Best of 2015

I know, I know...where did I go? Well, I'll have to explain that another time. Things got crazy and I stopped keeping up with my blog is the short version. Now I have more time on my hands, so I'm back at it and hopefully here to stay! Somehow we've made it through another year of food, drinks, and other delightful things. I'll be posting in the next few days about what I'm looking forward to in 2016, with more focus on "bucket lists" rather than resolutions. This has been one of the most difficult years for me, so I've been doing a lot of self-reflection. 

Anyways, let's get to the food! It's been quite a while since I last posted, so some of these may not look familiar, but here are my 15 favorite things from 2015!

15 Favorite Recipes of 2015

1. Gluten-free Angel Food Cake served with vegan whipped cream & brandied strawberries

2. Chinese 5-spice Drunken Noodles

3. Tequila Lime Fish Tacos with pickled red onions & avocado

4. Roasted Banana Bourbon Ice Cream (vegan); pro tip: use Knob Creek smoked maple bourbon!

5. Portobello Pups served with a grilled potato, grilled squash & vegan jalapeno poppers. These tasted just like hot dogs, but even better!

6. Authentic Pad Thai - one of the best I've tasted!

7. Ginger-Apple Crumble Pie

8. Cheesless Crustless Quiche

9. Chopped Italian Salad

10. Tortilla Soup - one of my new go-to quick recipes made with pantry ingredients!

11. Hot & Sour Soup with Mushrooms, Cabbage & Rice - new favorite sick soup and it takes no time to make! I loaded mine up with extra lime, soy sauce, sriracha, and kimchi.

12. Vegan Black Bean Fajitas + Guacamole

13. Broccoli Almond Sweet & Sour Tofu

14. Blackened Tofu & Butternut Coconut Rice served with steamed kale

15. Chocolate Chip Buckwheat Waffles - perfect for a snow storm!

Happy New Year Everyone! :)

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!

The Dark & Shirley

This drink was created after a craving for kraken and grenadine. Lately, I've been alternating between burly temples and GF beer. I love grenadine, but wanted something a little different. So the dark and shirley was born: a cross between a burly temple and a dark n' stormy.

The Dark & Shirley

• ice
• 1 shot grenadine  (for a stronger drink, use 1/2 shot grenadine)
• 1 shot Kraken spiced black rum
• ginger ale/ginger beer (ginger beer for more spice)
• lime wedge (optional)

1. In a cocktail shaker, add 3-4 cubes of ice, grenadine and rum. Shake vigorously.
2. Pour, with ice into a short glass. Add ginger ale/beer to top off. Serve with a squeeze of lime.
3. If you want a more "traditionally served" dark n' stormy type drink: shake the grenadine and black rum together. Get a glass with some ice. Pour ginger beer in. Add the grenadine/rum on top. Serve with lime

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!