Pretty Poetry and horrid humor "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

prettybalanced:

Corn and Potato Soup with Fresh Parsley

prettybalanced:

Sweet Potato Chili Fries

hipsterfood:

for dinner: BBQ tofu, corn, and wilted kale & rainbow chard in a tortilla bowl

in our last post, we showed you how to prepare tofu for cooking. this is one way you could cook your prepped BBQ tofu which is very tasty :D

tofu: take your prepped tofu and place the slices in a pan. if you didn’t use olive oil in your marinade, pour a little bit into the pan. keep on medium heat and cook each side for 3-5 minutes, flipping and checking to see if each side is browned and crispy. when the pieces are a little crispy on the outside, take them off the pan and set aside.

greens: rinse and shred 5-6 handfuls of greens. put them in the pan, with the heat off and a top on. this will wilt the greens just slightly and give them some of the flavor the tofu left behind.

tortilla bowl: brush one side of a medium-large tortilla, and place it oil-side down in a pan, turn it on low-medium heat and put in the tofu, greens, and corn. check underneath to see when the tortilla is light brown, and when it is, lift up the sides with a couple of spatulas and let the bottom continue to brown.

transfer over to a plate or a bowl and enjoy :)

hipsterfood:

white bean quesadillas

i don’t know how “healthy” this meal is, but it’s making me feel pretty good! you can use this white bean mixture as a dip, a sandwich spread, or whatever else you come up with. it’s sort of like a hummus, but thicker. try this, it’s sooooo delicious!

for the bean mixture:

• cook a batch of white beans (aka navy beans.) they can be either dried or canned, doesn’t matter. just keep them warm when you’re done cooking.
• put some (a little less than two cups) inside a food processor with a splash of soy milk, a couple of teaspoons of tahini, a hefty pinch of salt, a handful of chopped garlic scapes (or scallions), and a light sprinkle of brown sugar. i also added in a handful of fresh thyme, but it’s optional.
• process until it’s smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. add in any additional salt if you want it, but keep in mind that the flavor will develop more if/when you store it in the refrigerator overnight. (which i suggest you do, it really makes it taste fantastic.)

for the quesadilla:

• get out two burrito tortillas. (if you’re making it for just yourself, use one burrito tortilla and fold it over, or use two taco tortillas for a smaller size.) brush one side of each with olive oil. 
• place one, oil side down, on a flat pan. 
• spread out the bean mixture onto the tortilla, then turn the heat on, to about medium-low. 
• place the second tortilla on top, and let it cook for a minute or two. using one or two large spatulas, and some dexterity, flip the quesadilla over and let it cook for another couple of minutes. 
• take off the pan when both sides are golden brown, and slice with a sharp knife. 

amazing, right? a quesadilla that doesn’t need cheese to make it stick together. if only any place we ate out at believed us when we say this is possible. serve hot with some cold fresh vegetables. i know you’ll like this, so try it!

health-heaven:

BBQ Tofu recipe

Ingredients (use vegan versions):


    * 1 pound (tub) firm or extra firm tofu
    * 1 jar of vegan BBQ sauce


Directions:

This recipe is fast and easy to prepare. It is good sliced and added to veggies or put on vegan bread for lunches. It is a little spicey, so some kids may not like it.

Prehead the oven to 300. Slice the tofu the long way to make slabs. Cover the bottom of a jelly roll pan with 1/4 inch of sauce. Put the tofu on top. Cover the tofu with sauce. Just make sure the tofu is covered, you don’t have to drown it. Put it in the oven and cook for about 2 hours. If you like your tofu very firm, cook longer. Check every now and then to make sure nothing is burning. I’ve never had a problem with that, but but ovens are all different.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 2 hours

hipsterfood:

someone requested some spicy tofu last week, so here it is. this is good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and you can easily customize to the amount of heat you like by switching out the type of peppers used or increasing/decreasing the amount of cayenne you use.

