Vermicelli in a mug!

So, aaron and I moved into our new apartment, and are trying to cook more. Here we made some weird, cold salad/hot salad/cold noodle layered thing in a mug, which turned out to be pretty tasty.
You'll need:

Cold Salad:
Arugala (washed)
1/4 cucumber (diced)
1 Roma tomato (diced)

Hot "Salad":
1/2 Orange Bell pepper (diced)
1/2 Yello Bell pepper (diced)
1-2 Portobello Mushroom cap (diced)
1 onion (finely chopped)
1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/3ish cup vegetable stock
tblspn veg oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 block medium firm tofu
1/2 cup snowpeas


Noodles
1/2 pack dry vermicelli noodles
2 cups fresh water
salt.

How to:
1. Put oil in pan. Throw in onions, then garlic. Get the water boiling and make sure to throw in plenty of salt to help it along, and season the noodles.

2. Throw the mushrooms and peppers in with onions/garlic. Put the vermicelli into the water. WATCH IT, vermicelli cooks really fast. Once it's done, drain it, and you can blast it with cold water and refridgerate if you want to serve it cold. Pour in the veggie stock and let it reduce.

3. Diced the raw cucumber and tomato and line two large mugs (or bowls) with arugala (or romaine lettuce is you're like aaron and don't like the leafy majesty of arugala). Toss inthe tofu and snow peas, and season with salt pepper and garlic powder. Again, tofu cooks quickly, as do snow peas,so keep your eye on them.

4. Layer the raw diced veg ontop of the lettuce, the vermicelli on top of the veg and the hot "salad" mixture on top of the noodles. EAT!

NOTE: We threw some nasty chicken in there, so the version we made wasn't technically vegan...I picked all the chicken outta mine though, hahah! And we were lame and lazy and drizzled on some presidents choice peanut satay sauce. Could have easily made it through

cook book

made a cook book for some family as a christmas gift last year, thought i'd finally upload it.

chicken sandwich

after i handed in my layout assignment, we celebrated by buying chicken and goat's cheese. so i made sandwiches!


chicken, brie, and pear sandwiches with balsamic onions

ingredients:
1 onion, sliced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 ciabatta buns, halved
1-2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cooked and sliced
1 pear, thinly sliced
brie cheese, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped


cook chicken breast by frying it in a pan or grilling it. then slice the onion and fry it in butter or oil on a frying pan. when onions are translucent add balsamic vinegar.
arrange garlic, chicken, pears, onions, and cheese on sandwich. grill on a panini grill or toast in a toaster oven until cheese melts. serve with salad:

apple grape salad with balsamic onions:

in the previous post i had a recipe for apple and grape salad. it was delicious so i made some additions:
1-2 cups of baby spinach/mixed greens
1 apple, thinly sliced don't remove the skin its good for you!
1 cup grapes, stems removed and sliced in half
1/2 cup balsamic onions from above sandwich.
1/4 cup dried cranberries

for the dressing:
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dijon/spicy mustard

end of the school year

second year is done! woo! crazy happy and sad all at the same time.
i've been trying to get rid of all the food in my cupboard so i havent made anything great this past week. right now im eating rice with peanut butter and leftover hummus mmm. it got pretty busy in the last few weeks but here are some simple recipes i've made!
salads are easy to make quickly and healthy!

grape apple salad:

ingredients:

1-2 cups of baby spinach/mixed greens
1 apple, chopped into cubes. don't remove the skin its good for you!
1 cup grapes, stems removed and sliced in half

for the dressing:
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dijon/spicy mustard

delicious! the honey makes it nice and sweet!



tahini-chickpea salad

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of chickpeas, cooked (you can use canned if you must..)
handful of baby spinach/mixed greens

dressing:
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

i cant really remember what else i put in here, if anything. try it with mustard or garlic? whatever, it will be delicious anyway!


spring rolls with hot and sour sauce served with quinoa salad with peppers and cheese

i got some spring rolls from an asian grocery store. the woman made them fresh there and they were SO good. vegetarian too! i just cooked them in the oven until they were done.

for the hot and sour sauce:
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp lime juice
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp chili flakes
just mix those together, it makes a great dipping sauce!

for the salad:
1 cup quinoa, cooked (you boil it)
2 cups baby spinach/mixed greens
1/4 red pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cheese, cubed (i used cheddar but if you had like, goats cheese or feta it would rule)

and the salad dressing:
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
black pepper, to taste
maybe 1-2 tbsp of hot mustard? i forget.

it was yummy :)

home made pasta sauce!

a little more complex but so worth it!

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ½ onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 3-5 tomatoes, diced
• ½ cup diced red/orange peppers
• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 2/3 cup water or stock
• 1 box of whole wheat spaghetti or other pasta (i had egg noodles)
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp chili flakes

1. Heat oil in frying pan, fry up the onions and carrots
2. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms and stock. Simmer for 10mins, stirring occasionally. Add Italian seasoning, oregano, and chili flakes and stir in.
3. Cook pasta according to instructions on box
4. Pour the tomato mix into a blender and puree.
5. Put sauce back into the pan and stir in the chicken. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 10mins until chicken is cooked.
6. Serve over pasta. Garnish with grated cheese and fresh basil.

pumpkin loaf

banana pumpkin loaf

* 2 ripe bananas, mashed
* 2 eggs
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin puree
* 1/2 cup honey
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, pumpkin, honey and sugar. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, stir into the banana mixture until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Packed Lunch!

Shrimp and Tofu miso Stirfry I made for lunch one afternoon. Also has TVP (textured vegetable protein, it's like vegan ground beef), so tons of protein in this.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mini shrimp
1/4 cup firm tofu
1/4 cup TVP
1 cup mixed veggies (snow peas, carrots, water chestnuts, broccoli, onions)
1/2 cup sweet potato


Sauce:
1 tbspn Miso
2 tbspn Organic Balsamic vinegar
2 tbspn Soy Sauce
1/4 cup tomatoes
1/2 tbspn soy bean oil
1 1/2 tbspn Lime juice
Big Squirt of Srirachi sauce

Steps:
1. Put veggies and a few drops of soy oil in a skillet.
2. Throw in tomatoes, TVP and shrimp.
3 Throw in potatoes, the rest of the sauce ingredients and finally the tofu.

Garnish with:
Hot Chili Seeds
Chives

Good on it's own, on noodles, rice, quinoa, couscous or a salad (as pictured)

Quinoa and Grilled Tofu Salad

Just a dinner i made for myself, which was very delicious.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Organic Red and White Heirloom Quinoa
1 cup Organic Baby Herb Greens mix
1/4 cup firm tofu
1 Roma tomato
1/4 English cucumber
2 tbspns jalapeno hummus
1/2 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
1 tbspn Organic balsamic vinegar

Steps:
1. Boil quinoa in 3/4 water for 15 minutes covered.
2. Grill tofu for 7-10 minutes ( I used my george foreman grill)
3. Chop cucumber and tomato, wash baby herbs.
4. Assemble all ingredients, dress with oil and vinegar, and top with hummus.

Yummy, light and vegan! :)