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.

Rainbow Market Tofu Scramble

The farmer's market is a great place to get inspiration for the kitchen. It has somehow taken me all summer to finally get out there, but I really enjoyed it! The prices were incredibly reasonable, like most farmer's markets, and the selection was good. I have been going to this year-round market on Yanceyville Street because it's closer than the one off the highway. 

I found tomatoes, zucchini, squash, beautiful heirloom peppers, okra, german butter potatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos, russet potatoes, and even more vegetables! I always find myself ready to cook and inspired after I leave, so I decided to make a tofu scramble out of my market produce. The result was a spicy, nourishing scramble loaded with vegetables. Feel free to substitute whatever you have here, but this is what I used. This would be great served with roasted baby potatoes (which is what we did) or even quinoa. Go to your local farmers market and explore!

Rainbow Market Tofu Scramble

• 1 (16 oz) block of extra-firm tofu, not pressed
• olive oil
• salt + pepper
• 1/2-1 onion, diced
• 2 heirloom bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes, de-seeded + diced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 yellow squash, diced
• GF soy sauce
• any combination of herbs works but I used these: (tumeric, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, coriander, thyme, oregano, smoked paprika, etc.)
• optional add-ins: any other vegetables you have from the market, smashed garlic cloves, greens (swiss chard or kale would be great here)

1. Heat a large skillet over medium high. Add about 1 T oil, then the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook 3 mins then add squashes and peppers. Add all the herbs you are using. Cook for 3 mins more.
2. Add tofu and smash until your desired consistency is reached. The water that you didn't press from the tofu will actually cook it and prevent you from having to use oil. If you're adding tumeric for color, add it only after you add the tofu. Add a splash of soy sauce to help deglaze the pan. 
3. Cook 5 more minutes, until tofu and vegetables are cooked to your desired consistency. Then add your tomatoes, another splash of soy sauce, and salt/pepper. If you are adding greens, add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking and do not dry them. 
4. Remove from heat and enjoy! The spices I used actually worked incredibly well together so it was very flavorful. I topped mine with hot sauce + avocado. Feel free to add whatever toppings.

(997) le dîner de cons

Well I guess I have been really busy because it's been over two weeks since my last post! But things are kind of back to "normal" now, you could say, except it is the end of school. My classes are getting harder, I am certainly more stressed, but I only have a little over 3 weeks left (!!!). I haven't been cooking too much due to being out of town, having a friend visit from NY, and just having too many books to read for class. I also only had to cook for one person for about a week since the boy was away to Puerto Rico for business. So things are back to how they were (kind of) so I should be in the kitchen more now! 

This dish has a ridiculous amount of protein: corn-quinoa pasta, kidney beans, tempeh, and nutritional yeast. If I remember correctly, it had well over 35g of protein per serving! The best part is, this dish is incredibly cheap, filling, and quick, like most Happy Herbivore recipes. It's called tempeh chili mac because it greatly resembles regular chili mac. //happy herbivore everyday

Sometimes I just want incredibly good Indian food, but it's next to impossible for me to eat Indian restaurants/or out at all. Even though this is probably not authentic, this curried chickpeas and greens with jasmine rice was amazing! It comes together in less than 30 minutes and leaves you with so much food. I was eating this (happily) for days. There is no better combination than ginger, garlic, garam masala and other Indian spices! //appetite for reduction

I have become a little obsessed with making tofu scrambles for brunch on the weekends. I really need to try out vegan omelettes and benedicts before I get bored with scrambles! This particular scramble, from the PPK, is a blackened tofu scramble with onions, garlic, swiss chard, and tomatoes served with garlicky vegan buttery grits. I really enjoyed the blackened flavor of this scramble and it obviously is a million times better with hotsauce! //the PPK

There is something so incredibly satisfying about baking a cake. The process is slow, relaxing, and quiet. Playing music when I cook or bake is a must. Lately I have been listening to my huge Wes Anderson playlist, the Beach Boys, or Yelle. This cake is now being hailed, by my parents, as the best cake I've ever made (note: they say this after every cake). I made this for Easter, so it needed to be springy and light: so I made the lemon coconut bundt cake from Veganomicon. I was so pleased with the delicate flavors of this cake. Here are the substitutions I used: 
-1 C tapioca starch -1 C millet flour -1 C almond flour -3 tsp xanthan gum
The almond flour gives the cake a very soft crumb and the millet flour makes it a little denser. I will definitely be making this again! //Veganomicon

A very unhappy Easter Bunny!

