Asian Salad with Baked Tofu or Chicken

This is a super yummy salad! I was craving chicken but since the b/f is a vegetarian I decided to try and make baked tofu. It turned out amazing!! The marinade and the dressing are pretty much the same ingredients so it's a user friendly salad. I had some sesame Asian dressing in the fridge so I mixed a little in my dressing recipe for fun and it was delish! 

Baked Tofu or Chicken Marinade

• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 2 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tbs agave nectar (optional)

Mix the above ingredients in a shallow dish.

Baked Tofu -Slice the tofu into cubes, dry on paper towels then marinate in the mixture for an hour, flipping the tofu to make sure it is coated. Preheat the oven to 375. Place the tofu in a non-stick pan and bake for 35 minutes. Turn the tofu after 15 minutes. After 35 minutes broil the   tofu one each side until it starts to brown.

Chicken -Cut the chicken into cubes, place in a bowl or zip lock bag with the mixture and marinate for an hour.  Preheat the oven to 375. Place in a non-stick pan and bake for around 20 minutes. 

Salad Fixins
* I usually chop everything up and put it in tupperware so what ever I don't eat I can have ready for the next day. 

• 1 can  mandarin oranges, halved (reserve the juice for the dressing)
• 1 can water chestnuts, halved
• 1 sliced cucumber
• 1 shredded carrots
• 1/2 cabbage, sliced
• chopped romaine lettuce
• chopped cashews or peanuts

Dressing 

• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• juice from the mandarin (taste as you add)

Soba Noodles with Kale and Portobello

• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbs chopped ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped red onions
• 2 kale leaves, remove the stem and chop
• 2 portobello mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup shelled edamame
• 2 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1 package of soba noodles

Place the portobello mushrooms in a bowl and marinate in 2 tbs of soy sauce. While the mushrooms are marinating, heat a large pan on medium heat with the sesame oil and saute the garlic for 2-3 minutes. Next add the ginger and onions and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the mushrooms with soy sauce and kale cook for 3-5 minutes or until mushrooms start to soften then add in the rice wine vinegar, the rest of the soy sauce and edamame. Cover and cook on low heat. Cook the soba noodles then add to the shroom, kale mixture.

Makes 2-4 servings. 

Tomato Curry Soup

• 1 14 oz can of coconut milk
• 1 28 oz can of roma tomatoes, chopped
• 8 large basil leaves, chopped
• 2 1/2 to 3 tbs red curry paste
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 2 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 tbs coconut oil

Heat the oil in a large pot and saute the garlic for for 2-3 minutes, reduce heat to low and add the basil. Place the curry paste and 1/2 cup of coconut milk in a small bowl and whisk until all clumps are out. Pour all of the coconut milk and the curry powder in the pot and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes with the juice and keep the heat on med/low and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy! 

Makes 3-4 servings

Farmer's Market Gazpacho

One of the best parts about summer is all of the fresh produce at the farmer's markets. I make a stop every Tuesday at the market to stock up on local fruits and veggies. The past few weeks there has been some good looking heirloom tomatoes and pretty bell peppers so I decided I should make some gazpacho. Gazpacho is one of those cold dishes for everyone since it's easy to make, vegan friendly, raw and good for you. This tasty soup is a great entree or appetizer and the best part is it makes great leftovers. The longer you let the soup sit in the fridge the better it tastes. If you want to spice it up just add red pepper flakes and it you want to make it a little fancier top it with lump crab meat. Make it your own and enjoy!!! 

Ingredients
1 large or 2 small, cucumbers, ends cut off and deseeded
3 bell peppers- 2 red and 1 green or yellow, seeds removed
4 garlic cloves
1 small red onion
1/2 cup loosely packed Italian flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro
3-4  large heirloom tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), core removed

Pulse all of the above ingredients in a food processor one vegetable at a time then place into a large bowl.

Season the gazpacho with S&P and 2 tbs of good quality olive oil and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight for maximum flavor.

* It is up to you how chunky you want your soup to be but I like to pulse half the peppers & cucumbers to where they are kinda chunky then pulse the rest down as small as they can get. 

* Add red pepper flakes to spice it up.

My Flavor of the Month Salads

Beet & Orange Salad w/Avocado Creamy Dressing

(Makes 3-4 Servings)

Salad Fixins:

2 to 3 Large Beets - boiled, peeled & sliced
1 Navel Orange - peeled & cubed

Macadamia Nuts 

2-4 cups of Mixed Greens or Spinach

Place all salad fixins on a plate then top with dressing.

Dressing: 

1 Avocado, peeled and remove seed

3 tbs of Orange Juice 

1/2 Lime Squeezed

Dash of Olive Oil

Place all of the dressing ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. 

*If you dont have orange juice use  (save the peels with little pieces of orange left to juice for dressing)

Orange, Carrot & Pepper Salad

(Makes 3-4 Servings)

Salad Fixins:

2 Bell Peppers (1 Orange, 1 Yellow), cut in thick strips

5-6 Carrots Peeled

1 Navel Orange - peeled & cubed

2- 4 cups of Mixed Greens or Spinach 

Goat Cheese

Toasted Almonds

Dressing:

Red wine vinegar & touch of walnut, sunflower or olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350. Place the carrots and bell peppers in a baking dish and toss with a little sunflower, walnut or olive oil and bake for 15+ minutes or until carrots are tender. Remove and let cool.

Place the lettuce and orange on a plate, top with carrots and peppers and top with crumbled goat cheese and almonds.

*This tastes great even without the lettuce

Both recipes adapted from http://www.wholeliving.com/173430/eat-rainbow 

Lentil Wraps

This is my rendition of the Trader Joe's Spicy Lentil Wrap! Soooo delicious!!

