Weekly Eats Seven (2/22 - 2/28)

Dinner: Pasta with improvised Vegan Bolognese Sauce

I've been trying to make the most of my leftover produce/odds and ends lately, so I decided to make a quick vegan bolognese sauce to top pasta with! My roommate had some leftover cooked tomatoes with herbs and spices, to which I added some onion and bell pepper I had cut up in the fridge. I sauteed the vegetables while I "steamed" meatless chickn tenders in the microwave. When the tenders were done, I mashed them with a potato masher, then added to the vegetables along with a little tamari/vegan Worcestershire/herbs/spices. Once this cooked down, I added the tomato sauce and let it boil on medium heat until the pasta was ready. The sauce turned out wonderfully and it was incredibly filling! 

Snacks: Chewy Almond Coconut Granola Bars

I've had this wonderful book by Joy the Baker for a couple of years now, but have never made a recipe from it until now (somehow)! These granola bars contain only pantry ingredients, so I had to try them out. I made them GF/DF by using vegan butter (to which I added dried orange peel), GF rolled oats, and GF oat flour. These granola bars were perfect in comparison to the last ones I made. They held up wonderfully and stayed chewy for a full week after I wrapped them in plastic wrap, plus their flavor never dulled. This might be my new go-to granola bar recipe. 

Dinner: Peanut Soba with Snow Peas

There are some nights when it gets too late and I have zero interest in cooking anything. But most of the time, I try to power through and just make something simple. When I tell you that these peanut noodles took as much effort as soaking rice noodles and making a sauce, that is seriously all it takes. And obviously I didn't regret making the effort by that point! Peanut noodles are my favorite and these were simply delicious, especially with the addition of snow peas, sambal, and lime.

Dinner: Old Bay Cauliflower Chickpea Burgers

Let me just say...these burgers are EVERYTHING! Perfect texture, flavor profile, and mouth feel somewhat akin to a real burger. There is a vegan burger in town that I like to order that also contains cauliflower, so I'm starting to wonder if this is the secret ingredient to a great veggie burger. Plus I love Old Bay, and it complemented the flavors of the chives and cauliflower beautifully. We served these on GF bread with vegan mayo, tomato, and lettuce, with a side of homemade oven fries as well. Doesn't get any better than this!

Night Out: Los Gordos Tex-Mex Cafe, Greensboro NC

We went out this past weekend and tried a Tex Mex place in town for the first time. It was the first restaurant with this cuisine that actually had GF options and was very accommodating for my dairy/gluten allergies. Finally we landed on these veggie fajitas - complete with Mexican rice, vegan refried beans (no lard!), guacamole, and pico. The best part, hands down, were the homemade corn tortillas. It was so different from a regular Mexican place. Los Gordos is tiny, but cozy, and everything tastes so fresh, so flavorful. The tortillas were the kicker because I can't stop thinking about them, which struck a conversation about why haven't we made tortillas yet? This has to be the best Mexican/Tex Mex food I've had, and I can't wait to go back!

BIG NEWS: I am moving in two months! Well, okay, not that far from where I live now...but I will have a real, new (as in not built in the 1950s) kitchen, which I am so excited about. I am sharing this news for a couple of reasons: I'm looking for suggestions/ideas on how to eat down my fridge/freezer/pantry for easier moving, but also good ideas for "starting meals" during our first week at the new place - which will involve quite a bit of unpacking/re-arranging. I am SO excited to move, but also a tiny sad to leave my quaint little neighborhood which I've grown to love. Luckily we won't be too far away. Any tips or suggestions you all have would be much appreciated!

Weekly Eats Six (2/15 - 2/21)

Dinner: Singapore Noodles

I love anything to do with noodles - whether it be Italian, Thai, Japanese, or other cuisine - or just plain noodles with vegan butter and salt. However, there's a special place in my heart for Asian noodle dishes, especially those that I haven't tried yet. I had never heard of Singapore noodles until I read this post and I knew I had to try them! The combination of tamari and curry powder is amazing, plus that "sauce" is maybe my new favorite glaze for tofu and it only has a few ingredients! Instead of baking the tofu and pan-glazing it, I pressed, cubed, and fried my tofu in coconut oil in a large skillet (the same one I used for the whole dish) until lightly browned on all sides - about 10 minutes. Then I added the sauce and let cook for 3-4 minutes until glazed. I did this while my rice noodles soaked in hot water, so when both of those things were done, I could start the rest!

Snacks: Apple Pie Granola Bars

These are the first "true" granola bars (i.e. not raw/no bake) I have tried to make. These only took a few minutes to come together, and baked for only half an hour, but apparently I'm not that great at making granola bars. These had a perfect apple pie flavor, complete with plenty of cinnamon and a hint of sugar, but most of them fell apart. Of course I still ate them, but I'd like to have nice, neat little bars to pack up for trips. I think my mistakes were a) not measuring my melted coconut oil properly b) not pressing down my bars firmly (I would use a thin, metal spatula) c) not letting them cool completely before cutting into bars. I am about to try a different granola bar recipe that instructs you to let cool, then refrigerate before cutting, so we will see if those cut more easily. 

Dinner: Crunchy Black Bean Tacos

I've had my eye on these beautifully golden, crunchy tacos for a while now. We really enjoy Mexican food, so of course we had to try making these at home. The result: why have I never shallow-fried tacos?! There's nothing really to this recipe - just mashing some homemade beans with onion and cilantro, frying and pressing tortillas to make crispy little shells, then smothering it all in salsa and hot sauce - but they just taste so much better then regular tacos. I'd love to try these with different fillings, and will certainly report back our results. The recipe says it serves four, but we happily ate all of them in one sitting. Next thing to try will be making our own tortillas!

Dinner/Lunch: Chickpea Lentil Salad with Shallot White Wine Vinaigrette

This has been on my to-make list for a bit now, and I finally decided I needed a healthy little boost for dinner. Plus who doesn't love a recipe that takes literally no time to make? The dressing was exceptional - especially with a little lemon juice and extra freshly ground pepper. I subbed black olives for kalamata for expense purposes, and used romaine instead of baby greens because I prefer a crunchier green sometimes. This would be perfect with a soft cooked egg or cooked salmon as well, to make it a protein triple threat! Plus lentils in salads is the best, and I just love cooking them on the stove because they release a smell that is very reminiscent of jasmine tea. 

Ideas for the upcoming week: use up leftover produce; Old Bay cauliflower chickpea burgers; garlic-curry fries; toasted coconut almond granola bars; creamy tahini chopped salad; use up snow peas