My first bento!

For a long time now i've been a fan of Vegan Lunch Box. It's actually one of the food blogs that inspired me to start my own. Even though I discovered it near the end of it's run, I still like to browse the archives for some lunch ideas. Ever since my discovery of that site i've longed for my very own laptop lunch box that is featured with every lunch. It's such a great way to cut down on plastic bags and bulky tupperware. But do I have one? No. Here is where the story gets a bit silly. Even though there is a retailer near me that sells the very lunch box, I never am in that part of town so I still have not got my hands on it. What's silly is that I do have other bento lunch boxes that I just ordered from J-List. Kind of odd how items from Japan are more convenient to buy then ones right in my own city!



Anyways, onto the bento!


This is the cute little panda box I used to pack todays lunch. It's got two tiers that fit inside.
I received these cute little boxes in the mail last week while I was out of town, and today was finally the right day to break one in. The food featured is nothing real special, since I haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping since my return. (I had to work all weekend-bleh!) And all my family knows how to buy is white bread, milk, and lunch meat. (Ew.)



Since grapes and baby cheese is pretty basic, i'll share how I spiced up these carrots and asian brown rice vermicelli noodles. It's also quite basic, but they're pretty tasty! Making these is even too easy for a real recipe.

All you need to do is toss together the following:
Brown Rice Vermicelli noodles, cooked
baby carrots, julienned
sesame seeds

now add a few flavors to taste:
soy sauce
sesme oil
rice or red wine vinegar
red chili flakes

I usually add more vinegar than soy sauce since I like things with a bite, then just a little bit of sesame oil to add some sweetness. These levels can be adjusted to personal preference.

Since carrots were the only veggie I had in my fridge (really, I'm not exaggerating!) that's all I added. In the past I've also tried this same recipe with green or red onions, peppers, and peas. Black beans are also a nice addition to this, but I was running low on time as I was making this before work today.


More bentos to come!

Hope of Spring Salad

This past Saturday morning I woke up to a shock. When I got upstairs to fix my breakfast, there was a bounty of vegetables on my kitchen table! Since this is a rare sight in my house unless i've been shopping I began to wonder if somehow I had gone sleep grocery shopping the past night. I figured out what really happened though when my dad came into the room and got all excited about the vegetables before me. He then informed me that this bounty was all from the farmers market. Wait, the farmers market? In March? With a foot of snow on the ground? Blasphemy!

As pathetic as it is, my almost 19 year old self had never realized that the market is open in the colder months. Growing up the sporadic visits to the market my parents took me on were always in the summer, so I guess my sub-concious always figured that since I only went in the summer, that the market was only open in the summer. Nope. Turns out my parents are just a bunch of sissies who don't like buying good produce if it requires going out in the cold. I guess my dad was just feeling brave this past Saturday, which I am grateful for as these veggies were wonderful. I didn't snap a picture, but included in the bounty was: butter leaf lettuce, green beans, baby potatoes, tomatoes, and cucumbers. All organic too!

So Saturday before work I roasted some of the pretty little organic tomatoes with some asparagus I had in the fridge, and drizzled them with some balsamic vinegar. It was a great little salad. I didn't take a picture though, and since I think posting a recipe without a picture is pointless, i'll leave it at that.



What I did make sure to take a picture of, was the resulting salad that came from the head of butter leaf lettuce. I had only had butter leaf lettuce once before, at a cafe where it was served with an amazing orange dressing. The flavors went so beautifully together that I knew i'd need to re-create a similar taste for this lettuce. So I went off of a recipe I recieved from a co-worker, adding some newer flavors I thought might be nice. The result was wonderful. It had creamy ingredients but still tasted light. The only change I might make is to add some dijon mustard to the next dressing, or perhaps a bit more vinegar, just to get a bit more bite out of them.



I'm calling this "Hope of Spring Salad" because even though there is snow all over, and the temperature is still below 0 (celcius) everyday, this salad helped me to believe spring might, at some point happen.

Ingridients:
1 head butter leaf lettuce (other lettuces will work)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cucumber, sliced in half circles

dressing:
2 tbs light sour cream
2 tbs light miracle whip
1/4 cup white vinegar
juice of 1/2 an orange
zest of one orange
1 tbs dill
pinch of salt and pepper

Wash and tear the lettuce leaves and thinly slice the onions. Mix with the walnuts and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix all dressing ingredients together with a whisk. Incorporate to the salad and serve right away.
(serves around 4 as a side salad.)

