Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

Have you ever tried broccoli slaw? This was the first time I've made/tasted it, and it was amazing. Good thing it keeps well in the fridge for a week because I kept eating it for days. It has the perfect balance of tangy, sweet and toasty. I made mine in a food processor, which cut down on some of the prep time. I served it with baked potatoes and baked BBQ tofu for a well-rounded meal. This tofu recipe was super easy and delicious too!

Lately I've been trying to make recipes that I put in my notebook 3 or more years ago, when I was still living at home. It's a weird feeling for me to make something that I made years ago in my parent's kitchen. I cooked a little when I still lived with them, but I didn't start really experimenting until a couple of years ago when I was on my own. In my own kitchen, I kind of flew off the handles and tried cooking everything. I was completely enamored with it, and still am (obviously). I have faint memories of my mom making this lemony collard green pasta with me, when I still lived with them. I was probably still learning to mince garlic with out slicing my fingers. It blows my mind how far I've come with cooking in just two or so years. Anyways, this pasta recipe is incredible and a cinch to make, so it's perfect for any weeknight dinner! 

I love potato salad, but this is no ordinary kind of potato salad. It's made with blue potatoes (although you can use red), chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, fresh corn, cilantro, and many other delicious ingredients. Although it's pretty spicy, it's refreshing at the same time. This is perfect for any hot summer night and this dish is definitely better if you let it chill in the fridge a couple of hours. It reminds me of the burrito bowls from Chipotle, which sounds weird I guess, but much healthier! Serve over romaine with some beer and you're set! This recipe is originally from Appetite for Reduction.

My latest and greatest downfall (besides buying more cookbooks): sushi with ikura. And yes, I ate all of this. I also FINALLY bought a sushi rolling mat yesterday! Can't wait to use it because I can't keep going out for sushi once a week.

Salads are one of my favorite things to pull together on days where I don't have leftovers. This one is adapted from this fully loaded kale salad and includes: farmer's market tomato and raw kale, carrots, red onion, avocado, hemp seeds, leftover toasted pecans (from the lemony collards pasta), and a delicious maple tahini dressing. I always feel full and energized after eating a big salad, so I'm trying to incorporate them into my lunches lately.

I have a thing for corn chowder. The best thing my mom makes, hands down, is any type of soup. But her corn chowder is something else all together. It's perfect in winter, when it's super cold, or in the summer, when fresh corn is abundant. The best thing about corn chowder is there are a million different variations on it, and you guys know how much I love recipe variations! This one is a summer curried corn & vegetable chowder from Appetite for Reduction. Isa was the first person to hook  me on to adding coconut milk and lime to corn chowder, after making this garden version with fresh basil and chives. The coconut milk and lime adds a completely different flavor profile to a regular corn chowder. This one also has a lot of curry powder and cilantro, so it's bursting with different flavors. You will certainly be seeing different corn chowder recipes on here all summer! 

One reason why I love summer is that I can go crazy in the kitchen for a few hours with out having to worry about (too much) homework. This is all I can say about these chipotle lentil burgers: they are the best veggie burgers I've ever made or tasted. And besides that, they are incredibly easy to make! I don't know how to explain the flavor of these except it's a deep, smoky one. Top with vegan mayo and maybe add some bread & butter pickles, if desired. I also made these baked onion rings to serve with the burgers. I used GF all purpose flour and GF breadcrumbs (some with GF panko). This was my first time tasting onion rings (ever) and they were magnificent! I could have eaten an entire plate of these. Both of these recipes originally come from Appetite for Reduction.

We haven't even had these banana pepper plants for two weeks and they are growing fast! Earlier this week they were just tiny flowers. I can't wait to pickle these!

One of my other food downfalls are spicy vegan sandwiches with avocado, tomato, and vegan mayo. I adapted this from the buffalo tempeh recipe in Appetite for Reduction. I used tofu instead of tempeh because I accidentally bought tempeh with gluten in it (whoops!). I didn't let the tofu marinate, but I certainly would if you have time. It was still delicious with all the sandwich fixins and sides. I highly recommend adding a few fresh basil leaves to the filling above for an extra tasty summer sandwich!
Update for a third sandwich option: vegan mayo, bread and butter maple bourbon pickles, buffalo tofu & fresh basil. Trust me.

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

(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!