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
These past few weeks have been crazy! I have so many food photos to share, but really haven't had the time. I'm finally on spring break, which has done nothing but stressed me out a bit more haha. Thankfully there are only seven more weeks of school left.
I have been wanting to make edamame hummus for such a long time, and after having the Trader Joes brand, I had to remake it. It takes a little longer to puree the edamame beans, but the flavors are perfectly complimented with garlic and coriander. If you're looking for a twist on the usual hummus, this is perfect and has a ton of protein! //oh she glows
Another thing I've been meaning to make for a long time are dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I have a slight problem with the Justin's packaged brand, so I had to remake them. These were cheaper, delicious, and surprisingly easy to make! This recipe used almond butter and dark chocolate, which work perfectly together. The layering of the chocolate and peanut butter gets a little tedious, but it's worth it! //sprouted kitchen
Blood orange, peach and pear sangria.
I have been cooking mostly from Happy Herbivore recipes, just because they're cheap, simple, and nutritious. This vegan alfredo sauce was perfect for a night when I didnt feel like cooking, but wanted something healthy. With 35g of protein per serving, you will definitely feel full after this (especially with protein from brown rice pasta)! It also took 10 minutes to make with cooking the pasta. //happy herbivore
I've been making a lot of salads here lately and this vegan Caesar salad dressing was amazing! I ate it for days with NC sprouts, lettuce, tomato and carrots. Because it's made from silken tofu and nutritional yeast, it also has about 3g protein per tablespoon! //everyday happy herbivore
I made vegan french toast last week for breakfast one weekday morning and it was easy/delicious! I was very surprised at how similar it tasted to regular french toast with out using any eggs! Surprisingly enough, chickpea flour and almond milk with vanilla extract produced the same flavor! //happy herbivore
Perfectly baked thyme oven fries
After finishing off my vegan caesar salad dressing, I made one of my favorites: homemade balsamic vinaigrette from Isa's amazing book. It's so easy to make and has protein from the cashews! I will be making that dressing over and over again. It went great with a salad of sprouts, avocado, cucumber, tomato + romaine. //appetite for reduction
I have been wanting to also make a vegan frittata for quite some time, since there are so many easy recipes for them that don't involve cast iron pans. I made this incredibly easy frittata from Happy Herbivore with old bay, black beans, and red pepper. I doused it in a ton of hot sauce and ate it with some really delicious thyme oven fries! //everyday happy herbivore
Blood orange gin and tonics:
Put ice cubes in the bottom of a glass. Top with a shot of gin (I used Tanqueray). Top with 1/2 C freshly squeezed blood orange juice and tonic water. Stir and enjoy!
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!
