Whip it up Wednesday: Tofu Veggie Stir Fry

Tags

cooking, food, recipe, skillet recipes, tofu, vegetarian

Quick, easy, and healthy meals are becoming essential for me as the wedding gets closer. My weekends are chock-full of meetings, and my evenings are packed with planning. I’ve always been strict with my workouts, but even more so now that “you must fit in that dress” constantly hangs around in the back of my mind.

So in an effort to not overly stress or exert myself, my meal choices have remained simple, and I’ve been doing a lot of repeats from the blog.

A stir fry is a meal that both tastes great and is easy to whip up. Plus, this combo of tofu and veggies allows me to serve myself a heaping bowl of the stuff without any guilt!

Tofu Veggie Stir Fry
Serves 4
Prep and Cook: 40 minutes
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 14 oz extra firm tofu, drained, patted dry, and cubed
• 1 (12 oz) pkg vegetable medley (such as Green Giant)
• 4 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Arrange the tofu on a single layer, mist the tops with cooking spray, and bake for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through.
2. Meanwhile, cook the onion and mushrooms in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are beginning to give off their liquid.
3. Cook the vegetables according to package directions and place into the skillet with the onions and mushrooms.
4. Add the tofu, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat and allow sauce to thicken for 2-3 minutes. Serve over brown rice, couscous, or simply by itself.

My Two Cents: I’m making this again this week, and probably next, too! Does that show you how much I loved this dish?

Whip it up Wednesday: Black Bean and Quinoa Burritos

Tags

black beans, burrito, cooking, easy, food, mexican, quick meals, recipe, recipes, vegan, vegetarian, whip it up wednesday

When I was in college, eating a burrito meant going to Moe’s, telling them to stuff as much pork and refried beans as possible into one giant tortilla, topping it with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole, asking for a side of tortilla chips, and then shoving it into my face.

Don’t get me wrong, Moe’s makes a mean burrito, but I’m afraid the days of 1,000+ calorie meals are over for me (especially now that there’s this thing called a wedding dress that I kind of need to fit into this July).

But I often discover recipes that are not only healthy — they actually taste better than the meal it’s modified from.

It’s probably because my palate can’t handle too much salt or fat anymore.

My taste buds usually yearn for fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains.

My arteries will thank me later.

These mondo healthy burritos are made with the great grain quinoa, fibrous (non-refried) black beans, sweet corn, and just a little dollop of salsa — all wrapped in whole-wheat tortillas. And I promise, you won’t leave the table hungry.

Black Bean and Quinoa Burritos (Slightly Adapted from The Six O’Clock Scramble)
Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 30 minutes
>> Click here for printable recipe 

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 ½ cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 cans (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• juice from 1/2 a lime
• 8 large whole wheat tortillas
• your favorite salsa for serving

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. While onion and garlic are cooking, defrost the corn in the microwave for 2 minutes and rinse the quinoa.
2. Add quinoa, broth, and cumin to saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover it, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Stir corn, beans, cilantro, and lime juice into the saucepan and simmer until heated through.
4. Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 20 seconds on high. Fill the tortillas with the black bean filling. Top with salsa and any other toppings you desire. Wrap the tortillas tightly and serve.

 

My Two Cents: I get giddy when I find vegetarian/vegan recipes that are full of flavor and make you full for hours.

You should, too.

If you don’t cook quinoa a lot, you might be wondering, “Do I really need to rinse it?” The answer to that is yes and no. You don’t have to, simply because it won’t kill you. But if you do rinse quinoa you will notice that the water doesn’t run clear — that means it’s usually a bit gritty and dirty. It’ll taste better, too. But be careful when picking your strainer; it must be super fine. You don’t want to rinse all your quinoa down the drain

Oh yeah, and this meal is very quick to make and mighty cheap.

Enjoy!

Whip it up Wednesday: Cranberry Couscous

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cooking, cranberries, food, quick meals, recipe, vegetarian, whip it up wednesday

On the days I open up my fridge and see no milk, no juice, no bread, no cheese, no fruits, and no greens, I do two things:

• Sigh.
• And then make some plain pasta and/or order some food.

