26 Weeks of Meat Independance

It's the last week of June and July is just around the corner which means summer is half over – yikes where has the time gone. It's also been 26 weeks since I started this vegetarian adventure and I'm still committed to at least 26 more weeks.

So far there are only 2 things I miss; a nice turkey, onion and garlic burger on the grill and Dan's specialty almond coconut crusted tilapia – other than that I'm good. In all of this I've learned a couple things; first, in the days before no meat I ate things that I didn't really love (because if I did I'd be craving them right). And second - it's a good think I like to cook because eating healthy takes more planning and prepping than before - but I feel so much better that it's worth it.

Anyway, I was rummaging around in the fridge and came upon the last package of tofu (remember the great deal from a while ago?) so I decided it was time for a spicy baked tofu to go on top one of our large salads. The hubby said the last batch of spicy tofu could have been spicier so I took him seriously and I think I hit on just the right flavor.

I started by putting the block of tofu on a plate and placing paper towels below and on top of the tofu, then I took the heavy Panini press from my Pampered Chef grill pan and put it on top. I  checked on it and drained the plate and swapped out the paper towels at 2 – 30 minute intervals.

While I was getting the water out of the tofu I mixed up the spicy marinade which consisted of; 3 Tbsp. of Siracha, 2 Tbsp. of soy sauce, 1 Tbsp. of rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp. of sesame oil, 3 cloves of garlic minced and 1" of grated ginger.

When the tofu was drained I sliced it and put it in a container and poured the marinade over it and let it set for an hour in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350 and place the marinated tofu on a metal cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes turning twice.

The salad consisted of; arugula, green leaf, bok choy, cilantro and mint from the garden. To that I added, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, radishes, blueberries, pumpkin seeds, kalamata olives and goat cheese. 

Topped the salad with the spicy tofu and served with a slice of multigrain bread – a delicious summer meal indeed.

The 4^th of July usually signals bbq – I'm definitely thinking the cauliflower "potato" salad will be on the menu and baked beans (of course) – if you've got any favorite vegetarian bbq recipes please send me the link.

Happy Independence Day!

No Rest for those who Eat Zucchini Pesto

It's summer – our garden is in full bloom. On a daily basis I'm harvesting bok choy, lettuce, and arugula and the beans, sugar snap peas and carrots are close behind.  Our tomatoes are growing tall and have some good-sized tomatoes and I have 6 acorn squash growing with many flowers!  Tis my favorite time of year.

This weekend we have two events; today we celebrated Dan's daughter's college graduation – we're so proud of both of them and excited to see them experience their next life adventure.

Alona will be leaving for Israel in the fall to teach English in a small town outside of Tel Aviv and Mary will start a job with Epic – a health care software company – so many opportunities and adventures.

Tomorrow we'll celebrate Father's Day – Dan and I are lucky to be able to share this day with both our  dads. We'll celebrate with my dad over breakfast and Dan's dad later in the day and we'll celebrate Dan on Tuesday with his daughters at our weekly family dinner. 

And now about pesto!  For the past 5 years Dan and I have planted a garden. We have 4 – 4 X 8 raised beds. One of my favorite herbs is basil. I love the smell of it the taste of it and I love how it finishes off a bruschetta made of tomatoes fresh from our garden. Two summers ago I had a bumper crop and I mean a bumper crop. I ended up with 3-gallon bags of pesto cubes.

As much as I dislike Martha Stewart I have gotten some good ideas from her. The best idea is for storing pesto. If you think about it, a little pesto goes a long way. I make up large batches and freeze it in ice cube trays and when I need some I just take out a couple cubes, thaw and use – it's pretty simple.

I was going through our freezer the other day and came across the final bag of pesto cubes from the massive harvest. I had some zucchini in the fridge so I decided to get the spiralizer out of the closet and make some pesto pasta – can you say delicious.

I started with 2 Tbsp. of olive oil and a chopped onion and sautéed it until it was translucent.  I then added some red pepper flakes (to taste). Then I added the 2 spiralized zucchini and cooked until they were crisp tender. I tossed it with the pesto and some halved cherry tomatoes and heated until the tomatoes were warm

I served it with a large green salad, fresh fruit and some bread with rosemary and garlic – truly a summertime feast. 

Happy Fathers Day to all those loving and dedicated dads tomorrow - if you're lucky enough to still have your Dad around - spend time with him. Go to breakfast, give him a call, send a card or facetime him. 

Summer filled with fruits and veggies – my favorite time of year

I've been remiss about getting my post up the past couple weeks not because I haven't been cooking mind you because we've been keeping it simple lately.

I have a love-hate relationship with summer. I love the long days, the warmth, the smell of lilacs and freshly cut grass. I love getting up early on Sunday morning and heading off to the local farmer's market to see what's fresh and in season. On the flip side, we seem to have too much to do and too many places to go once the weekend comes. And by the time we have a "free" weekend it's the 4^th of July, which in Minnesota means the summer is half over. So as I said love-hate.

One of the things we've been eating a lot of lately is salad. In the before I was a vegetarian days, there would be a brat or a piece of chicken to go with that salad. There are some great vegetarian sausages out there and we really like the Field Roast brand I recommend you give them a try; especially the Italian version.  But lately I've been getting my protein from legumes and quinoa – great sources.

Last week I made a quinoa salad that really hit the spot and then because I could, I made a watermelon salad too.

For the quinoa salad I started with ¾ cup of quinoa and cooked it in vegetable broth according to the package directions. While the quinoa was cooking I chopped a shallot, some cucumber, 1 carrot, a handful of cherry tomatoes, ½ red and ½ orange pepper and put them in a bowl. To that I added ½ of a can of black beans and an avocado (cubed). When the quinoa was cooked and cooled I added it to the veggie mixture and topped it with a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper –poof salad.

As I said I made this watermelon salad too.

Chop watermelon into cubes (approx. 4 cups). In a measuring cup juice 1 lime and add a few shakes of cayenne pepper and a few shakes of salt, mix and then pour over watermelon. The mint in our garden is in full bloom so I picked about 10 leaves, washed, dried and sliced into thin strips and sprinkled on top – poof another salad. If you want to add a bit of feta to this salad eliminate the salt and crumble the feta on top.

If your garden is beginning to produce spinach and other greens (like mine is) a simple salad of greens, thinly sliced shallots or red onion and strawberries topped with a balsamic vinaigrette is always a good choice. And speaking of gardens I'm heading out water mine and pick some more spinach, arugula and leaf lettuce – as I said it's salad season at our house.

Have a good day!