Dinner at Random: Four Easy Meals

I haven't been blogging as much as I would like, but I did take pictures of some of my easy meals to post. These are some random inventions that have made their way into staples.

1. Cheesy Broccoli and Pasta
I have grown to love nutritional yeast as a cheese alternative to macaroni 'n' cheese inspired dishes. It has a great flavor, is easy to work with, and gives you that thick consistency that you want with old school dishes. I basically make the pasta as normal, but steam the broccoli over that pasta water as I cook it. Then I place 1/3 C of nutritional yeast, 1 T of Arrowroot powder or flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1/3 C water into a pot. Heat for about 10 minutes stirring until it becomes thick to your preference. (In a pinch the micro works too) Pour cheese mixture and broccoli over the drained pasta and mix well. Sometimes I just use this cheese over broccoli.



2. Couscous, Spinach, and Tomatoes
This is a quick and easy lunch or dinner if you are starving or just don't have time to bother. I place 1/2 C wheat couscous in a bowl and then heat water in a kettle. When the water is boiling, I cover the couscous, add spinach leaves and tomatoes and let sit. For more flavor you can add a broth cube to the mix. Sometimes I simply put a dab of oil in this and sprinkle with salt. Once the couscous is done mix well.


3. Quinoa, Arugula, and Chickpeas
Really easy meal. Cook 1/2 quinoa for about 20 minutes in 3/4 C water until the water is absorbed. Use a broth cube if you want more flavor. Once the quinoa is finished, add the arugula and chickpeas and warm through.


4. Greens, Beans, and Onions
Though lately I have been steering clear of beans in every meal, this is a great way to dress up your greens for a healthy side or, as I've done here, as the main event. Saute 1/2 onion in olive oil and add water if it begins to stick. Add your greens (any type, kale, swiss chard or even spinach) some garlic if desired and red beans. Saute until greens are slightly wilted (the less cooked the better for you!) and the beans are heated through. I sprinkle this with a dash of low sodium soy sauce and it's good to go!

Vegan Taco in a Bag or the Vegan Walking Taco

Last weekend I went to the infamous Centre Hall Grange Fair. I really can't avoid it since I live in the center of Centre Hall, which is essentially invaded by animals, rickety rides and their dangerous contraptions, craft and tractor vendors, local campers, prize winning vegetables and, of course, fried food booths galore! I know, I am supposedly here to blog about healthy food choices, right? Well sure, but I also think that in moderation street fair food can be just the treat for someone with certain food cravings. Plus, you don't have to look far and there really are plenty of vegan options: fried dough, fried Oreos, fried zucchini, french fries, corn fritters. Recognizing a pattern here? Yep, these are all goodies swimming in grease. But hey, once a year I indulge:)

Last year's delight was the fried Oreo. Oreo cookies (totally vegan!) dipped in batter and fried. The Oreo kind of melts inside the batter so that when you bite into it - it looks like a tiny doughnut - you get an oozy, yummy chocolatey mouthful!

This year I was blown away by one food that I had never seen before: Taco in a Bag. It is the perfect way to eat a taco. Fritos lightly smashed topped with ground meat, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream. You just need a fork! Of course I was not able to eat this delightful walking taco since the vegan version would have basically been lettuce and Fritos, but I have decided to make my own scrumptious version at home! Hurray for street fair inspiration!

Vegan Taco in a Bag or the Vegan Walking Taco

Ingredients:
Small bags of Fritos
1 C tvp or vegetarian refried beans
1/2 C onion diced
1 tsp grapeseed oil
1 pkg vegetarian taco mix
1/4 C h20
2 roma tomatoes diced
1 head romaine lettuce chopped
vegan sour cream (I used tofutti brand)
vegan cheddar (Daiya is fantastic)
salsa (optional)

1. Hydrate the tvp with water while you saute the onion in oil until translucent.

2. Add hydrated tvp (or refried beans), taco mix and h20 to the skillet and cook until absorbed.

3. Lightly smash up the Fritos in the bag, add the beans/tvp, Daiya, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream.

4. Pop in a fork and enjoy!

If there were street food vendors in State College selling a vegan version of this, I would eat it everyday. So I suppose I should be glad that there aren't any:)


Special thanks to Robyn for pointing out the wonder that is the Taco in a Fritos bag!

