Weekly Eats Twelve (3/28 - 4/3)

Holiday Eats: Grilled Salmon, Vegan Pasta Salad, Deviled Eggs, and Southern Potato Salad

This is what I ate for a (late) Easter dinner - marinaded/grilled salmon, my mom's classic Southern potato salad, her deviled eggs, pasta salad, and roasted romanesco (green cauliflower). I wanted to try a new pasta salad recipe since my mom doesn't like mayo, even if it's vegan mayo, so I used this recipe which uses a silken tofu mayo dressing plus dried dill. I must say, I wasn't really a fan of the silken mayo dressing. I thought it was a little bland overall, but then again I could've tweaked it be otherwise, but discovering my oven is broken kind of distracted me.

Dinner: Favorite Lentil Soup

I'm sure you might be wondering why there are so few posts this week...and it's due to the fact that I was nursing an infected canker sore and had difficulty chewing for most of that time. Luckily this lentil soup did the trick, which I had an easier time eating after a day or so on meds. I loved the combination of different herbs in this recipe. Instead of dried tarragon, I used dried rosemary, ground marjoram, and basil. I will definitely be making this again - especially next time we need a get well soon soup.

Dinner: Classic Sauteed Tofu, Steamed Kale + Slow-Cooker Garlic Chive Mashed Potatoes

As mentioned above, my oven currently does not work, which breaks my heart. Luckily I am moving into a place with new appliances soon (yay!) so I won't have to wait that much longer. I made these mashed potatoes in the slow cooker when I could still barely chew, and they are probably one of the best mashed potato recipes I've had! The potatoes cook for less than three hours in the slow cooker, then you mash with almond milk and serve! They went perfectly with the tofu and kale. We marinated the tofu extra long (over an hour) and then sauteed 5-6 mins/side in some leftover marinade, adding more after flipping, instead of baking it. This might be our new go to "basic" tofu recipe. The flavor was wonderful, especially with a little lemon pepper on top. I'd like to try this with Bragg's Amino Acids next time, which Isa calls for in her recipe that originally comes from this book, but I never have it on hand.

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

It's finally Fall break! Woo-hoo! I also realized that I haven't done a meal post in over a month, so that was my first order of business for Fall break! A month or so ago, I won a copy of Salad Samurai, which I had been looking forward to reading ever since I heard about it. I will definitely do a full review of it once classes are over, but for now, these are the first recipes I've made from it. I made my own salad with the That 70s Tofu recipe (roasted in tamari, apple cider vinegar, etc.) and the Upstate dressing. The Upstate dressing is supposed to be a healthier and gluten-free version of Annie's Woodstock dressing, which I loved when I was younger. Both recipes were incredibly flavorful and easy to make! I also love that she splits up the recipes by season...but I will save the rest of my lovey-dovey feelings for Salad Samurai when I do a full review! 

Typically when we think of "sweet and sour" we think of a stir-fried dish, or even sauce that comes with spring rolls. This sweet and sour brown rice salad from Isa Does It is possibly my new favorite sweet and sour recipe! I did make a couple of changes: I used steamed edamame instead of azuki beans and I used sprouted green peas instead of mung beans. I think next time I will probably leave the sprouts out, because I've come to realize that I am not a huge fans of sprouted beans. Besides that, this salad is tangy, zesty, crunchy, and super flavorful! Don't skip the fresh mint or cilantro! This would be a great lunch to pack for any day of the week as well.

Near the end of summer, I was walking through the grocery store, and I realized that I almost forgot to make minestrone this summer. I quickly looked up the ingredients to my favorite recipe from Shutterbean, and cooked up a huge pot of it that very night. I have tried many different variations on minestrone, but I always come back to this one. I am convinced that the combination of curry powder and red wine vinegar is what makes this particular minestrone incredible and habit-forming. Summer produce is still lingering at markets, however, so make this minestrone before it's too late!

Here's an easy dinner that I pulled together with out a recipe. Warmed GF tortillas (I use Trader Joe's) spread with vegan refried beans, some Mexican spiced tofu scramble that I made, plus fresh tomatoes, avocado, and chipotle lime hot sauce. It doesn't get much better than this! 

