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!

To Tempeh or not to Tempeh that is the Question

I love Indian food and there's a local Indian restaurant just down the street, which serves delicious chicken tiki masala, but since I'm not doing meat, that won't work. There is also the issue with cream that is generally added to the sauce, which is something I'm trying to stay away from since I sound like a cat hocking up a fur ball every time I consume a dairy product.

As I was wandering through the grocery store I spied a sale on tempeh, which is rare in our neighborhood. I like the texture of tempeh and it has a kind of nutty flavor, nothing like chicken but I decided to give it a try.  Before I could get started tho I needed to find a vegan recipe for cream so I opted for this almond, cashew cream recipe. It was a bit time consuming but the end result was worth the effort.  

To make the tiki masala, I started with two onions and asked Dan very nicely if he would chop them up (and of course he said yes). I then chopped 16 ounces of tempeh into 1-inch cubes. To a medium pan I added 1 Tbsp. of oil, the onions and tempeh and sautéed until the onions were translucent.

To the onion/tempeh mixture add 2 tsp. paprika, ½ tsp. cumin, ½ tsp. red pepper flakes, 1 tsp. minced garlic, and 1 tsp. garam masala and mix it into the dish. While the mixture is cooking add about 1 ½ cups of the tomatoes (ours were from the big batch we made last fall and still have in the freezer), ½ cup of the cashew/almond cream and stir until combined.

Just for fun I threw in a handful of fresh spinach and some roasted sweet potatoes and to finish it off, because I didn't think it was spicy enough, I put in some siracha sauce to give it a little zing - it did the trick!

We served the masala over brown rice – twas quite good and we had leftovers for dinner on Wednesday night – score!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Not Your Mother's Potato Salad

First some great news! Dan's daughter Alona is graduating from the University of Minnesota this weekend - we're so excited! And on June 13th his daughter Mary will graduate from Carleton College - another great family milestone.

As I was walking by the deli at the grocery store last night I spied potato salad. Mind you I don't like white potatoes, to me they really don't have much taste. Yet, when you mix them with eggs, mayo, onions and celery they work.

With all that being said, I'm not willing to drop the meat only to load up on carbs it doesn't seem like a good trade. I'm an avid Pinterest fan and I noticed some "potato" salad recipes that swapped out the potatoes and added cauliflower instead. Unfortunately when I clicked on the links I got one of those links to nowhere and not a recipe in sight so I decided to take things into my own hands, use the picture as a guide, and make my own. After all how hard can it be to make potato salad?

I started with 2/3 of a head of cauliflower (because that's what was in the fridge). I chopped it into pieces about the same size as I would potatoes and steamed it until tender.  At the same time I put three eggs on to boil.

While the eggs and cauliflower were cooking, I chopped 3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced and chopped some onion, sliced 3 chives and added them to the a bowl. When the cauliflower was done I put it in a separate bowl until cool.

I cooked the eggs by putting them in a small pan with enough water to cover them and added baking soda (it makes them soooooo easy to peel) covered the pan and waited until the water boiled. Then I turned down the heat to medium and let them boil for about 5 – 7 minutes. Put them in the sink, turned on the cold water and refilled the pan and then let them sit until cold.

When everything cooled I added the cauliflower to the bowl, sliced the eggs and added mayo, spicy brown mustard, salt and pepper.  I wasn't fooled into thinking I was eating real potato salad but I really liked it and it definitely hit the spot – I'll definitely make it again and Dan gave it a thumbs up! 

I served it with vegetarian beans and Quorn – just so I could have a BBQ.  Next weekend is Memorial Day - Feel free to post your favorite vegetarian BBQ recipes!

Tulips, Plum blossoms, Tofu, Stir-Fry Veggies, 7-Grain Rice and Un-cooking Classes

The temps here in Minnesota have been wonderful this past week – we're definitely in spring mode. My tulips and daffodils are blooming and our Japanese plum tree has burst with sweet scented blooms. Of course the bunnies are curious, but this year we got ahead of the game and put fences around the flowers so we could actually enjoy all 60+ tulips (40 in back, 20 in front).

Camille (our cat) has one of the worst cases of spring fever I've ever seen in an animal. She spends her days out on the deck (when I have a work break) or trying to convince us she needs to go out on the deck. The goal is to eat grass and lay in the sun and if she can find a few moments to meow at the neighbor's dog she'll do that too. I swear she knows they have an electric fence and that there is no way he can come over to "visit" her. Little does she know his bark usually means "Hello" rather than "I'm dying to come over and eat you."

