Asian Tempeh

I wrote once before about our regular stir fry, which we used to make with the marinated Asian tofu from Vegan with a Vengeance. But when I wrote about it, we were trying it with some store-bought marinated tempeh, which was pretty good. Then I decided to make my own marinated tempeh, which is now the go-to stir fry protein in my house. It’s modified from the tofu marinade recipe:

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

a healthy shake of red chili flakes

2 cloves of garlic, grated or minced

1” of ginger, grated or minced (or a healthy sprinkle of dried ginger)

1 package of tempeh

Mix up all of the marinade ingredients in a casserole dish or shallow bowl. Cut the tempeh into whatever size/shape pieces you’d like (simple cube-ish pieces are my pick) and marinate it for 15-30 minutes, flip and then another 15-30. Add tempeh and any extra marinade to your stir fry veggies when they still have a few minutes left to cook, so that the tempeh has a chance to steam.

Serve over rice, soba or udon noodles with any sauce you'd like.

Cheesy bread

Growing up, Texas Toast was all the rage. Everyone I knew had it with almost every meal, never knowing just how bad that stuff is for you. From scratch is usually better, and I was craving it the other night, so I decided to make my own.



A slice of bread - I used fresh rosemary bread from the farmer's market
1 tbsp Butter (vegan is better)
Mixed shredded cheese
Dried oregano and basil

1. Spread the butter evenly on the bread. Cover with the cheese then the herbs.
2. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, or put in the broiler.

Enjoy!

Wine of the Week - Milan Vineyards 2009 Duet

Went to a tasting up in the Santa Monica Mountains recently, and came back with four great wines that I'll be talking about here in the coming months. The first is the Milan Vineyards Duet, a 50/50 blend of sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon.
On the nose, there are high notes of sharp acid and low notes of tobacco and tomato soup.
The taste is strong and full, with a steady touch of anise throughout. An absolutely delicious wine.

Cold Beans and Collard Greens

Well… Collard greens, at least. I’ve always known about the existence of collard greens, but it never occurred to me to try them. And then one day my husband said, “We should make collard greens.” So we bought some and I figured I’d just sauté them with some garlic, the way I usually do spinach. And then while looking up another recipe in Veganomicon, I stumbled upon a recipe entitled “Sauteed Collard Greens.” It’s basically what I was planning on making, with the addition of leftover marinade from another recipe in the book. I didn’t make the other recipe in the book, nor did I have the ingredients on hand to make the marinade, but I did have leftover marinade from making some tofu the day before. Here’s more or less the recipe:

1 bunch of collard greens, leaves ripped into reasonable-sized pieces

3-5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1-2 Tbsp oil of your choice (olive, canola, or anything mild flavored)

 a few splashes each of: balsamic vinegar and soy sauce (or Bragg Liquid Aminos!)

and, if you have some on hand, a tiny squeeze of lemon juice

Heat up the oil in a big sauté pan, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Then add the greens and toss and cook until they start to wilt. Then add the other liquids (maybe two or three tablespoons total, or to taste). Let it cook until the greens are absolutely yummy.

The Great Veggie Cleanout

Time to clean out the fridge!
This yummy and filling meal can use up every veggie you have. In the photo below, I used:
Chickpeas, potatoes, carrots, red pepper, green beans, red onion, snap peas, with pepper, basil, and garlic seasoning.



This couldn't be easier:

Ingredients
Whatever veggies and qty you like
Your fave seasonings
Olive oil

Directions
Pre-heat oven at 400°
Layout a piece of foil. Lightly spray with oil.
Spread out your veggies. Drizzle with oil and seasonings.
Cover tightly with foil.
Bake for about 30 minutes and serve!

Samosa casserole

One of my favorite cookbooks, Veganomicon, has a recipe for Samosa Baked Potatoes, which is basically twice-baked potatoes with samosa-inspired spices (mustard seeds, coriander, garlic, ginger, cumin and turmeric) and veggies (onion, carrot and peas). I've made it a bunch of times before and always love it, but always seem to forget about it. I recently remembered it and decided to make it, but with a twist - instead of going through the hassle of scooping out and restuffing the potato skins, I decided to just coarsely chop the potatoes and cook it in a casserole dish.

And to finish the meal off, I went with the book's suggestion and tried the Spinach and Tomatoes, which is simply diced tomatoes and spinach cooked up in some of the same flavors as the potatoes. Served up side-by-side they made a tasty, light meal.

The full plate

Check out my blog, Yummy Mummy Meals, to see what I did with the leftovers!

Soba soba soba!

This recipe was given to me by a friend who knows I'm not very open to Asian cuisine. I thought I'd give it a try:



Cooked soba noodles
1 cup cubed tofu
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup shredded carrot and broccoli

1. Fry up the garlic, carrot, broccoli and tofu in oil.
2. Once tofu has browned, add spinach. Cook until wilted.
3. Add vinegar, soy sauce, and honey to the noodle and toss to coat.
4. Toss veggie mix with noddle mixture and serve.

I liked it! I really liked it! One step closer to an open palette...

Wine of the Week - Ecco Domani 2007 Merlot

Ecco Domani was one of the first wines I ever had, period. For this reason alone, it will always hold a special place in my heart. But as I progressed on my wine journey, sampling a wide array of labels, Ecco got left behind. Having gone several years without tasting it, I wanted to see how my palate reacts to it now.

Poorly. Unfortunately, Ecco Domani doesn't hold up to close scrutiny. It lays dull on your tongue on first taste, and leaves a harsh acidity on the back of your throat at the end. Overall, this is a flat and lifeless wine.
But for pure nostalgia, I will always view the label favorably.

Berry Slushie

It's September, but it's still sweltering hot in some places. So why not cool off with an all natural fruity drink?



~1 cup strawberries
~1/4 cup blueberries
~2 cups orange juice
~1-2 cups ice

Quantities can be adjusted to your preferences.

Combine all ingredients in a blender and serve!

2 Versions of Spinach & Broccoli Salad

I had a lot of spinach and broccoli on hand this week, so I made myself some salads, each a bit different from the others for variety. I don't know about you, but I don't like eating the same thing day after day. Here's two of the ways I mixed things up:

This one was spinach, broccoli, avocado, banana peppers, farmer's cheese, sunflower seeds and creamy Italian dressing.

This is spinach, broccoli, red pepper, homemade hummus, sunflower seeds and balsamic vinaigrette. This version was my favorite! So good!

Wine of the Week - Toasted Head 2008 Chardonnay

I'm not much of a chardonnay fan, but I found this to be a great, tasty wine. Strawberries and honeydew on the nose. On tasting it, citrusy, acidic high notes hit you first, followed by smokey low notes. This wine goes down smooth, and even blooms a pleasant aftertaste.