The mini slow-cooker is a great appliance. It allows you to cook food while you're gone, but it doesn't give you a ton of leftovers that would take weeks to eat. What pairs best with a mini slow-cooker? A book from one of my favorite vegan (and local!) authors which is Vegan slow-cooking for just 1 or 2. This recipe is sloppy black-eyed peas, which also has millet and spinach in it, which I put on toast with hot sauce. I also made some balsamic roasted green beans to eat on the side. Both recipes were great, and the sloppy black-eyed peas were also great over potatoes! I would definitely like to use my mini slow-cooker more this winter.

I love lentil soup, and I am always looking for new variations! This is a lentil soup with cumin and coriander, which you can easily adjust to whatever you have in your fridge. For example, I used yellow squash, only one or two small potatoes, and frozen spinach. This is technically a pressure cooker recipe, but to make it on the stove I just brought everything minus the spinach and lemon to boil, and simmered for an hour or so. After that, I added the lemon, spinach, and more spices. This makes a TON of soup, but I'm sure you could freeze some for the coming colder months! I did love how easy this soup was to make and that it required no oil! 

This is definitely one of my new favorite versatile recipes: tomato rice from Food52, which I veganized and made with short-grain brown rice. It was easy to put together, super flavorful, and you could eat it in so many different ways! The first night I had it, I pan-seared some carrots and broccoli in a nutritional yeast sauce to go with it. The following day, I ate it with some soft-boiled eggs and nutritional yeast. If you're vegan, this would be lovely with some pan-seared chickpeas and greens! I would also like to see how this rice holds up in a burrito with black beans and greens. The possibilities are endless! 

Procrastibaking (noun) - When you have so much work that you don't want to do, so you bake something instead. I am occasionally guilty of procrastibaking, and this was one of those occasions. I blame the fact that there was leftover pumpkin puree in my fridge, just begging to be turned into muffins every time I looked at it. This is my standby recipe for gluten and dairy-free pumpkin chocolate chip muffins; and yes, I always make them with chocolate chips! There's a local bakery near me that makes the BEST, gigantic, fluffy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, but they are full of things that I cannot eat. BUT, these are seriously amazing and you will not want to share them. Hooray for fall baking (and for procrastibaking too)!

Breakfast from this week: almond butter toast and a vegan vanilla chai smoothie. So good!

Did you know that GF orzo exists? That's right, and it's incredibly delicious! I discovered that I had some in my pantry from a random Walmart trip (which rarely happens) and I decided to use it for tempeh orzilla, originally from Isa Does It. I don't even know where to start with this recipe because it's so good and has a lot of flavor going on. The tempeh sausage crumbles taste almost identical to regular Italian sausage because of the fennel seed and coriander (which is a great thing). After the orzo is done cooking, it's mixed with a nutritional yeast, white wine and rosemary sauce, along with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and sauteed thinly sliced red onions. Are you drooling yet? This might be one of my new favorite pasta dishes ever, and it was so easy to make! Isa might want to consider re-naming her book Isa always Does it because her recipes are the bomb!

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!

November Favorites

Wow. This year is passing quickly! I can't believe December is already upon us. Classes are done, exams start this week, and Thanksgiving is over. I will discuss below how I planned Thanksgiving and I might even do a post on how to eat with allergies during the holidays. 

1. Sweet Chili Roasted Brussels Sprouts (with Sweet & Sour Tempeh)

I can't stress this enough: you have to make these Brussels sprouts. Just trust me. I've made them at least four times since this time, and one of them was for Thanksgiving. They were a huge hit! Even Mike's 4 year-old niece Abby ate them, which made me very happy! These will fall apart in your mouth and they are so easy to make //bleubirdvintage

2. Sweet Potato + Broccoli Bowl with Miso-Tahini Sauce

I did a lot of experimenting with flavors this month, it seems! I tried a lot of different Asian flavors like miso and sweet chili sauce, and fell in love with Tunisian sauce called harissa (which will be discussed below). This meal is dead simple, wholesome, and delicious. The tahini-miso sauce will become your new best friend, alongside toasted sesame seeds. This would be great for a post-holiday healthy meal! I used purple sweet potatoes and red rice for a splash of color! [note: my sauce is darker because I used a different type of miso] //smitten kitchen

