“Fish” Tacos

I love the tanginess of the lemon and cilantro in these tofu “fish” tacos.

Tacos, ready to go!

Condiments

Ingredients:
Tacos:
1 package firm tofu, cut into cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
8 corn tortillas

Garnish:
Shredded white cabbage
Hot sauce
Vegan sour cream
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced green onion
Chopped cilantro leaves

Mix olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno and cilantro. Marinate tofu in this mixture at least 15 minutes up to 4 hours (the longer it marinates the more flavor it has). Preheat grill to medium-high heat and place foil on top. Place tofu on foil and cook for 20 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for 20 seconds. Use 2 corn tortillas per taco. Add tofu to tortilla and use any or all garnishes.

Spent Grain Pizza

My husband and I occasionally brew beer and when we do we have tons of grains leftover (we’re talking about 15 lbs worth!) There’s no way I could use it all, but I did find a great recipe to use some of those grains to make pizza dough.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. dry bread yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1 cup spent grains
1/2 cup water
3 cups additional flour
olive oil for bowl
flour to sprinkle bread board

Proof yeast by mixing with 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar. Let sit 5-10 minutes–a nice layer of foam should prove that the yeast is alive and well. In large mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, sugar, and salt. Blend in yeast mixture. Stir in 1 cup flour until well blended. Set aside while you prepare the grains. Add 1 cup spent grains (drained well, but still wet) and 1/2 cup water to bowl of food processor. Process until you have a semi smooth mixture. It doesn’t ever get really smooth, but you don’t want it too chunky either. Add grain mixture to yeast slurry and mix together well. Add remaining 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well with each addition. I do this by hand with a wooden spoon. It goes quickly, but you could do it in a mixer with a dough hook if you wanted. The last cup of flour will make the dough seem pretty stiff if you are mixing by hand, but it’s ok! Don’t worry. It’s still a bit sticky, but will clean the side of the bowl. I just use my hands at the end and knead it together right in the bowl. When you have a rough lump of dough together and the sides of the bowl are clean, push the dough ball to one side and add a bit of olive oil to the bottom of the bowl. Push the dough into the oil and flip it over, smoothing the oil over the top of the dough. Reshape the dough into an even round. Cover lightly and place in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
When ready to use, push dough down, deflating it. Bring sides in to center and flip dough over. Put dough out onto floured board and pat out evenly. Cut dough into equal sized pieces for each pizza you will make. If making all pizzas, you should have 8 equal sized pieces of dough. Shape each piece into an evenly round ball and place on a cookie sheet. Cover lightly and let sit 20-30 minutes. When ready to bake, take each little round of dough and pat it out on the floured board into an evenly round shape. You can use a rolling pin if you want to speed the process up a bit. I like them about 9″ around for a thin crust pizza. Obviously, a thicker pizza would need to be pushed or rolled out to a smaller round.

For toppings I used marinara, crimini mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. It was delicious!!

Easy Vegan Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is great for salads and dipping vegetables. Store bought ranch dressing and dips are loaded with fats and preservatives and are definitely not vegan. Here’s a great recipe that’s super quick and easy to whip up!

Ingredients:

vegan mayo (I use vegenaise)

italian spices

vegan milk (soy, almond, rice, etc)

salt and pepper, to taste

 

Start off with adding some mayo into a bowl (it will be the main base of the dressing). Add some milk, how much you use depends on how thick you want your ranch. If you want it like a dip, just add a little bit but if you want it for a dressing on salads add more. Use a fork to blend the mayo and milk. Add more milk or mayo to get desired consistency.  Then go crazy with spices. I use the Italian grinders you can find which have rosemary, oregano and basil. You can also use fresh herbs or whichever dry herbs you enjoy the most. The fresh herbs won’t keep as long so keep that in mind. Add salt and pepper to taste and you’re done!

 

This dip would also be a good dip for the fried okra recipe that I just posted!

Fried Okra

Okra is in season! I love okra and have been getting a lot in my csa boxes. This was the first recipe I made because it’s one of my favorites and definitely a classic!

Ingredients:

okra, cut into 1 inch slices
corn meal
egg whites
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Put egg whites in one bowl and corn meal in another. Add salt and pepper to corn meal. Pour about 1 inch worth of oil in a pot (I actually used a saucepan) and put on high heat. Meanwhile put a handful of okra in egg whites and mix to coat. When the oil is hot enough transfer the okra to the cornmeal and then into the oil. Fry stirring occasionally to brown the entire okra. Once they are completely browned transfer to a plate covered with a napkin. Repeat the eggwhite, cornmeal and frying process until all your okra is cooked. Serve with ranch or in this case buttermilk dressing.

Bento 48

Chickpea salad with avocado and a babybel cheese. I had the chickpea salad and avocado on whole grain crackers.

Homemade Applesauce

I used my juicer attachment for my blender to make some apple juice with Jonathan apples and the resulting pulp mixed with a little bit of cinnamon was awesome applesauce!

Classic Green Smoothie

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup fresh spinach
1 frozen banana

blend!

Eggrolls and Egg Drop Soup

The other day I made some eggrolls and egg drop soup. The eggrolls are filled with an assortment of veggies including cabbage, carrot,  and onions. For the soup I cheated a little and used a packet of mix and added the egg in.

Raw Cherry Pie

I found this recipe online through youtube, it’s super simple and yummy!

Ingredients:

1 cup soaked almonds

6 medjool dates (pitted)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

2 cups pitted fresh cherries

Food process first 4 ingredients until it forms a thick clumpy consistency. Form into crust and add pitted cherries.

Bento 45

This was an easy leftover bento that I made. It has pinto beans and a half of a bell pepper stuffed with wild rice and a little bit of cheese. Plus a little Baybel cheese as a snack.