Weekly Eats Three (1/25 - 1/31)

Breakfast: Slow-Cooker Earl Grey Oatmeal

Overnight slow cooker oatmeal is a real life saver when you need to be up at 5:30! It takes no time at all to make - and you can easily sub in chai or Lady Grey tea! I used vanilla extract in place of the rosewater as well. This recipe yielded about 3 breakfast servings

Dinner: Tortilla Soup

The snow storm last weekend led to us raiding the pantry and fridge for an easy meal! This tortilla soup is something I've blogged about before - in fact, this picture is from last year. I love this soup because it seriously takes less than 30 minutes and it's so flavorful. Happy to report these beans were still from scratch (leftover from a large batch I made) and lasted us several snow days!

Dinner: Spicy Tofu Stew with Jasmine Rice

For Christmas, I received a very thoughtful gift - a subscription to Vegetarian Times! I'm so excited to have a thorough, vegetarian magazine to cook and adapt recipes from. I decided to make the first recipe I came across in their latest January/February issue - spicy tofu stew, which was voted one of their most popular recipes from last year. I was scared that this stew would not be super flavorful, but I was so wrong! I added a heavy dose of lemon pepper and Northwoods fire seasoning, plus a little vegan butter and more sambal. It only takes ten minutes to make this ridiculously filling and flavorful stew! Highly recommended with some jasmine rice for balance and bulk.

Snacks: Cajun Hummus

I made a batch of slow-cooker chickpeas, which went towards the last two recipes! This batch of Cajun hummus was a great snack to take to work - with corn chips, carrot sticks, or celery sticks. It's also nice to have a healthy snack to munch on while I'm home. I also found another use for breakfast - mixed with eggs for breakfast plus hot sauce. I love trying new hummus recipes, and this one is a new favorite!

Dinner: Buffalo Chickpea Stuffed Potato

Looks like I've revisited a lot of old favorites lately - and this one is no exception! Another lovely 10 minute meal that is hearty, filling, and super spicy! I cooled it down with a little extra vegan butter, but if you have vegan sour cream/vegan ranch, that would also be amazing. I seriously forgot how delicious buffalo sauce is!

Breakfast: blood orange - chia - apple - banana smoothies

Overview: Admittedly, I ate out way more than I wanted to this week, so I would like to not do that this week. I'd also like to post on time this week! On a positive note, I did cook all of my beans from scratch and did not spend a lot on groceries. Plus I had snacks for work last week. I'm excited to try new recipes this week and hopefully some new snack recipes as well.

Ideas for this week: banana bread granola bars; crunchy black bean tacos; Old Bay cauliflower burgers with garlic-curry fries; tequila sunrise chili; cauliflower buffalo wings

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

It's so odd to make this post because the first few recipes are from before school started back! That's why there's been a long "pause" in between posts around here lately. My schedule is kind of odd this year, with more than a few night classes, so I'm still trying to get my grip on meal prepping/cooking/doing dishes. Anyways, here is a Thai basil fried rice I made a few weeks ago for breakfast. I basically sauteed some cooked rice with Thai basil, GF soy sauce, sesame oil + rice vinegar. I also used eggs, so it's not vegan, but you could easily substitute crumbled tofu! And don't forget tons of sriracha on top! I can post a full recipe if anyone is interested.

This is the first time I've used avocado in pasta, and it was surprisingly delicious! The pesto is super easy to make, flavorful, and maybe one of the best pasta dishes I've ever had. The only thing to be aware of is that because avocados brown easily, the leftovers are only good for maybe a day afterwards (but I stopped caring and just ate all of it anyways). As Angela suggests, I topped mine with lemon zest, black pepper, extra basil and served it with some cherry tomatoes.

After taking anitbiotics for so long, it finally caught up with me and I stuck to "bland foods" for about a week. This chickpea, cabbage + rice soup from Isa Does It was absolutely perfect! This soup is incredibly cheap and easy to make, plus it's super nourishing! I can't wait to make it in the fall/winter this year. Instead of the dill, I made a "boquet garni" of fresh oregano, thyme, and rosemary which added a lovely fragrance to the soup.