3. Miso Harissa Delicata Squash Salad with Kale
Alright, I have a confession to make. I don't ever say this, but...this could be it. The best thing I've ever cooked. This dish is an umami flavor explosion! Salty miso, cumin laced spicy harissa all tossed with tender fingerling potatoes, soft delicata squash and beautiful kale. All topped with some toasted almonds. This is one salty dish, in the best way possible. I craved this for days after I made it. Each bite incites an auditory "Mmmm" moment and pure bliss. This is my first time using harissa and I think I'm in love with it now //101 cookbooks

4. Italian Lentil Soup
Ah, simplicity. Where have you been? This is the easiest, most wholesome lentil soup ever. The flavors are complex, but with out the lengthy ingredient list. Bake a nice loaf of bread to serve alongside, slathered in plenty of (vegan) butter. This soup is perfect for a cold winter day, which there are plenty of lately in the South //vanilla bean blog

5. Lemony Pasta with Brussels Sprouts + Mushrooms
I realized something this month: I can't eat portobello mushrooms. I just can't do it. The texture is too much for me, but somehow regular mushrooms are fine. This pasta is delicious but I changed a few things from the recipe: at the end of cooking the mushrooms, I added a pat of vegan butter and some white wine to cook until they absorbed the liquids; I pan-fried the Brussels a little longer until golden brown and crispy; I added a lot more lemon juice, zest, and more vegan butter at the end for more flavor. This could be a new favorite //martha stewart

6. Agave-Jalapeno Acorn Squash with Quinoa, Black Beans + Kale
I've been on a weird "trio" kick with food: making one main component, then adding two or three sides. This dinner was simple to pull together, wholesome, and scrumptious. The roasted acorn squash gets brushed with an agave-jalapeno-garlic mixture, then served with black beans and quinoa, then hot sauce/onion flake kale. What could be easier or healthier? Acorn squash is super easy to prepare and delicious[note: for vegan, sub agave nectar for honey]  //naturally ella

7. Pepperkakkor (Swedish Gingersnaps)
I have some very exciting news that I can't elaborate too much on, but: I'm a recipe tester! It's for a project I don't know everything about, but this is the first recipe I've tested. And man, were they just perfect!

 8. Pumpkin Pie Bars with Graham Cracker Crust
This is the dessert I chose for Thanksgiving. They're portable, easy to make, and can be refrigerated up to 5 days in advance. I used these GF grahams to make my life a little easier, and they were awesome! Everyone raved over these and couldn't grasp that they were vegan and gluten-free, which is a home-run to me! I served them with rice whip, again, to make things easier and travel-friendly. This might be the best pumpkin pie filling I've tasted yet, and I'm definitely making them again [note: I didn't want to buy brown rice syrup, so I used agave nectar instead. They turned out perfect!] //oh she glows

9. Baked Sweet Potato + Spicy Kale Hummus Tofu Scramble

I've discovered that a great way to keep tofu scramble moist and "eggy" is to use hummus! I know, it's strange, but it really really works. I just cooked tofu in a pan (no oil), crumbled it, then added some jalapeno-cilantro hummus (Trader joes) and spices. Then cooked until more "eggy" and added chopped kale, pickled jalapenos, hot sauce and chopped tomato. Served with a baked sweet potato spread with cinnamon/earth balance, and this was an awesome breakfast!

10. Surprise Birthday Dinner!I turned 22 this month, which is a little hard for me to grasp! My wonderful friends and boyfriend surprised me by making me a huge dinner and CAKE! They made all of my favorites: sweet potato fries, applesauce, chocolate zucchini cake (using this mix), and cauliflower pizza crust topped with ALL my favorite vegetables! Pizza crust recipe was this one. I was seriously blown away that they took so much time to plan a special dinner for me, that I had no idea about. It was a very delicious combination!


Thanksgiving Dinner Plan:

• Vegan lentil Shepherd's pie with potato-parsnip mash //food52 [note: added a head of roasted garlic to the topping; added fresh rosemary, red wine vinegar and tomato paste to the lentil/vegetable mixture]
• Pumpkin pie bars with graham cracker crust //see above post^
• Kale salad with roasted kabocha squash, pecans & cranberry vinaigrette //joanne [note: I made a very half-ass version of this salad by using raw pecans, omitting the brie croutons, and keeping everything else the same]
• Roasted Brussels sprouts with sweet chili sauce //see above post^
• Rosemary millet biscuits with cornmeal & honey //80twenty [note: I did not post about these because they didn't turn out as planned and were very dry]