curried tofu & edamame soup

May 4, 2015 Leave a Comment

good afternoon, friends!

I have some exciting news to share!

As of yesterday, I am part of Whole Foods Market‘s social media ambassador program, Whole Foodies!

I’ve been looking for something like this for awhile, and the timing is right and I am thrilled!

What does this mean for you? It means that I’ll be trying  new products and receiving samples that I’ll review and pass on to you!

I also will be sponsoring a few upcoming giveaways as a way to celebrate!

:barefoot girl throwing confetti in her kitchen👣:

Today’s recipe is quite fitting, considering it’s Monday and so many have adopted the practice of meatless Monday.

Plus.. Well, it’s really quick and oh-so-tasty

curried tofu & edamamme soup 

1 block of tofu, pressed ***

1 tbsp sweet curry powder

1/2 cup edamamme, shelled

1 can coconut milk

1 jalapeño pepper

1/2 red bell pepper

1 cup Chicken stock 

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Cilantro and lemon or lime for garnish

Toasted tortilla chips to serve with . 

  

Start by crumbling the tofu and tossing with the curry.  Let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop peppers, removing seeds and ribs.

Heat coconut oil over medium heat and add tofu. Sauté for 5 minutes , stirring often ( you are essentially toasting the curry, giving it a deeper flavor.

Add peppers and edamamme and stir. Let cook 5 more minutes.

Add coconut milk and stock. Season with sea salt ( double check that your curry does not contain salt. If it does, the taste before adding additional salt )

Bring to a slow simmer and let cook about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the tortilla chips.

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut 1 small corn tortilla into wedges. Place on non-stick cookie sheet or parchment paper.   Sprinkle with a little bit of water and top with a bit of sea salt

Toast for about 3 minutes, then flip and toast an additional 3   

 

Serve with chopped cilantro ( parsley if you don’t like cilantro ) a squeeze of lemon or lime juice and tortilla chips

Wanna see it closer?

This little bowl has some incredible flavor 🙂

Stay tuned…  Tomorrow’s recipe is out of this WORLD! 

 

***. If you cook with tofu, I highly recommend a tofu press.  What you save in paper towel will easily help pay for it..   Many people say they don’t like tofu, when in fact it was probably not prepared properly.  You NEED to press the water out of it. Tofu will take on the flavor of whatever you add to it.  Properly pressed and prepared tofu should have a texture similar to buffalo mozzarella cheese.

Similar recipes

smoked tofu tacos with chipotle-lime sauce

Ethiopian-spiced coconut tofu bowls 

Filed Under: Main dish, meatless monday Tagged With: , , , , ,

healthy broth bowls

April 11, 2015 3 Comments

Hi friends! I’m here to share a quick, easy and oh so convenient recipe with ya’ll.

I’m seeing more and more broth bowls these days. Basically, it’s a flavorful broth with other ingredients added, such as pretty much anything.

Bone broth in particular ( stock made with a base of bones) is actually really good for you! The collagen extracted from the marrow of a properly made stock is good for your skin, your hair, nails, joints.. The list goes on and on.

I saw a restaurant advertising their new bowls the other day and decided to take a crack at it myself. 

( links to beef and chicken stock recipes below ) 

I usually have chicken stock in the freezer, so I defrosted and went at it

I started by layering ( in a ball jar )

2 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup baby spinach, chopped
2 lemon slices ( I love me some acid)
1/4 cup kelp noodles ( don’t be afraid… I’ll tell you more in a second )
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms ( I’m not crazy about raw mushrooms, so I sautéed mine in a bit of coconut oil. It’s your bowl, do what you want!
Splash of shiracha sauce ( omit if you don’t like heat )

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Simply layer the ingredients in a ball jar.

Add hot stock and stir. You can feel your body getting healthier with every nourishing bite!

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Have fun with this… You can add peas, sprouts, noodles, beef, chicken, tofu… Whatever you want. If you put the broth in a separate jar, and close both with a lid, they are great for on the go.. Just heat broth and pour over!

They are also uber easy to prep a whole bunch at the beginning of the week!

Now.., about those kelp noodles.. Don’t be scared. A friend of mine ( hi Suzette! ) ordered these at a restaurant a few months back. Reluctantly, I tried them

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They actually have no flavor.. Just texture. Why add them you ask? Because a full cup of these are only 15 calories!

I contacted the restaurant to get the exact brand and found them on amazon. I’m trying to add the link but WordPress is being poopie… The brand I like is Sea Tangle.

While they are made of kelp, which is also healthy ( I take daily supplements). The outer part is stripped in these noodles, so the nutrition is not abundant. But if you are looking for a super low calorie ( free on ww) noodle, this is it.

If you just don’t want to go down this road ( although I do encourage you to try ) you could sub rice noodles, just prepare them first… You could added cooked pasta, rice… Whatever you want!