Easter grill dinner on my father's new grill: asparagus, portobello mushrooms, brown sugar-soy sauce salmon + lemon garlic salmon

Sometimes I seriously have to force myself to cook something, even if it takes little effort. I steamed broccoli and seasoned it with nutritional yeast and garlic powder. Then I baked a potato, split it down the middle, stuffed it with Amy's organic canned baked beans, vegan butter, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. You better believe I ate the entire thing! 

I have discovered one of the greatest tofu products ever: Twin Oaks tofu More than Tofu. I used the garlic shiitake one for this recipe, which also has quinoa and amaranth for extra protein! For once 8 ounce block, I believe, there are about 32g of protein. I decided to pan fry it until golden to eat with this amazingly simple stir-fried noodles with broccoli and portobellos. I will definitely be making this again all the time because of how simple it is! I seriously recommend this tofu because it comes pre-seasoned/marinated so all you have to do is fry/bake/grill it! It didn't need any seasoning whatsoever. //Foreals Life

South in your mouth: Cheerwine, lime juice, gin
Blueberry Lemonadka: lemonade, Stoli vodka, blueberries

Well, the weather finally perked up in Greensboro. It may be hot as crap outside, but I still crave soup year round. I made this very easy, simple, yet satisfying soup: tomato-rice soup with navy beans and roasted garlic. I did not roast the garlic, however, because of the onset of laziness. The soup is still delicious though and just what I wanted today. It takes no effort at all. If you do roast the garlic, the only thing you're chopping is an onion. Too easy! //Veganomicon

(977) huis clos

Well, spring break went by way too quickly (no surprise there!) and there was a lot of food involved, obviously. Thankfully, there are only six more weeks of school after tomorrow, including exam weeks, so that's something to look forward to! Over spring break, I didn't do much homework (big surprise!) but I did do an incredible amount of food prep! I made black beans, chickpeas and brown rice (all in the slow-cooker!) and froze them. For every pound of black beans and chickpeas (est. $2.30 in bulk) I got 6-7 cups of beans. I cooked 2 cups of brown rice (est. $1.40 in bulk) and ended up with amount 6 or so cups. This is a huge money and time saver! I will be doing this from now on. Maybe I'll do a bulk prep post in the near future.

One of my stand by smoothies: almond milk, flaxmeal, agave nectar, kale, pear and spinach.

I was stuck again with an eggplant I needed to use. I decided to make this colorful eggplant puttanesca with capers, bell peppers, olives, tomatoes, and lots of Italian herbs. I served it with vegan buttered polenta and a big glass of red wine! It was definitely a hit. I ate it again with pasta and nutritional yeast and it was delicious! //chickpea magazine

It's always unusual to have someone cook for me these days. I am usually in the kitchen at least every night, but luckily my friend offered to cook dinner for us one night! Pictured here: kale cooked with quinoa and red pepper flakes; arugula avocado salad with a vegan lime tarragon vinaigrette; vegan apple sage sausages. These sausages were absolutely amazing! I would love to have them on hand for breakfast and they are so easy to make! The sausage recipe comes from The Vegan Slow-Cooker Book, which I highly recommend for any vegan (especially students!). //vegan slow-cooker book

Simple yet amazing quinoa black bean burgers with a smoky avocado spread, red onion + oven thyme fries with ketchup. With only three main ingredients in the burgers, they come together in practically no time! I loved the smoky avocado spread too. This is certainly my favorite veggie burger so far (though these were killer too). I also don't understand the concept of buying frozen oven fries. It takes seconds to slice potatoes, toss them with oil and whatever seasonings you want, and bake them. And truth be told...they taste a hell of a lot better and don't have nasty ingredients! //what's cooking good looking

It has been my experience, so far, that I burn curry. The first pot of potato curry I ever made was burnt to hell. I immediately went to the store, put it in a bigger pot, and made a perfect curry. This curry is from a recipe book that uses little to no oil in all recipes, so of course I burnt it a little. Lucky for me, this was the best curry I've had in my entire life. It doesn't ask for much: bok choy, bell pepper, tofu and onions. The flavor is delicate yet powerful enough to make your nose run, in the best way possible. There are also rice noodles involved so, duh, this is the best curry in the world. I will be making this again and again! //appetite for reduction

I didn't mention this above, but I managed to escape to the beach for a few days! It was definitely not long enough and I am already itching to return. I did get this amazing vegan philly tempeh "cheezesteak" on GF bread. I am already looking into recreating it in the near future...