Hydration for the Hydrophobe

If there is one thing about me that you learn rather quickly on a road trip its that I have an illogical aversion to water. Not all water mind you, just certain water experiences. For instance, I never drink plain water out of a glass made of glass. I have a very strong olifactory reaction that immediately transports my nose memory to a sidewalk directly after a rainstorm, you know where I am going with this, that strong earthwormy fragrance? Uh huh, I can't get past it. And isn't it altogether Hitchcockian the half-steamy warm, half-goosebumpy cool feeling that you get jumping into a shower? Yikes! Plus, have you ever been caught in the rain fully clothed? Well, let me tell you that it is not romantic in the least! Try feeling pretty while you waddle back home in a pair of soaked jeans that weigh two-hundred pounds. Definitely not a Notebook worthy scene!

I know, I know, our bodies are like 90% water, and in some way this means that I am a self-hater, but I really want to like water. I really want to love water. I really need to drink more water. So, today's blog is dedicated to some tips on how to make water desirable to the hydrophobe.

1. Add Fruit to disguise the tastelessness of H20

I am not simply talking about adding a lemon slice to your glass. I mean an all out fruit infusion. Think sangria without alcohol. I've tried many fruits and combinations. I'd even suggest cucumber and mint for a hot summer day. Basically you add a lot of fruit to a pitcher of water and let it sit. Drink and enjoy the subtle flavors!

2. Tea in your belly is sublime

I could drink gallons of peppermint tea without ever knowing that I was really drinking mostly water. Tea is much better than those flavor packs that contain a lot of sugar and preservatives. I use straight up herbal teas that don't caffeinate me or give me too much flavor. Plus, the warm tingly feeling of warm tea in your belly staves off hunger and promotes good digestion! Score on both counts! You could also ice herbal teas for those East Coast heatwaves that we've been having.

3. Almost Natural Street Fair Lemonade

This delicately sweetened drink is for when I just can't bear the thought of drinking a full pint of water. It is a version of street fair lemonade but without the cup of refined sugar. Squeeze the juice of half of a lemon into a glass, add a quarter tsp of Stevia, fill the glass with ice, then water, stir, enjoy.

4. The Not-so-into-Gatorade Coconut Alternative

If you need some fast hydration coconut water is simply the best. It is flavorful and naturally packed with electrolytes. No artificial ingredients here, and it works like a charm to get you feeling steady after an incredibly rigorous two hours of dance aerobics! I actually like it when I am writing, it gives me a boost of energy.

Glowing Green Monster

So, I am in the middle of writing the final draft of my final chapter of my final (ur well my ONLY) dissertation, and what do I do? Well obviously, I catch up on my much neglected blog! Since I haven't had much time to cook, or, well, to take care of anything but writing for that matter, these posts will be filled with fun tips on how I was able to survive, well-hydrated and fed, throughout the hellish, grueling dissertation process. Wait a minute, I am not done, you say? Well, technically no, but get me another green smoothie and watch me cross that PhD finish line.

Speaking of green smoothies, have you been introduced to the Glowing Green Smoothie? Be warned, if you start reading about Kimberly Snyder's beauty tips, you might actually consider going vegan, and if you actually make yourself a Glowing Green Smoothie, you might be tempted to chuck your blender for an ethereal Vitamix. So, unless you have some windfall cash floating around, you might want to hold off on this health adventure.

Ok, to be fair, this enthusiasm might actually be the smoothie talking. I kid you not. I am only on my second batch and I have been literally bouncing with energy. This isn't always a great thing. I need to learn how to handle my smoothie. For instance, yesterday I was so intensely concentrated on writing that I didn't have time to think about preparing food, so I decided to drink smoothie all day long. While this might be good for some, for me it meant a 4 am bedtime. Oh yeah, and for someone getting up at the crack of dawn to start typing, that's crazy! While you correctly assume that my insomnia may be a factor of extreme anxiety brought on by the stressful process of writing, I say to you that such anxiety cannot account for my zip. I was dancing at 3 am. Okay, it was probably both stress and the power of good greens, but I've decided to limit my smoothie downing to am hours anyway, otherwise I risk becoming the Glowing Green Monster (see Lady Gaga for the positive use of this term).