But I was determined to make something more interesting this time around, and just because there aren’t a lot of ingredients in the fridge doesn’t mean I can’t whip something up from the cupboards.

So ladies and gents, I surveyed the ingredients I did have and ended up making a remarkably delicious dish.

And fast.

Cranberry Couscous (Adapted slightly from The New Vegetarian Epicure)
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp butter
• 3 3/4 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2 cups plain couscous

Directions:

1. Slice onion into thin strips. Heat olive oil and butter in a medium/large pot over medium-high heat and saute until soft and lightly browned.
2. Add broth and cranberries to the pot and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and add the couscous. Cover the pan and leave it to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, leave covered, and let sit for 2-3 more minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve immediately.

My Two Cents: This is a great side dish, but also works well for the main. Serve with steamed broccoli, edamame, or spinach.

For a non-vegetarian option, mix in cubed browned chicken to the couscous. I think I’ll do that next time to make it a bit more filling.

Original recipe called for 1/2 cup of dried cranberries, but that wasn’t enough. Plus, I love dried cranberries, so the more the merrier.

Not bad for having next to nothing in my fridge, eh?

Whip it up Wednesday: Chickpea-Tahini Patties

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chickpeas, cooking, food, quick meals, recipe, recipes, tahini, vegetarian, whip it up wednesday

I’ve tried many recipes for bean burgers and patties. I like some, I think some are OK, and I hate some. (One time I made chickpea burgers that were so dry that they crumbled when I tried to scrape them off the pan…)

And for a while I’ve laid low on the bean burgers, but I think my subconscious has been telling me to do something amazing with chickpeas, because I bought 3 cans of chickpeas in the past week as well as a can of tahini. And these ingredients were not on my shopping list.

So I looked up recipes for chickpea tahini burgers, and after examining several of them, I settled on this one from FatFree Vegan Kitchen. It has tons of spices in it as well as a few cloves of garlic, so I knew it would be flavorful. Plus, the tahini would give it a subtle hummus undertone as well as provide the moisture many of my chickpea burgers have lacked in the past.

And the recipe was spot on. I’m in love with these patties!

Chickpea-Tahini Patties (Adapted slightly from FatFree Vegan Kitchen)
Prep: 10 mins Cook: 20 mins 

>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley (or 1 tbsp dried)
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• a few shakes of salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• buns or pita pockets for serving (optional — I served them on a bed of lettuce and tomato)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until thick and pasty. Alternatively, you can mash them by hand if you don’t have a food processor, but the food processor is key here — it’s easier, and it gives the chickpeas a more even consistency.
3. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, tahini, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder to the food processor. Pulse until well combined, then add the breadcrumbs to the food processor. Pulse again until the mixture is smooth.
4. Test the batter’s stickiness by pressing some between your finger and your thumb. If it holds together without crumbling, you’re good to make them into patties. If it doesn’t hold together, add one tablespoon of water at a time to the food processor and process until the mixture holds together well.
5. Mold the chickpea mixture into 4-6 patties (depending on how big you want them), and place them on the greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown on the bottom.
6. Serve on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes with mayo, or serve as a burger with your favorite toppings.

My Two Cents: Like I said, I was thrilled with how these came out — as bean burgers and patties are usually a hit or a miss.

Hit

And this is a great option if you’re trying to go meatless a few days a week. Chickpeas are surprisingly filling. I brought these to work for lunch the next day. Usually I bring a sandwich and am looking for a snack two hours later, but these held me over until almost dinnertime.

Enjoy!

Tofu, Spinach, and Goat Cheese over Pasta

Tags

cooking, food, goat cheese, recipe, recipes, tofu, vegetarian

Let me make yet another confession about my experiences with food.

I’ve never cooked tofu before this meal.

When I was younger tofu weirded me out. It was just this icky, slimy, white-ish sponge, that was food? To me, it was something only vegetarians ate, and if you were a meat eater, fah-get-it.

But then I got over my pure disgust with the food and actually ate tofu. And I fell in love with it. It’s healthy. It marries well with any flavor. If cooked right, it’s got a slight crunch on the outside, and since it is so spongy — a burst of flavor when you bite into it.

