Honey sesame glazed tofu

I've been eating a lot of tofu lately. It's tasty, quick to cook, and filling. As much as I love tofu steaks, I need to change it up sometimes.

Instead of making steaks, I fried tofu triangles in a bit of grapeseed oil until they were golden brown. Then I added a sesame honey glaze to the pan and allowed it to cook down until it was mostly gone and the tofu triangles were full of flavor.

Served with leftover roasted brussels sprouts and shallots and a baked potato, I had a balanced meal in under 20 minutes.

Sesame honey glaze

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1.5 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp honey

Whisk all ingredients together. Garnish tofu with toasted sesame seeds.

Tofu steaks with mango salsa

I like tofu a lot but always end up making stir fry with it. Wanting to spice things up, I turned to Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and discovered baked tofu. Fabulous! Baking the tofu changes its texture so that it becomes wonderfully chewy and meaty; delicious eaten hot or cold. You can vary the seasoning depending on the dish you are creating.

For this dish, I drained a block of extra firm tofu with some heavy books for 20 minutes. I sliced the block into thirds to create the "steaks." I seasoned the tofu with cumin, chili powder, a bit of cayenne pepper, salt and a squeeze of lime juice then baked the steaks in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. I topped these off with some mango salsa I had made the previous day. I love the sweetness fruit salsas add to savory dishes.

draining the tofu

I've been on a baked tofu kick ever since I made this dish. The baked slabs also make great sandwich filling, can be cubed and added to salads (or stir frys, of course), or make a great snack on their own. I eat meatless meals a lot, mostly because I love the alternatives (vegetables, legumes, grains, pasta). What I don't care for are fake meat products that try to trick you into thinking you're eating meat. No thanks. I like to know what I'm eating and don't need a eat a long list of chemicals and manufactured proteins disguised as ground meat. Tofu steaks, however, are great; no trickery -- just a healthy, satisfying, hearty meal.

Quick and easy salads for Memorial Day picnics

A long weekend and the weather is beautiful! I am off to MD/PA to visit some friends and a new baby. Memorial Day weekend is prime time for picnics, drinks, friends, family, and fun. As I've mentioned, I don't have much BBQ advice for you, but I can help with creating some fresh and tasty salads. BYO drinks, friends, family, and fun.

Both the salads I've shared with you below are super easy, quick to throw together, and flexible. You can use whatever veggies, nuts, or cheeses you have on hand. I've noted a few different options, but I urge you to be creative and have fun. Happy picnicking!

Couscous salad

1 cup couscous (I used whole wheat, it's just a bit heartier)
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
4-6 radishes, thinly sliced (or any combination of vegetables that you have)
~2 cups grape tomatoes, chopped in half
1 English cucumber, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1.5 cups chickpeas (or black beans, or cannellini beans)
1/2 cup toasted pistachios (or pine nuts)
1/2 log goat cheese, crumbled by hand (or feta cheese)
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

To make couscous, add water and 1 tbsp olive oil to a small saucepan and heat to boiling. Take off heat, stir in couscous and cover right away. Allow couscous to steam for 5-10 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork, and transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, chop the vegetables and prepare the other ingredients. Add the vegetables, herbs, chickpeas and pistachios to the bowl and stir to incorporate with the couscous. Sprinkle goat cheese on top, and dress the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Gently toss salad again. You can store the salad in the refrigerator, but it's best served at room temperature.

Spinach salad with strawberries, grapes, and bleu cheese


3-4 cups baby spinach, washed and picked over (or mixed greens, or baby arugula)
~2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
~1 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half
~1/4 cup bleu cheese, crumbled by hand (or feta, or goat cheese, or Parmesan)
1/2 cup toasted pistachios (or walnuts, or pecans)
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Add spinach and fruit to a large bowl and toss. Sprinkle bleu cheese and pistachios over vegetables. Dress the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss gently and serve immediately (note: you can make this salad ahead of time, just wait to dress the salad right before serving).

Bleu cheese omelette

This omelette started out as an exercise in cleaning out the refrigerator and ended up a super delicious breakfast. I love it when that happens! I scrambled some eggs, added a bit of milk and a threw in a handful of chopped chives. I poured the egg mixture into a hot, buttered pan, cooked the eggs until almost set, and then threw in some crumbled bleu cheese. I folded the omelette and dropped it on a plate with some blood orange slices and bunch of red grapes. The blue cheese made for a creamy, flavorful, and satisfying omelette. This is a great way to use up the last bits of a hunk of bleu cheese.