Vegan and GF carrot cake cupcakes!

One thing I've learned recently is that being tired or slightly broke isn't an excuse I can give myself for eating unhealthy foods. All it takes is one thing: planning ahead! I kid you not. People ask me all the time how I have time to cook all of this food and how I can afford it. I have recently started to take a more minimalist approach to cooking, which is saving me a ton of money. Before we went to the beach, I planned out foods for us to take so we wouldn't be snacking on carbs all day. We did "eat out" a few times, but nothing that wasn't healthy and nothing incredibly extravagant!

Anyways, I planned this meal above to eat the night we got in at 10:30 PM. The drive wasn't bad but we were both exhausted and starving. I cut up romaine into bowls, topped with crushed corn chips, topped with homemade (warmed) black beans, salsa, then a big heap of spicy cilantro hummus. This was so so satisfying after a long drive and very nutritious (and cheap)! I would love to do another post soon about planning ahead + saving money.

Prettttty happy to be at the beach :)

Limoncello Lemon Drop // Salted Karmel Martini

More planning was involved here! Tofu scramble is obviously one of the best things on the planet, so I wanted to make some at the beach. But there are so many spices involved in my favorite recipe...solution: I packed all of the spices in a baggie before we left. That way we only brought: tofu, the spice bag, and other little fixins' for the scramble. This particular recipe was chosen because it's easy and it uses no oil, which means I didn't have to bring any! //happy herbivore

Amazing blackberry/pineapple wine slushie (yes, slushie) that I had at Broadway.

I have really been craving Chipotle lately, but am trying not to eat out too much. I settled on making some burrito bowls at home with this amazing chili-lime rubbed tofu! This recipe is so damn easy and delicious! I could see crumbling it and frying it lightly like chorizo, or leaving it as is in tacos/burrito bowls. //appetite for reduction

The final product of burrito bowl night:

Chili lime rubbed tofu, homemade guacamole (avocado, lime juice, salt, cumin, garlic powder, red onion + red pepper flakes), homemade pico de gallo (tomatoes, lime juice, salt, cilantro + red onion), homemade vegan queso (almond milk, nooch, onion/garlic powder, brown rice flour, salsa, cumin, paprika + chili powder), homemade brown rice + fajita vegetables (green peppers, onions, oil, cumin, salt + chili powder)

It sounds like a lot, and it kinda is, but everything came together easily and quickly!

(925) chefs d'oeuvre

So it snowed two Fridays ago, and it iced over last Friday, and the Monday of our second week of classes was a holiday. I am having a hard time adjusting to my school schedule because of all the days we've had off. It has been nice to have days off, but I would rather just get back in the mood of going to classes and doing homework all day long. It has been incredibly cold outside but I'm just glad it's not raining anymore!

Snow day breakfast: joy tea, garlic roasted sweet potatoes, vegan buttered toast + a scramble with shiitakes and green onions. So lovely.

Not so great vegan brownies I made the night it snowed. 

Peanut butter agave nectar GF waffle + Happy Herbivore's peanut butter cup smoothie//Everyday Happy Herbivore

Bella tacos from the same cookbook above! These weren't as flavorful as I hoped, but still had a great "meaty" texture, was filling, and the homemade taco sauce was awesome! They were incredibly easy to prepare too//Everyday Happy Herbivore

I have been trying to cook from the same book all week (can you tell?) so I made the sweet and sour tempeh. I served it with brown rice and broccoli, then cooked shiitakes with garlic in a mixture of soy sauce, olive oil + toasted sesame oil. This was so amazing! The tempeh gets so tender from steaming it, then the sauce really seeps through it. I miss Chinese take-out a lot, but this was even better//Everyday Happy Herbivore

1 shot bourbon/1 orange slice/1 bag orange tea/8 oz. water/1-2 T ginger syrup//shutterbean

Starting to realize how perfect orange ginger toddys are before bedtime.