1. press your extra-firm tofu block for at least half an hour. (if you don’t, don’t come crying to us about how it was all soggy and limp!)
2. while that’s pressing, thickly slice one bell pepper into strips, mince 1/8 of a cup of a medium-hot pepper, and chop one medium onion into bite-sized pieces.
3. make a sauce mixture to give your tofu great flavor. mix together in a small bowl: 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp veggie “chicken” stock powder (a pantry staple here), a heaping pinch of sea salt, a tiny pinch (like, 1/8 tsp or less) ground cayenne, and a pinch hickory smoked sea salt. (if you don’t have smoked sea salt [pdf warning], add a few drops of liquid smoke into the mixture. the sea salt is another one of our favorite pantry staples though, try it!)
4. cut the tofu block into five or six pieces, then cut those into two triangles per block.
5. place the tofu in a pan with the veggies and drizzle over the oil mixture. cook on medium-high heat for about five minutes per side, or until the tofu is crispy on both sides. add more oil mixture if the pan gets too dry while the tofu is still cooking.

i served my mixture in some taco tortillas, but you could also try it with rice or by itself. one block of tofu will make enough for 3-4 people, or more if you add more veggies. enjoy!

hipsterfood:

(click here to see larger)

this warm chopped brussels salad is tossed in a blueberry vinaigrette, great for snacking or before a really heavy dinner. if you don’t like brussels sprouts yet, you might like this one - the dark bitterness you sometimes get with this cabbage-like vegetable is balanced with the light sweetness of the sauce.

1. steam some brussels sprouts until they turn bright green and you can easily bite through one. (about 10-15 minutes.) we used about 4-5 cups of brussels sprouts and it could feed 3-4 people as a side dish, easily.
2. while the veggies are steaming, start your sauce. in your blender or food processor, blend together until consistent: 1 cup oil, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp blueberry preserves, about 2 tsp ground ginger, two pinches sea salt, and some freshly ground pepper. (you could use any fruit preserve you’d like, we just like the color and flavor of the blueberries. try to find a brand that uses whole berries - you get a better flavor and texture.) add more of any ingredient you like to taste - this is a simple sauce you can put your stamp on.
3. once the veggies are steamed, cut off the non-edible stem of each sprout, then coarsely chop up each one. i like slightly larger than a dice.
4. place the chopped sprouts in a big bowl, and drizzle the sauce over top. toss them until coated, and add more sauce as needed. you may not need all the sauce you made - use it on your lunch salad the next day and/or store any excess in the fridge for up to a few days.

and that’s all there is to it. serve immediately with a pasta or seitan meal or with more veggies. hopefully you try this one out and see that brussels sprouts aren’t so terrible after all! :P

hipsterfood:

christmas breakfast!

the best part about christmas for me, beyond getting presents, is the breakfast! since we’re not spending it with our families this year, i thought it would be extra important to make something fantastic.

so our spread here is a tofu scramble, lemon-blueberry muffins, and a cinnamon-sugar bagel with cranberry vanilla cream cheese.

(we made the muffins last night, to make less work for this morning.)

• zest two whole lemons
• combine 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, the lemon zest, and 1 cup sugar
• in a separate bowl, combine 1 cup rice milk, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 of a freshly squeezed lemon, 1 tbsp white vinegar
• mix the liquids and solids until just combined
• add in 1 1/2 cups freshly washed blueberries

bake at 400F for twenty minutes. these are PERFECT when served hot. (we made another batch without cupcake liners, and they looked way better than these. so much so that we ate them before i could take a picture :D)

the tofu scramble is so easy and delicious, i don’t know why i haven’t ever made it before.

in one pan, crumble tofu in with some olive oil, and COVER it with lots of cumin, turmeric, curry power, and a little bit of salt. cook until it’s done how you like it - i like mine a little crispy, so i waited until it browned.

in another pan, just sautee some vegetables in non-dairy butter or water with salt & pepper. we used mushrooms, onions, broccoli, asparagus, and loads of spinach.

combine when the vegetables are cooked through.

we got this vegan cream cheese from the wonderful balsam bagels.

hope you guys have a great xmas :)