Lentil Mixture
1 cup bulgar wheat, rinsed
1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup green lentils, rinsed
1/2 tbs cumin
S & P
1 tbs olive oil
Red Pepper Tahini Sauce
1 lemon
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup chopped parsely
red pepper flakes, S&P
2 roasted red bell peppers


Other fixins
Cabbage, sliced thin or Chard
Lavash or tortillas

Lentil Mixture
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil with a touch of salt a drop of sunflower or olive oil. Add the lentils and stir, reduce to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes add the bulgar and cover for another 20-30 minutes until the mixture is soft. Remove from heat, season and mix well. You may have to add more oil if it seems to dry and more salt and cumin than you think so keep taste testing as you add it in. Set aside and let it cool.

Red Pepper Tahini Sauce
In a small bowl squeeze the juice from the lemon and mix it with the tahini, parsley and seasonings. Take the bell peppers (if you make at home cool them first, if you bought the jar just pour out the liquid) then place in the food processor with a touch of sunflower or olive oil then process until smooth. If the peppers are runny strain through a mesh strainer and reserve the liquid for the lentil mixture. Stir the red pepper mixture in the tahini mixture and place in the fridge.

Take the liquid from the strained peppers and pour into the lentil mixture.

Once the lentils have cooled  warm the lavash or tortilla for just a few seconds so it wraps more easily. Spoon on the Red Pepper Tahini Sauce on the tortilla or lavash then add the Lentil Mixture and cabbage. Roll, slice and serve!

Tomato, Kale & Garbanzo Bean Salad

2 cans of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3-4 large kale leaves, washed and chopped
1 lemon, squeezed
3 garlic cloves
S&P
1 tbs olive oil

Saute the garlic in the olive oil on low for 2-3 minutes, then add the kale. Cover the saute pan and cook for just a few minutes to soften. Be sure not to over cook it so it stays a little crunchy. Once it is ready set aside to cool. Place the garbanzo beans in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice and a little more olive oil. Next add the cooled kale mixture making sure to scrape out all of the garlic and olive oil from the pan. Stir well then toss in the tomatoes, S&P. Place in the fridge to cool and serve cold.

Vegetarian Pot Pie

Ingredients
Makes 4 small pot pies

3 garlic cloves, diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 turnip, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup leeks, chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbs flour
1 tbs cornstarch


Preheat the oven to 425. Heat a large pot on the stove to med with the olive oil then saute the leeks, celery, carrots, garlic, turnip mushrooms and leeks. Mix the cornstarch and flour with 1 tbs of water until all chunks are gone. Add the the mixture to the vegetables then add in the broth, cream and peas. Stir, cover and cook for 10 minutes. While the fixins are cooking make the crust.

For the crust:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup of butter, chopped
1/2 cup water

Cut the butter into the flour then using dough hooks on your mixer, slowly add the water and mix until it forms into a ball. Add more water if it is not forming a ball. Flour the counter lightly then roll the dough out nice and flat.

Spoon the veggie fixins and liquid into an oven safe dish the stretch the dough out across the dish. Brush with olive oil and bake for 40 minutes.

Tomato Soup with Chard, Cannellini Beans

Tomato soup has to be by far one of the yummiest soups to make for just about any occasion. I stewed my own tomatoes the first time I made this and it was amazing but summer is over and good tomatoes for stewing are hard to find. This recipe is tomato soup not basic tomato soup, it is spruced up a bit. You can leave the beans, chard and tortellini out if your looking for something basic. This soup is very easy because you can use a few items from a can which saves lots of time in the kitchen. Give it a try and enjoy!!! 

This soup goes really well with Pinot Noir. I was down to one glass off Steehead Pinot Noir so I decided to open the bottle of Irony. There was nothing ironic about it they were both actually very good and the perfect light wine for tomato soup.

Ingredients
(Makes about 4-5 big bowls)
1/2 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
1/2 tbs basil 
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more depnding on the heat that you like)
1/2 tsp salt
1 can tomato paste
12 oz whole peeled tomatoes (crushed)
5-6 cups vegetable broth
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed 
4-5 leaves of chard, chopped
1 package of cooked tortellini (optional)

Saute the garlic and onions on low for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and seasoning stir until the paste is coated with onions and seasoning, cook for a 2 minutes on low. Next add the cans of tomatoes, beans, vegetable broth, cover and cook on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Add the chard & tortellini and cook for 5 more minutes. Top with Asiago or Parmesan cheese.

*If you like thick stew style soup just use 4 1/2-5 cups of broth. 

Butternut Squash Risotto

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups of dry white wine (1/2 cup for squash, 1 cup for rice)
5 cups veggie broth
2 tbs coconut oil (separated in 2 separate tbs)
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 shallot, diced
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
2 cups arborio rice (risotto rice)
S+P
shredded asiago or parmesan cheese

1. Heat 1 tbs of coconut oil in a large pan and saute the butternut squash with 1/2 cup of white wine until VERY tender and set aside when done.
2. While the squash is cooking grab a small pot warm up the veggie broth on low and keep it warm. In a large pot heat 1 tbs of coconut oil to low/med heat then saute the garlic, onion and shallot for 5-7 minutes. 3. Next add the rice into the garlic onion mixture an cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Pour the rest of the wine into the rice and cook until it is absorbed, stirring constantly. Once the wine has been absorbed add in 1/2 cup of veggie broth at a time letting it completely absorb each time before adding the next and keep on stirring. (It's pretty time consuming but important in order to cook the rice thoroughly.)
4. While you are adding in the broth you will need to puree the butternut squash. Place the squash in a blender of food processor and blend until smooth.Season with S+P+garlic poswer and a dash of nutmeg.
5. Once you add in the last bit of broth add in the butternut squash puree and stir until the rice is coated. Serve with cheese on top!