I haven’t made beef stock since culinary school, but I bought some bones today and will be making tomorrow .

I just finished my last prepped jar as I’m typing this, and I’m looking forward to trying a different spin on them this week… Red pepper, beef and onion, perhaps? Mushroom, beef with a splash of red wine for the beef burgundy flavor?

I’ll let you know what I chose.

If you try these, let me know what you think!

And if you want me to show you how to make chicken stock… I’m happy to share that as well!

Ciao, friends!

Basic beef stock recipe

Chicken stock recipe

Filed Under: Soup Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

smoked tofu tacos with chipotle lime sauce

March 30, 2014 2 Comments

Howdy, friends. How have you all been ? Miss me much?   I’m happy to report that I’m successfully recuperting from knee surgery. It’s been difficult having restrictions, but I’ve done everything that I was supposed to, and although I’m still in rehab ( and will be for awhile) I can do just about anything ( with restrictions)     but not ski   until the FALL!

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  And believe it or not, the day I got my brace off, guess who was diagnosed with a torn ACL and lateral miniscus?     Image     My sweet pup.   She he had her surgery on Friday and is home recuperating, just like her mama did  image     She’s such a little copycat!

I’ve been cooking a lot again.  Trying to cook healthy meals.

and I’ve been sharing them with my friends   and out of the blue, it hit me today , duh? Why am I not writing about all of this?

My mama taught me that it’s nice to share, and I should share more.

So here’s what I made today smoked tofu I didn’t have a recipe, I just had an idea   I already had had my grill set up for smoking a pork shoulder so I thought, why not use the extra space  for smoking something else?   image     I pressed the the water out of a block of tofu, then broke it up  in an oven safe dish and placed it on the grill. I “scrambled” the tofu about once every 20 minutes and after 1 1/2 hours, I had this !

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which I turned into this!

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I simply used a very low flame to toasted a corn tortilla

IMG_3822then I topped with a red cabbage slaw that I made using the homemade vegan mayo recipe that I found last week ( and Im overly impressed by this )

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Im a mayo snob, and I was so impressed by this that I will never buy mayo again.  Plus, since its vegan, it has no cholesterol, which makes it healthier for those who have to monitor that.

And the white sauce is non fat Greek yogurt with chili powder and cumin and lime juice mixed in

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If you think you don’t like tofu, you probably haven’t had it prepared properly.

This was AMAZING! and super healthy!

If you don’t have a smoker, you can easily soak some wood chips in water for an hour, then add the chips and a little bit of the water in a small foil packet and place on your grill ( heated to a low temp.. 250degrees max) and cover the lid on the grill and the smoke will circulate and create the fantastic smokey flavor.

whelp, friends… I have a certain someone that needs a little love…  but I’ll be back.  up next is a tasty casserole featuring this bad boy IMG_3829

ciao, bellas!

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Ethiopian spiced coconut-tofu

October 15, 2012 9 Comments

When I was a young girl, I used to pray nightly for the children in Ethiopia

Truth is…. I had no idea where Ethiopia was, nor why I prayed for them.. But somewhere along the line I heard that they needed help and so each and every night right before I’d fall asleep, I’d ask God to do so. ( I also prayed for the children in Cambodia and the hostages in Iran — I remember Easter morning watching the tv waiting for my grandparents to arrive ,watching some of the hostages being released… And crying thinking that prayers are sometimes answered)

Ok… I’ve never told anyone that story. And yet I just shared it with the world 🙂

I haven’t thought of Ethiopia in a very long time.. Then last week , I bought an ‘Ethiopian ‘ blend coffee..

And I’ve seen Ethiopian restaurants ( not that I’ve tried any..) must-change-this

And when I was in Denverat a yummy sandwich shop (ironically where I bumped into Scott with his co-workers) I saw an Ethiopian spice blend .. And despite the 10 dollar price tag.. I bought it.

I’m-so-glad-that-I-did

Everyone say hi to my blankie… I’m writing this 38,000 ft in the air 🙂

It is a mixture of
Fenugreek
Cardamom
Cloves
Paprika
Cinnamon
Cayenne pepper
Chili powder

Near as I can tell it was equal parts of everything except for them paprika and chili powder. Those packets had a little more than twice as much. (Maybe 2 teaspoons of everything and a tablespoon of the paprika and chili powder

I simply mixed it all together then stored it in a jar .

So while I was putting my laundry away yesterday ( for the first time in 2 months— like tell me you’ve never done that)

I got hungry . And I remembered that I wanted to try this. And I remembered that I had half a block of pressed tofu to use . And I walked away from the laundry. And into the kitchen

Which by the way is why my laundry never gets put away… I can’t stay out of the kitchen.. *le sigh*

And in less than 10 minutes I had the MOST delicious little lunch.