That being said, I’ve mostly had tofu in stir fries in Asian dishes, and I never even bothered to try and prepare the white mass by myself. I didn’t grow up with it in my repertoire of recipes, and I guess you could say I was a bit timid to dice it up into cubes and throw it in a stir fry — because I was afraid it wouldn’t come out the right way.

But at 8:30 in the morning, while shopping in peace (for once) at Trader Joe’s last Sunday, I came across the packages of tofu. Without hesitation — like some strange force from within was pushing out my hand — I grabbed a package and threw it into my cart, not knowing what I would even do with it.

But I found something (of course), and of course it involved goat cheese. It was elementary enough for a novice tofu preparer like me to make it, and it turned out simply wonderful.

The original recipe made this mixture a tofu taco mixture, but since I didn’t have any tortilla wraps, I decided to add a bit more salsa and turn this into a topping for your favorite pasta. Dolloped with goat cheese, you’ve got a great meal in front of you.

Tofu, Spinach, and Goat Cheese over Pasta (Adapted from Monica Nelson Fitness)
>> Click here for printable recipe << 

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 (4 oz) can chile peppers
• 1 (14 or 19 oz) pkg firm tofu, drained, patted dry, and crumbled
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 (10 oz) pkg frozen corn, thawed
• 1 (10 oz) pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 cup of your favorite salsa, plus more for topping
• 3 oz goat cheese
• 1 box rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions

Directions:

 

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu, chili powder, and a few dashes of salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 4-5 minutes. Add the chile peppers and cook for another 2 minutes.
2. Add the corn and cook, tossing until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and a few more shakes of salt and pepper and toss. Then add the salsa and stir until heated through, about 1 minute.
3. Place the rotini in a bowl or on a plate and top with the tofu mixture. Add additional salsa and crumble the goat cheese on top of each serving.

My Two Cents: Don’t fear tofu. Since this recipe called the tofu to be crumbled, it sort of turned it into a form of vegetarian ground meat — hence making it an ideal topper for pasta.

I think these would be equally wonderful in tortillas — so if you have them on hand, do it up.

Hopefully this is the beginning of many more tofu recipes to come….

Enjoy!

Roasted Veggie Pizza

Tags

cooking, cooking light, food, pizza, recipe, recipes, roasted vegetables, vegetables, vegetarian

Big fan of homemade pizza over here.

1. You know exactly what you’re putting into the pizza (whole wheat dough, fresh veggies, no oil), so it’s 10x healthier already.
2. Since it’s healthier, you can eat 4 slices of it and not feel guilty or bloated.
3. You get to play with the dough.
4. You get to use your new pizza stone that you got for Christmas.

So let’s get to it.

Roasted Veggie Pizza (Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

• 1 package refrigerated whole wheat pizza dough
• 2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1 cup sliced zucchini (1 small)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, cut into thin slices
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp yellow cornmeal
• 1/3 cup pizza or tomato sauce
• 1 cup cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup light ricotta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
2. Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand for 30 minutes. (Go do a workout in the meantime.)
3. Combine mushrooms, zucchini, black pepper, yellow pepper, and onion in a large bowl. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil. Arrange on a pan lined with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, spray the pizza stone (or a baking sheet if you don’t have a pizza stone) with a light layer of cooking spray. Then sprinkle it with the cornmeal. (You can also add some extra cornmeal into the dough, which I like to do as well). Shape the dough to the size of the pizza stone. You may need to use a rolling pin to get it even.
5. Spread the pizza/tomato sauce onto the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the edges for the crust. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella/cheddar cheese on top of the sauce. Top with roasted veggies. Top with the remaining cheese and then dollop the ricotta evenly spaced out on top.
6. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the crust is golden.

My Two Cents: Pizza is pretty versatile, so you pretty much can’t go wrong with it.

Roasting the veggies before putting them on the pizza made a huge difference in this recipe. I used to make up pizza recipes on my own and just throw raw onions and mushrooms onto the pizza, and they would….come out raw in the end. Roasting mellows them out and brings out their flavors. It’s worth it.

As for a variation, um, goat cheese would be fine and dandy instead of ricotta.

Enjoy! This is the perfect Friday night meal to enjoy with a nice cold beer