In any case, I heartily recommend it!

Now back to writing...

I Love the Way that Peppers Love Me

Who doesn't love the challenge of hot peppers? They use all of their chemical wiles to thwart being eaten, yet we pluck them from nature, and, if you are like me, daringly cut them up without gloves in hungry anticipation of a tiny inferno in our mouths. Then, once the burning subsides from the palate, that insidious capsaicin makes its way into our eyes and we are blinded by a brief but memorable moment of pain and regret that we were ever so silly as to try and conquer the safeguards of nature without gloves! Well, perhaps you are not so silly as I, but let's face it, peppers tend to make their presence known.

I will never learn to heed the warnings of working with exposed pepper seeds. At this point, it must be that I love the way that peppers love me - pain and all. But, I do not want to play favorites, all peppers - even those benign little sweet ones - are staples of my kitchen and today I've got three recipes that are packed with peppery goodness!

Mixed-Bag Bake: Sweet Peppers, Potatoes, Butternut Squash & Shallots

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash cubed
8 small potatoes halved
2 shallots quartered
6 cloves garlic in skins w/ tops cut
8 small sweet peppers
olive oil
rosemary
salt and pepper

This is a very easy recipe. Throw everything into a baking pan and copiously cover with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add sprigs of rosemary. Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees or until a fork goes easily through the potatoes and squash. Salt and pepper to taste.


Pepper Pizza

Ingredients:
1 pizza crust (I make my own, but you can use already made wheat pizza crusts)
1.5 C tomato sauce
2 tsp thyme
1/3 C chopped onions
1 green pepper, chopped
1/3 C banana peppers
Hot pepper oil

1. Quickly saute' the onions and green peppers
2. Spread the tomato sauce on the crust and sprinkle with thyme
3. Scatter the onions, green peppers and banana peppers over the pizza
4. Lightly pour on some hot pepper oil.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the crust is crisp.

Philly Pepper Sandwich

Ingredients:
1 semi-hot pepper chopped
1 cubanelle chopped
2 small onions chopped
1/3 C mushrooms chopped
1 T olive oil
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 T Vegan Worcestershire Sauce (*usually you can find this in Asian Groceries)
soft sandwich buns

1. Saute' onions, peppers and mushrooms together in olive oil for about 7 min until soft.
2. Add the liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce and saute' until absorbed.
3. Fill your sandwich bun until it overflows and enjoy!


Mmmmmm peppers! Followed later by Oooouuuuch peppers!

Hot Rice and Beans on Greens

I started out this year as a mean vegan culinary whiz, but then the impossible chaos of life changed all that rather quickly. I suppose that I could have been blogging about what I have been eating, but that would mean that I'd have to admit that I actually ate chickpeas out of a can for dinner! Despite all the snazzy new prepared animal friendly fare, quick 'n easy is still hard for the die hard vegan. So, I will omit the last few months of unsavory, and forgettable eating habits, and highlight some of the few bright spots when I was actually able to fill my belly with yummy vegan sustenance.

This was a quick inspiration one evening that is very similar to the No-One-Likes-the-Vegan-Police Burritos. I wanted something green, and something smokey. I had a bit of a liquid smoke obsession, as you'll notice from my earlier blogs, and this is the tail end of that romance, though I still do enjoy my collard greens faux smoked. Following my typical method of throwing things together and then eating them, this is basically an exploration into the fridge and pantry. It's a hearty, warm and cool kind of taco-salad that goes well with hot sauce.

Hot Rice and Beans on Greens

Ingredients:
1 onion chopped
1 tsp celery salt
1 can kidney beans rinsed
1 cup cooked brown rice or barley
1/2 C tomato sauce
sprinkle of liquid smoke
chopped romaine or other lettuce

1. Saute onion in a bit of olive oil for about five minutes
2. Add the celery salt and saute another minute
3. Add the kidney beans and smash about a third of them
4. Add the rice, sauce cook until warmed through
5. Sprinkle on some liquid smoke
6. Serve on a bed of lettuce

This is an easy recipe that can also be translated into burritos. Next up: Buffalo Tempeh Sandwiches, Mix 'n Match Butternut Squash Bake and Pepper Pot Pizza