Berry Smoothie

An easy berry smoothie made with fresh berries, flax seeds, and Vanilla Soy Yogurt from Silk.


What You Need

100g blueberries
100g strawberries
1T flaxseeds
3/4c vanilla soy yogurt

I put everything into the smoothie cup of the Magic Bullet, blended, and I was done! Tasty and nutritious.

Peanut Butter with Apples and Agave Nectar

Again, this is really simple yet satisfying. Can you tell I have some apples to use up?

Take a piece of bread, spread some peanut butter on it (about 1T or more if you desire) and add some thinly sliced apples. Drizzle with agave nectar, which is very similar to honey.

On the plate are extra pieces of apple, also drizzled in agave.

Curried Potato Apple Burrito

Weird, right? But tasty, I swear. So, going off my idea for curried mashed potatoes, I decided to continue testing my theory that everything is good in sandwich form. Soups are about the only thing unable to really be in sandwich form, but bread is usually good with soups, and soup can be served in a breadbowl which is almost a sandwich.

Ok. Here's what you need. I'm only going to link to the picture, because something happened to the pic and it turned a bizarre violet-pink. I have no idea what happened, but it is blinding and somehow replaced the original. Whatever.

What You Need (also link to pic)

mashed potatoes, I used instant
curry powder
raisins
coriander chutney
apples
tortilla, I used French Meadow small Fat Flush tortilla

Put about 1/3c potatoes, mix in 1/4t or less of curry powder (a little goes a long way). Mix in a tiny amount of coriander chutney and add some raisins:



Slice some apples thinly, add to tortilla. Fold like burrito and enjoy. I recommend more apples for better texture. I thought this was quite tasty.

Curried Mashed Potatoes with Raisins

Simple. Tasty. I just made a lot of instant mashed potatoes, and decided to come up with some more interesting things to do with them.

I simply added a little bit of curry powder, 1/2t or 1/4t, and a bunch of raisins. Stir until thoroughly mixed and enjoy.

Peppers and Onions with Rice

Simple, satisfying dish. I just felt like eating a lot of vegetables. And bell peppers were on sale, so I decided on peppers and onions.

I used about half an onion, somewhere around 70g I would say. I cut up 4 bell peppers: 2 Orange/Yellow, 1 Red, 1 Green.

Sautéed them together with a couple cloves of minced garlic and served over rice. Really good.

I might post a big long how-to on slicing the bell peppers, but that is a lot of work and I still have to upload a lot of photos.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, aka Everytime I Broil I Think of Ted Allen

Brussels Sprouts. Don't like them? You should try them again. Seriously. Roasted Brussels Sprouts are the way to go. Brussels Sprouts are like mini cabbages. In fact, they are related. Why are they called Brussels Sprouts? They were cultivated early on in Belgium, of course. They are low in fat, and a good source of Riboflavin, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese. More info HERE.

What You Need:


350g brussels sprouts, ends cut off, sliced in half, rinsed

Marinade:
1T Olive Oil
2T Balsamic Vinegar
2T Lemon Juice
1T Bragg's
1t Ginger Paste
1/4t ea salt and pepper
2 cloves of garlic, Smashed, then minced

1. Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.

2. Cut off ends of sprouts:


3. Peel off bad leaves. Spotted, yellowed, etc. I find it's easy to do this after the end is cut off.

4. Slice in half, the long way:




As a side note: Alex, who doesn't care for brussels sprouts too much but will eat these, said that cutting them in even smaller pieces would be a great idea. So if you're trying to feed non-believers, this may be the way to go. I would suggest quartering.

5. Rinse thoroughly in bowl/strainer/whatever.

6. Make marinade: put all ingredients in a bowl and stir/whisk together.

7. Put brussels sprout halves into the marinade. Mix/stir until evenly coated. (Use hands if necessary. That's half the fun of cooking: using your hands.)

8. Place sprouts on sheet pan, put in oven. Cook for 12-15 minutes. Halfway through, take out sheet and give a good couple of shakes to move all the sprouts around. Sprouts should be carmelizing (aka look kinda black). There is a fine line between burning and carmelizing.

9. Broil for 1-2 minutes. Keep an eye on them. Broiling can lead to burning very quickly. I have a gas oven, and had no idea where my broiler was. Until Ted Allen came along. On Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, Ted showed some poor sap how to broil in his gas oven. I had no IDEA it was in the bottom of the oven. I know what broiling is, but it never clicked that it would be in the bottom of the oven. So that is why everytime I broil, I think of Ted Allen.



10. Done! Here's another picture of the sprouts. Top with salt and pepper if desired, or some butter. Great as a side dish or alone.

Tofu Spinach Salad with Jalapenos, Cucucmbers, and Green Peppers

Here is a picture from sometime last week, a salad I made to take to work. It's made of a couple cups of baby spinach, sliced cucumbers, green peppers, jalapenos, and cubed tofu.

For the tofu, I used up more of the frozen then thawed tofu from the other day. I was keeping it in the cold water container, so I squeezed out the excess and cubed the tofu, 100g total, to put into a marinade. A note for the future: this tofu is extremely chewy, and I say the smaller the cubes the better. My cubes were a little too large.

Marinade
1T Olive Oil
2T Balsamic
splash of lemon juice
Splash of Bragg's
cracked black pepper
shake of red pepper flakes

Stir up the marinade, then add cubed tofu. It's crazy! The tofu is a sponge and all of the marinade should be able to soak into the tofu. I must say that there was something missing from the marinade. Maybe too much Bragg's and lemon? I'm not sure. It was tasty in the end, just a little tangy.

Once tofu has soaked up the marinade, sautée for ten or more minutes. It takes a while, and you may essentially burn some parts of the tofu. My aim was to get some crispiness, but it didn't really work.

Once tofu is done, cool down, then place in a container (I used a zip-top bag) in the fridge for the salad tomorrow. Note: This tofu would be fine warm, too, I just liked it cold on my salad. It's easier to keep things cold than warm.)

The salad amounts are as follows:

100g tofu, cubed and cooked after marinating
90g Green Pepper
100g cucumbers
10g jalapeno

I often don't like dressing, and for this salad I used only salt and pepper. It would probably benefit from a creamy dressing like Ranch. I lost my powdered vegan ranch which was the most amazing dressing and dip. However, they make quite a few creamy vegan dressings.

Also, this salad would be nice with some tomatoes or something to balance the other ingredients.