Tempeh Taco Salad

I'm pleasantly surprised by how good AND healthy this salad was. I wasn't certain how it was going to go over at home since tempeh could be an acquired taste.  I knew I had already acquired that taste since I've been ordering Tempeh Hoagies from Mellow Mushroom for years now. But by the time we reached the last serving in the bowl, I was ready to fight for it. It was that yummy.

Tempeh Taco Salad
Source: adapted from this http://www.yummymummykitchen.com/2012/08/viva-la-fiesta-vegetarian-taco-salad.html

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 cup corn kernels (I prefer white corn)  
8 oz. tempeh, cubed (found next to the refrigerated vegetarian products)
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon taco seasoning 
8 oz. romaine lettuce salad , chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes  
1/4 cup grated sharp white cheddar cheese or monterey jack
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
blue corn tortilla chips, crumbled for garnish
Annie's Organic Cowboy Ranch salad dressing

Steps:

Chop up vegetables and cube tempeh. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. 

Add onion and saute until starting to brown.

 Add corn kernels and tempeh, and saute about 4 minutes.  Add beans, taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon of water and saute another minute. 

Remove from heat and let sit a few minutes. 

Place lettuce in a large serving bowl. Pile tempeh mixture on top. Arrange avocado, tomatoes, cheese, and cilantro on top of tempeh mixture. Garnish with chips and dressing. 

Summer Quinoa

This recipe was found on Pinterest but I've adjusted the measurements to my own proportions to suit my taste.


Southwest Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1/2-3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup fresh or frozen thawed corn
3/4  red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh mango
less than 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (use less if you don't like the spice) small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
juice from 1 lime
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Steps:

Cook quinoa according to package directions and let cool. If using frozen corn in this recipe, you can throw the kernels in to thaw out. You may have to drain some liquid from this mixture.

Then, mix together the beans, quinoa, corn, bell pepper, mango, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and turmeric in a small bowl.

Drizzle over the mixture and toss. Refrigerate until use.

Black Sesame Tofu

Technically, I didn't totally make this recipe up. I found a similar recipe on Women's Health  but there was something weird about it. The picture showed different ingredients than what was actually in it, etc. So I decided to use it as a basis and add my own things. It turned out much yummier than I expected.

Black Sesame Tofu Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

1.5- 2 cups brown rice, cooked
14 oz. package of extra firm tofu, drained
1.5 Tbsp black sesame seeds
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp canola or peanut oil, divided
one large stalk of broccoli florets, cut up
1 cup carrots sliced or shreded
1 red bell pepper, sliced
4 green onions, cut into 1 in. pieces
3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
2 Tbsp mellow white miso (found in the refrigerated vegetarian section at Whole Foods)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp cornstarch


Steps:

1.

Start rice first and let cook while you prepare the rest. Meanwhile, blot tofu dry with paper towels; cut  into 8 slices. Place sesame seeds in a shallow bowl and dredge tofu through seeds.

2.

Heat sesame oil and 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu and cook for 5 minutes or until nicely browned. Flip over and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until nicely browned on other side. Remove tofu and keep warm.

3.

Add remaining peanut oil to skillet and heat. Stir in broccoli and carrots; stir-fry for 4 minutes or until crunchy-tender. Stir in bell pepper and green onions; cook for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and return tofu to pan.

4.

Combine orange juice, miso, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl; whisk until well blended. Pour juice mixture into skillet and cook for 1 minute stirring to blend. Serve over rice.

AVOCADOS!

I LOVE avocados. Growing up they just seemed yucky. But my 10 year old self just didn't know what she was missing. I can eat them cut up or if you put a bowl of guacamole in front of me, it WILL disappear quickly. So when I found these two recipes both using avocado and liked them, I knew they needed to be blogged so I wouldn't forget to use them again. FYI, I didn't make these on the same night nor the same week but they are both so easy and tasty. They aren't my recipes since both of them were found on Pinterest but I did make some ingredient tweaks here and there.

Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa Pockets

Ingredients:

cooking spray
1 large puffed pastry sheet, thawed
1 avocado, mashed
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup salsa
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten

(you probably won't use the full amount of all the ingredients with the exception of the pastry sheet)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. 
2. Once thawed, cut pastry sheet into 9, 2 by 2 in squares.
3. On half the squares, place a dollop of avocado, then cream cheese, then salsa. 
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Place remaining squares over filling. Use a fork to seal down edges so nothing seeps out.
6. Brush eggwash over top of each pocket square.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. 



Heirloom Tomato Caprese w/ Avocado

Ingredients:
2 Heirloom tomatoes, cubed
2 avocados, cubed
2 balls of fresh mozzarella, cubed/sliced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
handful of fresh basil, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Place tomatoes, avocados, and cheese in a large bowl.
2. Pour oil over and add basil.
3. Toss and season.

A Quick and Easy Post

Somehow my blog changed while I was gone. Which one of you was messing around with the font? Anywho, I thought I'd pop in to share a quick and easy recipe that I recently tried. I haven't done a lot of cooking lately but Pinterest keeps me on my toes with new recipes that I am saving to try later or have tried. This is one of them and I can't ignore a recipe with Nutella in it!

Nutella 3 Ingredient Cookies
Source: somewhere in Pinterest world

1 cup Nutella
1 cup flour
1 egg


Preheat oven to 350. Mix the three ingredients in a bowl. Form cookies and bake on a sheet for 6-8 minutes. It's really that simple. No added sugar, oil, or butter!

My only gripe would be that because of the lack of added oils and butter, the mixture was extremely crumbly. I really didn't think it was going to turn out very well. I had to work the mixture with my hands to form the cookies. But they came out pretty normal and were surprisingly tasty!

Back From the Dead

I'm alive!!! Hopefully, no one really thought I was gone. But yes, my blog did appear to die over the last few months. To be honest, I haven't been doing a ton of cooking lately. I also somehow became a vegetarian a few months ago. I'm not sure if this is a permanent lifestyle change or if I will be back to eating meat shortly. However for the moment, I can no longer stand the thought of beef, chicken, pork, eggs, or any type of seafood. I do hope that changes eventually and my taste for that comes back. Because for right now, my meals are on the bland side and not really worth blogging about. If/when this changes, you can count on me being back for sure. But for now, feel free to use the index on the side of blog to look up past recipes. And I hope you've created some great meals lately whether from here or someone else's blog. Happy eating (and drinking)!

Italian Pot Roast

Easy and delicious!

Italian Pot Roast
Source: Southern Living Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large  onion, sliced 
1 (2 1/2 to 3-lb.) boneless chuck roast, trimmed 
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (1-oz.) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 (14-oz.) can beef broth
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
 3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Steps:

1. Place mushrooms and onions in slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle roast with pepper. Cook roast in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned on each side.
3. Place roast on top of mushrooms and onion in slow cooker. Sprinkle onion soup mix over roast; pour beef broth and tomato sauce over roast. Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours or until meat shreds easily with a fork.
4. Transfer roast to a cutting board; cut into large chunks, removing any large pieces of fat. Keep roast warm.
5. Skim fat from juices in slow cooker; stir in tomato paste and Italian seasoning. Stir together cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. water in a small bowl until smooth; add to juices in slow cooker, stirring until blended. Cover and cook 20 minutes on HIGH or until mixture is thickened. Stir in roast. Serve over egg noodles.