I was really craving caprese, so I made a vegan version up! I basically made a balsamic reduction, which I briefly marinated the tofu in (next time I will add fresh oregano) and cut the same width as the tomatoes, then sandwiched them in between each other along with a large basil leaf. It satisfied my craving and was a delicious summertime dinner!

One of my favorite things to do is to take a couple of components from a recipe, and improvise the rest. This was my first "back to school" meal: I got the garlic-tahini sauce and garlicky millet/rice from this recipe. Instead of the suggested vegetables, I seared some local summer squash and cooked edamame with some garlic. This bowl was absolutely delicious! I also loved having millet/jasmine rice together instead of my usual plain brown rice or plain jasmine rice. I also used this sauce on some eggs with pico de gallo, which was also tasty! This is one of my favorite bowl meals ever and it was so simple!

From One Dish Vegan: pasta with chickpeas, spinach and raisins served with GF/DF multi-grain ciabatta rolls. If you've never tried raisins in savory dishes before, it adds a lovely, subtle sweetness to dishes. I loved this recipe because the fennel seeds pairs with the garlic and raisins wonderfully! Also those ciabatta rolls are ridiculously delicious (not homemade).

Work snacks: cut up celery, cucumber + carrots with homemade sun-dried tomato hummus. This was my first time making sun-dried tomato hummus and it was wonderful! I definitely need to start using sun-dried tomatoes more.

Lentils are definitely a staple in my diet because they're cheap, quick to make, and super versatile. I try to get mine from Trader Joe's because they're about $2/less a bag (brown and red). For French lentils, I get Harris Teeter organics for about $2 as well on sale. Anyways, you can do anything with lentils: soups, salads, tacos, "meat"balls, pasta, etc. The list goes on! Here's one of my favorite ways: lentil taco meat from Happy Herbivore Abroad. These were a great, quick meal for any night of the week! We topped ours with chopped lettuce, hot sauce and pico de gallo. I also used the leftover lentils the next day to make a taco salad with crushed taco chips and other salad fixings (also with chipotle lime hot sauce).

I probably sound like a broken record when I start sentences with "I can't believe I don't make this type of dish more often"...but I really can't believe I don't make cold noodle salads more often! This is the spicy cucumber and edamame soba salad from One Dish Vegan. This wasn't quite as spicy as I wanted it to be, so I used extra chili garlic sauce at the end. Noodle salads are great for packed lunches, especially when they're beautiful and green like this one! 

This is my first Ethiopian dish: Atakilt Wat or Ethiopian cabbage, potatoes and carrots. I loved this meal because of the mix of warm spices like cardamom and cinnamon, alongside cumin and turmeric to create a beautifully golden-hued dish. Cabbage and potatoes, as well as carrots, are typically cheap vegetables too, so it makes a great budget meal as well. I served mine with cooked brown rice from the slow cooker and LOTS of sriracha. I'm probably breaking some food codes there, but trust me, it's wonderful. 

Here's a great time saver for classes: making slow-cooker oatmeal overnight so you don't have to make breakfast in the morning! This one has vanilla, spices and almond milk. I also added cranberries and pecans when I served it. I'm starting to realize I'm not a huge fan of steel cut oats, but I know there are plenty of slow-cooker recipes with regular oats as well. This also made enough for breakfast for 3-4 days!

Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

I'm starting a new segment on Infinite Zest called "Les Bouchées Quotidiennes", which means "Daily Bites". Instead of posting monthly round-ups, I'll be posting little bits of what I eat each week. If there's anything else you guys would like to see on here, please let me know! I don't do many recipes during the year because I can't find the time but hopefully I will this summer!

 I've been trying to eat salads every week, even though it's winter. I went back to one of my favorites, a blood orange kale salad and created a new one with this clementine-wasabi ginger dressing. I love eating winter fruit in salads, and especially when avocado is involved. Do you have a favorite winter salad?

I'm going to sound like such a dork, but this was a huge thing for me. I finally finally made spring rolls. If people are telling you they take forever and fall apart: they're wrong. They are so easy and the only time consuming part is cutting up all the fillings. These spring rolls come from this recipe and have homemade wasabi hummus, grapefruit segments, avocado, green onions and carrots. I've actually come up with about 15 different spring rolls ideas, so expect me to post them this summer! 