Roasted beet and blood orange salad

I'm tired of winter; it just keeps dragging on and on. I'm tired of cold, drab days, heavy coats and snow boots. I'm sick of icy sidewalks and the dirty piles of snow that refuse to melt. I'm even getting a little tired of heavy, meaty comfort foods that seem to fill up winter menus. I long for warmth and sunshine. I long to ride my bike. Most of all, I long for the array of colorful and tender fruits and vegetables that come with spring.

To help fight my winter blues, I've been eating this salad. It includes some of the most colorful, flavorful, and healthy winter ingredients: beets and blood oranges. Simple to make, refreshing and satisfying, this salad is gives me hope that winter is almost over.

You can find the recipe here, by way of 101 Cookbooks.

Mark Bittman saved my cabbage

I made this dish a while ago, but it was so tasty and easy, I must tell you about it. At the time, I had half a head of both red and green cabbage leftover from making cole slaw. I don't like to waste food and try my best not to let things rot in the back of the refrigerator. Usually I can think of a dish or find a recipe suited to the leftovers I have on hand. But these cabbages were tormenting me. No creative ideas sprang to mind, and all the recipes I found involved buying even more ingredients, which I did not want to do. Just as I was about to throw in the towel and make another batch of cole slaw, Mark Bittman spoke to me. Yup, Mr. Knows-How-to-Cook-Everything-Simply-Bittman saved the day. There he was, on PBS "taking on" an American chef, making spaghetti with cabbage. Brilliant! This was all I needed to use up my own cabbage.

I sauteed some chopped onions and garlic, then added the shredded cabbage, both red and green (I think Bittman added anchovies and used only one kind of cabbage in his version, I don't exactly remember). I cooked the cabbage down, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a pinch of hot pepper flakes. Meanwhile, I cooked up some spaghetti, very al dente. I added the cooked pasta to the cabbage and threw in some starchy pasta water to coat the spaghetti, then cooked until the pasta was ready. I served it with some freshly ground black pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

Pineapple salad

Some very nice people gave me a subscription to Gourmet Magazine for Christmas and I've been awaiting its arrival. I was so excited when I finally got my first edition. Reading through, I marked many recipes I want to try; this was the first and it didn't disappoint.

I love salads that mix in fruit; I love the sweetness and tartness that fruit adds. This salad was a great mixture of taste and texture - sweet pineapple, creamy avocado, crunchy jicama, spotted with little bursts of flavor from the cilantro.

This was quite a lot of salad for 2 people, so I ate it again the next night. This time I added a sprinkling of crumbled feta and some freshly ground pepper -- it was even more amazing! Sweet, savory, light, crunchy, and delicious!


Mexican Pineapple Salad
adapted from Gourmet Magazine February 2009

1 (3lb) pineapple, peeled and diced
1/2 lb jicama, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch peices
1 avocado, diced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (I actually only used half the onion, it was plenty)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp olive oil (I doubled this)
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar (I used 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar)

Toss ingredients together and season with salt and pepper.

Note: I suggest you make this salad one day in advance and store in the refrigerator. To serve, bring the salad to room temperature and sprinkle with crumbled feta and add some freshly ground pepper to taste.

Black bean chili with butternut squash and swiss chard

Looking for a hearty, healthy, tasty vegetarian meal? This is it. I served this chili at a dinner party and it was a hit. Easy to make, too. I topped off the bowls with a dollop of plain yogurt, diced red onion, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges for squeezing.

Black bean chili with butternut squash and swiss chard

(adapted from Bon Appétit, 2006)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
• 2 1/2 (or more) cups vegetable broth
• 1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
• 3 cups (packed) coarsely chopped Swiss chard leaves (from 1 small bunch) - I chopped up the stems and added those to the chili, too
  

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until tender and golden, about 9 minutes. Add squash; stir 2 minutes. Stir in chili powder and cumin. Stir in beans, broth, and tomatoes with juices; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until squash is tender, about 15 minutes*. Stir in chard; simmer until chard is tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*You can do these steps ahead of time or the day before. When ready to serve, bring the chili back up to a simmer and add the swiss chard.

Tofu, mushroom and swiss chard over wild rice

Hmm..... random weekday night, I'm hungry, it's late - what should I eat? Wild rice? Okay, I'll cook that with some veggie broth for added flavor. Fry up tofu, set it aside. In the same pan, saute chopped onions and garlic. Add some shiitakes, cook 'em up. Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Add the tofu back to the pan. Add swiss chard, cook until just wilted. Season again. Throw the veggies over the rice. Want some more protein? Add some poached eggs. Tasty, easy, and (if you don't stop to take a bunch of pictures) pretty quick too.