recipe

Favorite Meal

/ Brienna / 2 Comments

I don’t know that I have one favorite meal.

Some might say it’s nachos, which I am known to order any time they are present on the menu.

When I cook, it’s usually tofu, salad, soup, or a smoothie.

Here are some recent and long-time favorites.

Thai Carrot and Sweet Potato soup (shown in featured image)

Plant-Based Nachos

Spicy Tofu Salad

Green Smoothie (kale, grapes, orange, banana, coconut milk, flax seeds, cayenne pepper)

African Peanut Soup

And lastly, how to make a salad that’s not boring.

You can find more recipes I’ve shared here.

Today’s Bloganuary Prompt: What’s your favorite meal to cook and/or eat?

Lemon Dill Hummus

/ Brienna / Leave a comment

For my book club this past weekend, I made Lemon Dill Hummus.

I used to dislike dill. Or maybe I never really ate dill except for dill pickles, which I hate, so I thought I also hated dill the herb.

Lately, it turns out I really love it. I love tzatziki (although I make mine without mint), and I love dill potato salad (hold the mayo).

Rather than look up a recipe, I mentally adapted my typical hummus recipe. It turned out pretty good, although very lemon-forward.

Lemon Dill Hummus

Ingredients

  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1/4 c olive oil (can sub aquafaba–the liquid from the canned chickepeas–if you’d prefer no oil)
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 1/2 c fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (you can use fresh garlic, but it often overpowers the hummus)
  • 1/2 c dill, split in half
  • dash of salt

Directions

  1. Remove the stems from dill and chop 1/4 c of dill. Put aside.
  2. Mix everything else in a high-powered blender or a food processor until smooth. I generally add the olive oil slowly so that I can get just the right consistency (by adding more or less than the amount in the recipe).
  3. Stir in the remaining dill by hand, transfer to serving dish, and garnish with any remaining dill.

I served this hummus with plain pita chips, and garlic-parmesan pretzel crisps. It would also be good with cucumber slices or carrots.

As I mentioned, it came out very lemony. If I were making it again, I might switch it to 1/3 c each of olive oil and lemon juice, and then use olive oil or aquafaba to thin it to your desired consistency.

Originally, I had planned to also serve tzatziki dip as well. However, due to time constraints, I didn’t get to it. I will be making it later this week along with some tofu, and I’ll try to share some photos and a recipe when I do.

Plant-based nachos

/ Brienna / 2 Comments

I ❤️ nachos and I order them any chance I get.

However, I hate the fact that often they aren’t vegetarian due to the refried beans, and the chips are always soggy or bare.

I decided to make my own plant-based nachos and see how they stack up to the competition.

It turns out, if you put the chips on the side, this solves the problem having soggy and bare chips! A nacho purist might argue against this, but I feel this is 100% needed improvement.

I’m pretty happy with how these came out, and would definitely make again.

Plant-based nachos recipe

Ingredients

  • Vegetarian refried black beans (Amy’s)
  • Fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • Plant-based cheese (Chao Mexican blend)
  • Avocado
  • Garlic – minced
  • Lime juice
  • Cilantro – chopped
  • Plant-based sour cream (Sprouts)
  • Hot sauce (Today I used Orange Sauce from La Vic’s)
  • Tortilla chips

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375°

Layer in an oven-safe dish: refried beans, tomatoes, and then cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.

While that’s baking, combine avocado, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro. Add salt if you like! I typically use 1 avocado, 1 teaspoon of lime juice, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and a pinch of cilantro. Adjust lime juice depending on how ripe the avocado is.

When the cheese is melted, remove from oven, top with avocado mixture, sour cream, hot sauce, and additional cilantro.

Serve with chips on the side.

Day 60 – Spicy Tofu Salad

/ Brienna / Leave a comment

This “salad” is a favorite of mine from Zanotto’s. I love it because it’s a great grab and go lunch, and it’s packed with protein, and super tasty with a nice mix of spicy, sweet, and tangy.

This is my attempt to recreate it, ymmv.

Ingredients —

  • extra firm or firm tofu
  • oil for cooking tofu (I prefer avocado oil for high heat cooking)
  • toppings
    • peanuts
    • green onions, chopped
    • garlic, minced
  • marinade/sauce
    • soy sauce
    • maple syrup
    • hot chili oil
    • rice vinegar

Directions —

  1. Press your tofu!
  2. While the tofu is pressing, chop your green onions and mince your garlic. For 8-10oz of tofu, I used 2-3 green onions and about 3 cloves of garlic.
  3. Cut tofu into bite size pieces, I like mine small, but you can do bigger, it’s your choice.
  4. Pan fry the tofu with a touch of oil until brown (on all sides as much as possible)
  5. Add tofu and toppings to bowl/container. You may have noticed by now that there’s no quantities listed next to the ingredients. This is a totally customizable recipe, so I’ve left it very open. Add a few peanuts or a lot. I like peanuts, and I put about a ratio of 3:1 (tofu:peanuts).
  6. Make the marinade. If you’re nervous, make it in a separate bowl. If you’re adventurous, put it directly in with the tofu. You’ll want enough total volume to coat with some left over.

Here are some tips on how I make the marinade. I start with the soy sauce, this is my primary ingredient. Then a splash of maple syrup for sweetness. Hot chili oil — add to your tolerance. I don’t like it to overpower the other flavors, so I used just a dash or two. For the rice vinegar, again, just a dash or two. I add very small amounts of everything and then add more to adjust the spicy, sweetness, tangy as desired.

Other tips — I completely forgot about lime juice, but usually I use lime juice and not rice vinegar. You can also add fresh diced or sliced chili peppers, like jalapeño or serrano peppers. For sweetness, if you don’t like maple syrup, you can use brown sugar or agave. I actually think brown sugar works best flavor-wise but maple syrup is easier. Other options to add would include ginger (grated) and rice noodles.

I usually eat this as-is or chilled, but you can throw it on top of rice, noodles, or on some greens to make an actual salad.