I made these insane nachos from Isa Does It with an amazing vegan queso blanco made from cashews. Yes, you read that right. Cashew queso. And it was ridiculously good. I had it for dinner two nights in a row, and for lunch in between that. If you haven't bought her book yet, you really really should.  

This baked oatmeal, which comes from this book, is so so good. It tastes a little like banana pudding, which I miss eating so much. This is perfect for a winter morning. 

Eating seasonal means lots of brussels sprouts. This quick stir-fry with tempeh did the trick! 

I made an omelette without dairy, gluten, or eggs. Are you amazed?! These averaged about 15g of protein per omelette and they are VERY filling. I stuffed mine with tomatoes and spinach, then topped with avocado and hot sauce. It's easier than it sounds, I promise! 

Still on the Oatgasm blog train, and this garam masla oatmeal did not disappoint. I tried the sweet version with clementines, pecans, a little extra maple syrup and extra garam masala. The garam masala leaves a pleasant heat in your throat that is great for the weather.

January Favorites (Happy New Year!)

Apparently my mind gets blown by how fast time passes on a regular basis. Like, it's February tomorrow? Next week is my fourth week of classes? Where is this year going, already?? Anyways, this was a great month of food and it was hard for me to pick 10 recipes to share (as you can see, I added a couple more). For a couple of weeks, I stuck to the meal plan I made for the month. Then I got bored with it, and found myself actually spending more time re-adjusting my monthly plan than I did when I planned by the week. So, obviously, that monthly meal planning thing went out the window due to our erratic schedules etc. Starting next week, I will be blogging a little differently. I am going to start doing Friday posts with food links etc. and then one weekly post about food that I've made and other things in my life. So get excited!

1. Apple-Miso Tofu with Rice + Orange-Scented Broccoli

One thing I've really been enjoying lately is marinating tofu/tempeh and roasting it in the oven with other vegetables. It's so easy and always delicious. I've done this many times now, using different recipes, and they've never disappointed. Apples and miso may not sound like they go well together, but trust me. The soft sweet apples pair perfectly with salty miso and sweet mirin. The broccoli was also a delicious side to everything. Both recipes are from Appetite For Reduction but I found the tofu recipe online too//Rainy Day Veggies

2. Pasta Con Broccoli
This could be my new favorite pasta dish. Broccoli is cooked with a TON of garlic, plus white wine and vegetable stock, then tossed with pasta. I, of course, doused mine in nutritional yeast, which made it even tastier. I don't think I'll ever get tired of how amazing Isa's recipes are. This is also from Appetite for Reduction (see above), but I found this recipe online too//Food

3. Arroz Con Tempeh
I remember making arroz con pollo a few years ago in a Dutch oven, and I remember it being very flavorful and delicious. When I saw this arroz con tempeh in my new cookbook, I immediately had to make it. It completely exceeded my expectations and I couldn't believe how flavorful it was. I will definitely be making this again and again. Mike hates olives and I caught him eating a few from this dish! Plus it has a ton of vegetables in it, which is always a good thing! //One Dish Vegan

4. Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Do you have those long, awful days where you just want to fall over? That was me on my first day back to classes, which spanned 11 am - 630 pm with a doctors appointment squeezed in between. I kinda forced myself to put this soup in the slow cooker before I went to class, and I did not regret it. I was always intrigued by the idea of baked potato soup, but hooooly crap it's amazing. Don't skip the cashew cream, green onions or nutritional yeast toppings either//Fresh From the Vegan Slow-Cooker

5. Miso Sesame Winter Squash + Tofu
Here's another example of my new obsession with roasting/marinating, except this one doesn't have to marinate! This combination of citrus, miso, molasses, soy sauce, etc is so incredibly comforting. My squash wasn't quite 2 pounds, so I just made up the difference by using a whole package of tofu. I highly recommend serving this over quinoa with lemon wedges and sriracha!//101 Cookbooks