I sort of went on this mission to make an Indian feast this weekend...and I must say I succeeded! Here is jasmine rice and Indian roasted cauliflower with potatoes. These were really flavorful and they soften up quite a bit! A great side to serve with the spicy dish below//smitten kitchen

Sometimes simple is not the route I want to take with some dishes. I remember having this chana masala for my 20th birthday and wanted to recreate it. It was pretty spicy from the jalapeno, but the flavors were perfect. There is a mild kick of ginger that is lovely. I am also kind of sick currently, so this is great to clear my sinuses! This, and the recipe above, came together easily with just a little prep on the morning of. Indian feast success! //smitten kitchen

And the feast continues...with brunch! Here are polenta grits and joy tea, with this tofu scramble puttanesca being the main star. I had everything to make this scramble and let me just say, it is the best tofu scramble I've ever had! The flavors of kalamata olives, capers, tomatoes and a TON of Italian herbs/oregano/thyme really make this scramble sing. I will certainly be making this and other scrambles from "Vegan Brunch" again. I am going to include some recipes from this book as well this week; I can't recommend it enough! //Vegan Brunch

This didn't last very long, at all. Still drooling.

New adorable Parisian lamp in the hopes of making my apartment a little cozier. This has been quite the lovely weekend, and a rough past two weeks of classes, but I'm ready to make things a little easier and get in the swing of school again! 

(871) le semaine d'examens

That's right...I somehow made it to exam week and I'm still alive! I also have more things going on right now than I have had during the entire semester, not including school. Not sure how that happened, but I am ready for classes to be done so I can focus on them. I am also *slowly* preparing for my trip to France next year, which means getting a passport, and hopefully an honors grant too! 

Trying to do DIY/homemade gifts for everyone this year. This is the only one I've started because it requires no attention and needs to sit for 3 weeks: homemade vanilla extract. //baked bree

I still eat snacks like a five-year old: bugs in the bed/ants on a log.

I am not very confident about cooking things that aren't by a recipe, but there are a few things that I know how to cook easily; oven fries is one of them. Cut sweet potatoes into uniform pieces (peel if desired but I dont think its necessary). Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, smoked paprika, etc. There are many ways to dress these! Bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through, until soft and crunchy on the outside. 

This tofu scramble certainly helped me do a bit of improvisation, which I never do. I have also been searching for the perfect tofu scramble, like the one I used to get at a restaurant in High Point which is not only closed, but used to be so cross-contaminated that I was always sick from it. It was delicious though, and this is the closest thing I can find. Use any vegetables in your fridge for this and any spices you desired. This batch was: curry, cumin, paprika, cayenne, dried oregano and lots of nutritional yeast (which helps browning) and for vegetables: carrots, mushrooms, onions, and spinach. This is why I like to keep a package of tofu in my fridge because this was easy to pull together! //chickpea magazine

A little more improvising was done with this dish (yay!). It's hard to find a good, creamy vegan pasta that isn't loaded down with vegan cheese or soy milk. This vegan pumpkin pasta was perfect. I was quite hesitant about the nutmeg added to the sauce, but it compliments the salt and pumpkin perfectly. I added some white wine, vegan butter sauteed mushrooms and shallots to the sauce and it was amaaaazing. Definitely tasted better the first day but was still lovely. //chickpea magazine

Couldn't resist. Hot toddys are in my near future.

My latest meal goal is to eat something green with every meal, which doesn't necessarily mean a salad (as you can see by this post and the one below). This wonderful side dish, which didn't last in my kitchen for 10 minutes, was a lovely roasted broccolini with a smoked paprika vinaigrette and sunflower seeds for crunch. I may have to make this again next week. The flavors are just fantastic. //the year in food

I can't honestly say that I have ever had a brussel sprout. I just remember them being the butt of every vegetable/child related joke. They got picked on, as a vegetable, which I never understood. They couldn't be that bad. I mean, they weren't the stewed cabbage that was eaten in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Anyways...I have had my blog roll blown up about brussel sprout recipes in the past two weeks. So finally I roast the damn things and good lord. What have I been missing this whole time? They are perfect. I made these as one of my green sides but they are phenomenal. I would like to have them at the Christmas dinner table. So yeah. Don't hate on them, just go roast them! //oh, ladycakes!

I have been stalking this traditional Israeli breakfast dish ever since I started reading Deb's blog and seeing this pop up everywhere. What makes it so popular? Well, first of all, one of its alternative names is "eggs in purgatory" (clearly Dante would eat this) and not only is it easy to make, but it's cheap too. It consists of a spicy, anaheim chile laced tomato sauce (use San Mazrano tomatoes on this trussst me) topped with poached eggs which are directly cooked into the tomato sauce. I have never poached an egg, and didn't really poach these, but they are still edible and that's what is important. This would be great to serve a crowd at brunch because it makes a ton, haha. I served mine with garlic basil polenta rounds and brussels sprouts. //smitten kitchen