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Ethiopian spiced coconut tofu

1 tablespoon spice mix

1/2 block pressed tofu ( I use a tofu press. If you eat tofu ..it’s the best investment you can make.. You’ll pay for it in saved paper towel money in under a month;)

1 tablespoon coconut oil ( this stuff rocks! It should be on your shopping list)

1/4 red onion, chopped

About 1/3-1/2 cup light coconut milk ( I like trader joes the best)

1/4 bunch cilantro , rinsed and chopped ** optional — see note below

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Meanwhile cut tofu into cubes and toss it with spice mixture . Add to heated oil and let tofu crisp and get a light crust .. Turning occasionally . Add chopped onion and stir . Add 1/3 cup of coconut milk, and scrape up the bits from the pan

Once coconut milk is heated , stir in cilantro, transfer to serving dish and squeeze a wedge of lime on top.

You can thank me later …

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If you don’t eat tofu.. I’m sure this would be good with boneless chicken breast.. Just make sure your internal temp of the chicken ta-tas is 165 degrees before eating 🙂

** cilantro note… I’ve mentioned this before but I’m throwing it out there again.. Some folks don’t like cilantro .. They think it tastes like soap. And guess what? To them it DOES! It’s a chemical In Their bodies ( that is hereditary ) that makes cilantro taste like soap. ( or cat pee as a friend once told me, but I’m pretty sure she never tasted cat pee so I’m going with the soap 🙂

If you are one of these people.. Then I am sorry. Because cilantro is truly a wonderful herb.. But I ‘get’ it… Just sub out fresh parsley instead ( if you don’t like parsley, then I can’t help you today .. Check back tomorrow 🙂

And I just read the spice package and it was 7.99 not 9.99 ..

Don’t have those spices on hand? No worries.. I’ve got your back .. Did you know that in most health food stores you there is a section that you can buy herbs in bulk ??? It’s true! You can buy just a teaspoon of something by putting it in a Baggie with the code on the box:). It’s soo much cheaper than buying a whole bottle And you won’t end up with jars of unused spices..(which go bad fairly quickly. If you’ve had it for over a year.. There is dust mixed in.. Yuck. Unless of course you like dusty- soup )

Maybe I’ll try that some time..

Eh… Maybe not.

Honestly… as I end this post it has me thinking about how long it has been since I recited those particular prayers nightly.. life kind of happened and my prayers started to become more personal.. still are in fact .. when i think back to my innocence and how big my heart was despite how little I was.. it kind of makes me smile :).

and makes me want to shout out a silent prayer to the whole wide world 🙂

Gotta run… Snack time :).

(What us it about getting so excited for snack time on an airplane????)

Filed Under: Main dish, quick and easy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

tofu newbie

August 15, 2011 1 Comment

Yup. that’s me!  A dear friend of mine encouraged me to try tofu a few months back.  I’ll be honest…  I was scared.

Really, it doesn’t look all that appetizing.  Then again, many foods dont prior to preparing right?

right.

A few of you may know that I participated in a 21(plus) -day cleanse earlier this summer.  Without getting into too many details (other than it was the single best thing that I’d ever done for myself) the idea was that over a 3 week period of time, I eliminated foods from my diet until I was down to eating only raw foods, then I chose to also do the optional 7 day liquid/ juice part. After the 7 days I slowly added foods back in, giving my body 3 full days to adjust to each food.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because meat was the last thing that I added back in (only in extreme moderation and I’m seriously considering eliminating it permanently)

So I’ve been exploring other protein options. And Tofu just keeps popping up in so many recipes!

I’ve done quite a bit of reading about the different kinds and how to prepare it and I’ve found 2 excellent tutorials.. (forgive me for those friends of mine who follow these ladies’ blogs & have already seen these)

Emily\’s crispy tofu and  Mama Pea\’s broiled tofu

psst…….  Mama Pea just released a wonderful  COOKBOOK! last week.. I highly recommend it 😉

I just cooked up the crispy tofu to top my salad for lunch and it was a winner!

Once I sauteed it & put it on my salad I just drizzled it with a bit of balsamic vinegar & evoo.

Spot. On.

I see this appearing on  plate with many different flavor combinations in the future!

as for Mama’s broiled tofu recipe…..  that’s tomorrow night’s dinner already marinating 🙂

Onto other business.  This blog began when Scott & I decided to join a local organic CSA last year. Our farmers Dave and Sasha from Plato\’s Harvest Organic Farm were not able to run a CSA this summer.

No worries! we still visit them each Thursday at the Plymouth Farmer\’s Market. The veggies are just as delicious as they were last summer & I still look forward to getting my goodies and coming home to play with new ways to prepare and enjoy them!

My point is that I’m considering re-naming the blog.  I’m re-considering a lot these days….

anyone else realize how I ramble ?

If you haven’t tried tofu and want to…the crispy tofu is a great way to start…. I’m off to prepare dinner!

ciao!

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