6. Brussels Sprouts Tacos + Guacamole + Fixins'
So Mike never gets food cravings, which is still kinda weird to me. So for our one year anniversary, I begged him to have a preference. Just this once. Just pick something you want for dinner! So he said: "Brussels sprouts." I ransacked my archives (aka 100+ paged recipe word doc) and pulled out 6 brussels recipes. He settled on this brussels sprouts taco recipe. I made a lazy version of it by making my own guacamole (I despise blender guacamole), using hard corn tortillas instead of pan frying soft ones, and using leftover homemade pintos. Let me just say, these were the best tacos I've had in a looong time. Oh my goodness. Just trust me. Don't skimp on the guac, chili lime Cholula, cilantro and green onions. It really makes it//See You in the Morning

7. Christmas Lima Stew
So it should be clear by now that I love beans. Like, I really really do and I don't care if it sounds weird. There's a bean club from Rancho Gordo that is pretty much a dream come true and I daydream about it often. Enough weird talk. This soup was incredible. My mom had us over for dinner and she made this with these beautiful purple Christmas lima beans. This soup has two whole heads of celery, a ton of olive oil, and it's garnished with lemon juice and black olives. Oh, and did I mention there are caraway seeds and celery salt involved? So yes. This is the soup of my dreams. Also, how pretty is mom's wedding china?//101 Cookbooks

8. TLAT (Tempeh Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Tomato Sandwich)
This sandwich was a revelation. Seriously. I have very few words to say about it, except make it right now. The tempeh doesn't taste like real bacon, obviously, but it still makes a damn good sandwich. I highly recommend lettuce, tomato, avocado and vegan mayo. If you're feeling really fancy, use miso mayo. And serving it with homemade split pea soup wouldn't hurt either//Vegan Peace

 9. Black-Eyed Pea + Kale Curry with Potatoes
This could be my new favorite winter curry. Black-eyed peas, kale, potatoes, perfectly sauteed thin red onions and two sliced jalapenos. The base is simpler than most curry recipes, but it creates a subtle flavor profile for the vegetables to really shine. We had it with avocado mango salsa on top (as the recipe suggests) on the first night, and that created a very interesting addition to the curry! But it's amazing on its own too. I wanted to use collards but mine were sad looking, but kale was and always is a tasty substitute//The PPK

10. Banana Snacking Cake
We FINALLY had a snow day. I seriously think we get one a year. Whenever it snows, I have to bake something. Even if I have real life stuff to do (i.e. homework). I had some bananas I needed to use up, so I settled on this snacking cake. This cake was so easy to make, delicious, and moist. You cover the cake for an hour, which helps the cake absorb more moisture. This is definitely one of the most moist GF cakes I've made. And it's perfect for snacking, obviously, and isn't laden with vegan butter or a ton of sugar. I'm also proud to say I made homemade brown sugar for this cake and I'm almost convinced it made it taste better. For conversions, I used: 1/4 C sorghum flour, 1/4 C tapioca starch + 1 tsp xanthan gum in place of the 1/2 C spelt flour. It really doesn't need the frosting, but I'm sure it would be amazing with it!//Sprouted Kitchen

11. Buffalo Chickpea Burgers 
I've realized that vegan burgers are awesome. They're quick to prepare, filling, and they're basically hands-free. I've had my eyes on these for a while now and finally made them. You guys, they have four ingredients. That's crazy. I made a double batch so that we could have extras and I'm glad I did because they're AMAZING. The buffalo sauce is seriously the only spice you need, but of course I added more on top. They take about 5 minutes to prep, chill for 20, then they bake for 30. I highly highly recommend them. You can also freeze the leftovers, which is awesome! I topped ours with vegan mayo, hot sauce, and green pepper (red onion is also good) then wrapped in lettuce//Fo Reals Life

12. Broiled Grapefruit Oatmeal
Finding a new favorite food blog sometimes feels like finding a new really good friend who just gets you on so many levels. Right now, that blog is Oatgasm. I saw this recipe on Foodgawker and was intrigued, so I clicked on the link to see the name of her blog. Then I scrolled through the entire blog. By the end of it, I was drooling and my eyes were wide. Also, the author is only 15 years old, which is mind boggling. Her writing and recipe creativity exceeds anything I could pull out of my head at that age. So expect to see more recipes from her because I plan on making pretty much all of them. Oh and this grapefruit broiled oatmeal is incredible. I felt like a Queen eating it at my sad little desk this morning, but it will seriously keep you full and make you feel super cool for broiling your oatmeal (and eating warm grapefruit)//Oatgasm

13 Best Breakfasts

Here's a secret you may not know: breakfast is my favorite meal of the day! It's one of the few things that I feel comfortable playing around with in the kitchen. When I first went GF, breakfast was a confusing whirlwind of expensive cereal and frozen waffles. Now I know that the possibilities are literally endless! I am more of a savory person, so I don't do waffles or pancakes too often (unless I get a waffle iron for Christmas!) but I eat eggs almost every day. So here's my round-up of my favorite, easy breakfasts from the year!