We went on one of our Costco shopping trips and found a great deal on tofu; 4 – 19 ounce packages for under $5 which is a steal. I've been searching for marinated tofu with a spicy twist because I've been trying to recreate the tofu at our local Asian restaurant.

One thing I learned was that if you remove as much water as you can from the tofu it absorbs the marinade better. So I sliced the tofu into strips and placed them on top of paper towels then covered them with 3 layers of paper towels and placed heavy objects on top of them for 45 minutes. I have to say it was just about bone dry.

For the marinade, I mixed: 4 T of soy sauce, 1 T rice wine vinegar, 1 T siracha sauce, 1 T agave syrup, 1T fresh lime juice, 3 cloves garlic and 1 inch of grated fresh ginger in a small bowl.  After placing the tofu in a shallow baking pan, I pour the marinade over the tofu, covered it with plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes (be sure to turn the tofu several times).

In the mean time chop, 2 stalks of celery, 4 carrots (on the diagonal), 1 ¼ peppers (mixed colors), 1-bunch scallions, 1 ½ cup broccoli florets, and some brown enoki like mushrooms (I got them at the Asian grocery store and forget what they are called but you can see them in the picture). 

Heat 1 T of toasted sesame oil in a non-stick pan and add half of the tofu slices, fry until crisp (approx. 3 minutes), turn and fry until crisp on the other side; fry the second half of tofu in the same way; keep warm until the rest of dinner is done. 

Add another Tbsp. of sesame oil to the pan and stir-fry carrots, broccoli and celery for 1 – 2 minutes. Add the scallions, peppers, and baby mushrooms and cook until the carrots and broccoli is crisp tender. Toss in a handful of chopped cilantro. Serve with 7-grain rice (from Aldi).

I would say the spicy tofu rivaled that of our local Asian haunt and after one bite, Dan declared it needed to be a repeat – so I guess since we have lots of tofu in the fridge it would be easy to duplicate.

We're taking a cooking class this week at a raw food restaurant where we will learn to make marinated asparagus, raw lasagna, garlic "bread" and a chocolate dessert – sounds delicious and will be fun.

Thanks for stoppimg by and if you don't know it, today is Star Wars Day; 

May the 4^th be with you 

And a shout out to my Dad, Bill Kelly, who is celebrating 80 years young today!

Southwest Salad and Arthur Miller

I go through phases and lately I've been in a salad phase. We had dinner with Dan's daughter Alona, her boyfriend Nate and his mom to celebrate his birthday at the Surly Taproom last week. While not a beer drinker myself I understand the options were quite good. What I did sample was some of the best roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower I've had in a long time. Of course none of these are directly related to salads right?

While waiting for our food to come Alona was telling me about her new ventures in salads. She's been using mason jars and layering ingredients so that they stay fresh. Her new fav is a kale salad with other veggies and a simple oil, vinegar, salt and pepper dressing. Which got me thinking we hadn't had a giant salad; you know the kind that is a meal, all by itself for a very long time.

So as luck would have it, I had an idea. For those of you who've been to my house for dinner you know I rely on a balsamic vinegar with garlic and curry as my main dressing but I was thinking we needed to shake things up a bit and we had 2 ripe avocados so I did a quick search for a salad/dressing that could incorporate them. I found a keeper that is simple, requires few ingredients and is delicious.

I used ½ avocado, 1 cup of water, and the juice of ½ lime, cumin, salt, pepper and ½ of a jalapeno finely chopped. Place everything in and mix until smooth – you'll be glad you did. 

So now that I had an avocado based salad dressing, I realized that they only salad that would perfectly compliment it would be … of course a "Southwest Salad." I started with a mixture of spinach and kale (about 2/3rds spinach to 1/3^rd kale). To that I added, 1 can of black beans (rinsed), 1 cup of corn, 1 red pepper (chopped), 1 bunch scallions, 2 sweet potatoes (chopped and roasted with olive oil and maple syrup), 1 large tomato (chopped), 1 ½ avocados (chopped), and a large handful of chopped cilantro.  Pour the dressing on top, toss and serve. 

And what does all of this have to do with Arthur Miller; well it was dinner before we went to see his play The Crucible, which by the way was extremely well done. It had a 3-hour run time (including intermission) but it seemed like time just flew by. The acting was superb and everyone seemed perfectly cast. The sets were well done and the pacing and intensity just right – if you happen to be in Mpls, spend the time and money to attend the performance at the Guthrie. 

Have a great week - and don't forget to make a salad now and then.