teeth surgery because I knew that I wouldn't feel like cooking much afterwards: frozen blueberries (local and organic from the farm), bananas, and fresh frozen watermelon for smoothies; my favorite Greek-style coconut milk yogurts; homemade chocolate coconut ice cream; GF vegan roasted red pepper "mac"; organic cinnamon apple sauce; golden potato soup with extra nooch, smoked paprika and blended until it was basically liquid; Moroccan lentil soup. I'll probably also make some mashed potatoes with this easy GF V country gravy too.

This watermelon frosty is probably the best thing ever for sore, tender gums. Just be sure to freeze some fresh watermelon before your surgery! Or, if you're just a normal person, add tequila and call it a daiquiri. Sadly I could not add booze this time, but I will next time!

One of the first things I cooked a few days after my procedure was mashed white beans with garlic, spinach + lemon. As you can see, I mashed mine until they were practically liquid. These were so delicious and easy to make that I ate the entire skillet in one sitting. I'd love to make these again with a side of rice or roasted potatoes. Also, it takes less than 10 minutes, so it's a great weeknight meal!

Anddd more soft food. Seeing a pattern here? I was sort of confused when my dental surgeon told me to start eating normal food the day after my surgery. My only advice is to slowly build up to eating normally. Don't eat a potato chip three days after. I did lots of chewing after my procedure and now, about a week and two days later, I can eat anything, but I am still being cautious. Anyways, this was a lovely tofu scramble with tomatoes and lots of spices (minus the spinach) and a baked potato with smoked paprika and vegan butter. I am sort of obsessed with smoked paprika because it makes everything taste like bacon! But this scramble is fast, delicious, and full of flavor.

Work smoothie: 3 frozen bananas, orange juice + matcha powder.

Recently, my blogger friend Kara gave me The Heart of the Plate in a giveaway. I read the book constantly after my procedure and was completely in love. This book is immaculate and incredibly creative. Almost every recipe is vegan, if not easily adapted to be vegan. I can't wait to cook my way through it, and I started with something mushy (obviously): golden lentils with soft, sweet onions. I've been eating these for days and I'm not sick of it yet. I served mine with brown rice, and later some chopped local tomatoes. It would be wonderful with a balsamic reduction and a fried egg, or even balsamic roasted tofu/chickpeas on top. I love this book because it gives you "Enhancements" for each recipe: things to add to make it different from the first time you made it, or to make it extra special. I can't wait to continue sharing things I make from this book! Thank you again Kara!

Have you heard of this new craze called banana ice cream? Well, you better get on it. I can't share this recipe because it's from the cookbook I'm testing for, but just google "banana ice cream" and you will get tons of results. It's easy, healthy, creamy, and tastes like ice cream! And: no ice cream maker required! I added sprinkles to mine, which was inspired by this recipe for cake batter banana ice cream. 

Another recipe from the cookbook I'm testing: an anti-inflammatory smoothie with blueberries, green tea and turmeric! 

I got tired of mushy things, eventually, so I settled on making these vegan sweet potato + spinach quiches to take to work this week. These are delicious! My mom was convinced that they contained eggs. They were also fairly easy to pull together and didn't require any crazy ingredients/prep. I can't wait to try the broccoli cheddar version too, but I will be subbing nutritional yeast for the Daiya cheddar. I'll share that photo when I do so!

Well, I was almost in the clear for having a great surgery and recovery. Yesterday I woke up with an infection in one of my extraction sites, which is all thanks to me. Kids: learn how to use your irrigation syringe properly. I used mine after I ate anything, but wasn't going deep enough. That leads to nasty, incredibly painful infections and more antibiotics. Hooray! Lesson learned. If you're really unsure, here's a great video that helped me do it the right way. After all the soup I ate post surgery, I'm still not tired of it (somehow), so I made Isa's alphabet soup with a few changes: I used this pasta, subbed in 2 tsp herbes de Provence in place of the thyme/tarragon, and I used frozen edamame in place of the frozen peas. This is legit alphabet soup. The real deal. It tastes a million times better than anything from a can. So go and make some! This is definitely my new go-to "feeling crappy" soup.

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.