1. Scramble up some eggs with dried thyme and a few pats of vegan butter for extra decadence. Isa's Brooklyn home fries from Vegan Brunch make a perfect addition! Boiled potatoes get pan fried with peppers and onions, then doused in ketchup (post photo taking). Here is my favorite slow-cooked, creamy scrambled egg recipe!

 2. Make a tofu scramble with things in your fridge! Crumble tofu in a pan, mix with some hummus/mustard and other spices, then later add chopped kale and vegetables. We served this with leftover baked sweet potatoes since it was the day after Thanksgiving!

3. One thing I love doing is taking leftovers from dinner and using it for breakfast. We had some leftover wonder fries and avocado from dinner. We paired it with our usual polenta grits and pan fried some very tasty Italian tofu. Or put it in a wrap and drizzle with miso mayo! The possibilities are endless. Also, creamsicle mimosas are a must.

4. Leftover greens hanging around in the fridge? Cook them for breakfast! Seriously. Kale has become a staple of our weekend breakfast feasts. I posted the recipe here, and you will not regret it! Runny eggs and hot sauce doused kale are a perfect match. 

                       
 5. Fritters, patties, whatever you want to call them. These are a great addition to any breakfast! I had some leftover turnips from the farmer's market, so I used them to make these turnip potato patties! We usually make oven fries to go with breakfast, but fritters have been a nice change. I've also grown fonder of eggs over easy lately, as opposed to our usual scrambled ones.

6. Omelets! Yes this is the folded version, because I can't perfect the French triple-folded one, but it's still delicious. Here are my favorite combinations: 
mushrooms, thyme, vegan butter//harissa paste, cilantro, sauteed onion//sauteed onion, kale, garlic//fresh basil, tomatoes, garlic//mushrooms, garlic, soy sauce, dash of sesame oil. 

 7. If I haven't annoyed you already about how good this Cajun grit bowl is, and how stupidly easy it is, you should definitely make it. This is one of the few things I can pull together before classes start. I'm also mildly obsessed with polenta corn grits and eat them all the time. 

8. I have to admit, making pancakes just isn't my forte. But these flourless pumpkin pancakes are ridiculously easy to make! Even before class! The eggs will also keep you full, unlike regular pancakes which just make me sleepy. One can of pumpkin puree will give you pancakes all week! 

9. My favorite snow day breakfast: tea, toast, mushroom green onion egg scramble + garlic roasted sweet potatoes.

10. Tofu scramble will forever be the easiest thing to make on a lazy weekend morning. This tofu puttanesca scramble is easy, delicious, and filling. I love the mix of capers, olives, and tomatoes with garlicky salty tofu. Serve with buttery grits for a complete meal!

11. Sometimes I just want a smoothie for breakfast because it's too hot to cook (or I'm too lazy). Over the summer, I fell in love with this strawberry lime smoothie and made it almost every day. I find that lime juice is just enough to flavor it, and no, the citrus doesn't curdle the almond milk. It's the most refreshing smoothie out there!

12. I love taking seasonal produce and using it for breakfasts. Here, I sauteed some zucchini, onions, garlic and kale, then scramble with eggs and topped with cilantro. Avocado toast makes it the most perfect breakfast, of course! 

13. I looove oatmeal. It kills me that so many people think it's gross. But homemade oatmeal, which I only started making this year, is so easy and not mushy like packaged oatmeal. One of my favorites is blueberry chai, or here is orange blueberry almond. Slow-cooker oatmeals are also perfect, because it's done right when you wake up for breakfast! How awesome is that? Kathy Hester's blog (and recipe books) are chock full of wonderful vegan slow-cooker oatmeal recipes!