It's tofu...It's magic!

So much for my last post...it's been almost a month and i've hardly blogged! I was kind of in a cooking rut I guess...so...moving on.

Yesterday was one of those desperate food days. I was away on vacation for the past week, and when I got home I saw how very apparent it is that I am the only one in my family that buys real food! I came home to a near empty fridge, filled with only milk, leftovers, and a few condiments. And since I hadn't had a chance for a decent shopping trip yet, my only lunch option was macaroni and cheese. But I wanted something more. I wanted to make something, as I hadn't been able to cook for the past week. I'll talk more about my culinary adventures from my trip later, but right now the magic tofu will take center flog:



I found this recipe for Tofu "Magic" a while ago at Eat Me, Delicous and while it sounded great, It didn't really move me to make it right away. But as I previously mentioned, there is little to no food in my house. So I started with a base food, brown rice. I put on a pot and then went online to frantically search for something to go with it. As I came across some archived recipes, I found the one for tofu magic. I then got really excited when I remembered that there just might be a block of tofu in the fridge.
As it turns out, I didn't have any tofu. I actually didn't have any ingredients needed for the magic tofu. But my mind, my heart, and my stomach would take nothing but this recipe. So as the rice finished cooking I walked over to the grocery store and bought what was needed. It was a warm day, and fate seemed to be on my side just this once.


So thank you, fate. For bringing me to this recipe. It really is magic! For as long as i've been a vegetarian i've strived and searched for the perfect tofu. Crispy, yet tender...flavorful but not overpowering... this tofu is fits the bill!
I think the trick to is perfection is the frying of the tofu intially, then making more of a reduction then a sauce with only a few ingredients. It was such a quick and easy recipe to make to!
I chose to serve it with brown rice (as mentioned) and baby spinach. While there are a few leaves poking out of the mug (yes, I eat out of mugs!) there was also a little bundle under the rice. The heat from the rice and tofu wilted that spinach right up, and the mix was marvelous.



As a I went to retrieve this recipe again to post, I noticed that the recipe itself isn't called Tofu Magic, but "Matthew's Delicous Tofu". No matter what it is called, it is amazing and all should try it out!

Matthew's Delicious Tofu
Thanks toEat Me, Delicous, via The Garden of Vegan

2-3 servings (with rice)

1 lb medium firm tofu, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1/4 tsp dried chili, or 1 tsp Asian chili sauce
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/8 cup Braggs or soy sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup dry roasted almonds, chopped (garnish)

In a medium saucepan on medium-high heat, saute the tofu in oil until browned. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the garlic, ginger, and chili. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the maple syrup, Braggs (or soy sauce), and lemon juice. Cover and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Garnish with almonds.

I've been a bad blogger...

First I'm going to start of by saying what a bad blogger I have been. For a while I was in a cooking rut, not really making anything worthy of a post here. That was my excuse to not fill this flog with food. But that rut was quite short lived, for lately I have been making some pretty awesome things. I've managed perfect crepes, a roasted veggie and cous cous salad, a spicy tofu soup, pan-fried oatmeal, and many others! Now I am just relying on terrible excuses to not post. Things like "Well I can't take a picture, because my family is here." (They know I have a food blog, but I still get weird looks whenever I choose to photograph food. It brings on too many questions.) Another reason is that my kitchen is upstairs, while by bedroom in the basement. My camera is always kept in my room. And as much as I hate to admit it, most of the time I am too hungry/lazy to take a trip down the stairs to grab my camera. Also there is the procrastionation factor. "I'll post about it later..." and then later never comes. I made a Yule Log for christmas that I still haven't bothered to post about! (But I really don't think I will now...It seems a little too late for that. A mention is all the Yule Log will get.)

I'm ready for all of these pathetic excuses to come to an end. I promise to be a better blogger. I've even signed up for some blogging events, which i'm hoping will motivate me to get more active in this blog. (And maybe get me some visitors so that I don't feel like I'm blogging to myself...)

And now, onto the food.




Today I tried out a tofu salad recipe I found from Everybody Likes Sandwiches. I found it a while ago, and have been meaning to try it. Today finally seemed the right time since the only food I had in my kitchen happened to go in this recipe!


Tofu Salad
(from Everybody Likes Sandwiches)
1/2 cup mayo or soynaise (I used light miracle whip)
1 Tbsp yellow mustard (I used dijion)
1 block of firm tofu, crumbled
1 tsp capers
2 Tbsp chopped pickles
2 Tbsp finely diced onions
juice & zest of 1/2 lemon
pepper
(these next three ingredients were from the original post, but I didn't have them and so I substituted them for the following ingredients. )
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp curry paste (or powder)
1 tsp honey (optional)

2 tsp garlic seasoning
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dill

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the mayo and mustard. Add in the crumbled tofu and combine well. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Let mixture sit for half an hour to let flavours develop. Spread on toasted bread.


I'm really happy with how this salad came out. I can see myself packing this in my lunch quite often from now on.

Light Macaroni Salad

The inspiration for the following recipe came from two sources. The first, being a cooking show on PBS. (A cooking show on PBS? Who'da thunk it?) And the second, from my desire to be the biggest possible sponge on my parents whilst I can, by bringing my lunches to work instead of going to booster juice and spending $10 a day of my own money.

Now more on the PBS show. It was a lazy saturday morning and I was in the basement watching tv. My father came downstairs and stole the remote from me. He flipped channels until landing on PBS, which was airing a cooking show. Since I am obsessed with food, I tolerated this. The hosts were just about to embark on a macaroni salad. And though i've never really liked macaroni salad all that much, the recipe inspired me. Over a week went by and I couldn't get the macaroni salad off my mind. I'm not sure of why that is, but I am glad for my fascination, because this salad came out great.

I think the reason it got to me was that the host added the spices before adding the mayo. She claimed that it was more important to flavor the pasta, then flavor the sauce. It seems like such a simple idea, but I had never seen anything like it before.

So I took that nugget of knowledge with me as I finally embarked on making this salad. Though as I stated, I've never felt that much love for a macaroni salad. This one was different though. I just knew it.

And was I right! This tasted so much lighter and fresher then most macaroni salads. Unlike the traditional macaroni salad, these little noodles were not swimming in mayo, just slightly tossed in it.

So here is my modified recipe of macaroni salad. I adjusted it a bit, adding a few more flavors and a lot more lemon. Hence the name of this recipe. I also used miracle whip instead of mayo. Since I prefer it in my sandwiches, I thought "why not in my salad as well?" I'd also like to point out how ridiculously easy this salad is to make!



Light and Lemony Macaroni Salad

1/2 box of Macaroni, cooked al dente and cooled
2-3 Stalks of Celery, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 lemon, juiced plus zest
2 cubes frozen parsley (this was all I had, if you are using fresh then i'd go with a few tablespoons, then adding more to taste if needed.)
1 tsp chili powder
dash of salt and pepper
1/2 cup of miracle whip, or mayonaise.


Cook and drain the macaroni. Rinse with cold water, and transfer to a large bowl. Add chopped celery, onion, garlic, lemon zest, parsley, chili powder, and salt and pepper. Let sit in the fridge for about half an hour. Take the pasta out and toss it with the miracle whip and lemon juice.


I really loved this salad. It was easy, light, and so flavorful. I know it will be one I will fall back on in the future for lunches. My wallet is quite pleased because of this.

Mushroom Tomato Cream Pasta

Tonight was one of those nights where I got home late, and after not having dinner at a decent time was forced to rummage through the kitchen to find something quick and edible. Sometimes, when I am lucky, this kind of night has much more pay-off then pain. As was tonight.

So I got home and tried to figure out what to make for dinner. My sister had already eaten, and my mom opted for left over pizza. My dad decided to wait it out and said he would eat whatever I put in front of him. While I considered serving him dog food just to see what would be come of it, I instead decided to create something. So I set to work.

As always, our pantry was stocked with pasta. Then I totally lucked out when I found half a bag of mushrooms and a zucchini in my fridge. Plus, I even had sauce in there! Once I came upon these staples I had settled with the idea to add the veggies to some pasta with some plain ol' tomato sauce. Nothing too crazy, but it would serve it's purpose.

So I was about halfway through making dinner, when I realized there was much less pasta sauce in the jar then I had anticipated. Hardly enough to cover the pasta. Since my vegetables were near done their sauteing I had to act quick. I scoured our lazy susan for some canned tomatoes, tomato paste, anything sauce like. It was then I found the perfect addition. A can of mushroom soup! It would be the perfect addition to bulk up the sauce!

So that is how this dish came to be. Keep in mind that since this recipe was made on the spot, the measurements may not be exact. But this is the type of dish where it really won't matter. Also keep in mind that the quantities can easily be changed to feed more or less hungry mouths.



Mushroom Tomato Cream Pasta
Yields 2-3 servings.


1/4 box of pasta (I used Smart Spahgetti.)
1/2 can low fat mushroom soup
1/4 cup of water
1/3 cup of tomato pasta sauce (I used Healthy Choice Garlic Lovers)
1-2 cups of mushrooms, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 tbsp of oil
freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
parmesan cheese (to garnish, optional)

Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Meanwhile, clean and chop the veggies. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a medium frying pan. Add veggies once pan is hot and coat with freshly ground black pepper. A few teaspoons would be a good place to start. I really love my pepper though, so I added a few generous tablespoons to the veggies. Once the veggies have cooked down, add half the can of mushroom soup, and the water. Mix well so that the consistency is nice and smooth. Once your pasta is done, add the veggies and mushroom sauce, as well as the tomato sauce. Garnish with some parmesan, Mix well to coat, and serve!

This dish came out great. It was hearty and filling and tasted amazing. I know it will be one dinner that I see myself coming back to time and time again. Although next time I think I will add some garlic and maybe some parsley to the veggies.

Homemade Veggie Burger

Lately one of my newest food blog obsessions is Everybody Likes Sandwiches. It's got great recipes and the pictures are so pretty to look at. As I was browsing through some past entries on said flog, I came across this recipe for Walnut Oat Burgers. I've been wanting to try a hand at making my own veggie burgers for a while now, and this recipe seemed like the perfect endeavor.


I'm happy to report that these burgers came out great. They were so so good I don't ever want to see a soy burger again in my life!



They are also much healthier then soy patties. Since a large ammount of the mix is made up of ground walnuts, and walnuts are one of the World's Healthiest Foods, I have no qualms to treating myself to a burger now.


And the recipe seems easy enough to follow too. I only say that it seems easy enough because for whatever reason, I had a few troubles following it this afternoon. I'm not sure why, but I mixed up the bread crumb measurement and I forgot to add milk. The bread crumb situation rectified itself easily enough, I just ended up scooping some out of the rest of the mixture. The lack of milk however, was most likely the reason for the tiniest problem I had with these burgers. As a few of them fell apart. They buckled from the pressure of me trying to flip them on the first go. However, the strong ones survived and they were happily devoured by me and my family members who were brave enough to try them.




The recipe:

Walnut Oat Burgers
(Courtesy of Everybody Likes Sandwiches

burger mixture:
2 cups walnut pieces
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup breadcrumbs
3 eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup skim milk
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sage*
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

for cooking burgers:
oil to brown patties
3 cups vegetable stock

1. Grind walnuts in blender and combine with the rest of the burger mixture ingredients. Let the mixture rest in refrigerator for about an hour to let the flavors meld together.

2. Form the mixture into patties. The entire mixture will make 8-12 burgers depending on the size patty formed. It is recommended to use half of the mixture now, and reserve the rest for use in another recipe or for more burgers later.

3. Brown patties on both sides in a lightly oiled skillet, then pour the stock into the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. Serve on buns with all your burger fixings.



*I didn't have any sage on hand so I just used some ramdom herb and garlic seasoning I found in my pantry. They still tasted great.




Now the perfect side to this dish? Home baked taco fries.



They are a tastier and healthier alternative to those gross fries out of a bag from the freezer. Also, they couldn't be easier to make. This recipe is just an approximate guess of what I did, as there is really no need to measure with something like this.

First preheat your oven to 375. Clean and chop 5 medium sized russet potatoes. Slice into small strips, or cut into wedges. Whatever thickness you desire will work. Once all potatoes have been cleaned and chopped, throw into a large bowl. Toss slices with a few tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, a tiny pinch of salt, and liberal shakes of chili powder and garlic powder. You can also use taco mix, but since there is a lot of added sodium with that I'd reccomend using your own spices.
Once all the pieces are coated, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook them for about 30-40 mins, or until cooked and crispy.