Asian Kale and Baked Tofu Salad

Inspired by my recent frittata recipe with kale and the fact that my friend had gotten kale at the grocery store - we found this recipe from Clean Eating Magazine and set out to cooking! I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but don't let it scare you off - it's just the sauce that takes lots of ingredients! If you've ever cooked Asian food in your kitchen, it's likely you have all of these things already.

Asian Kale and Baked Tofu Salad
Inspired by Clean Eating, we basically kept the recipe the same!

1 container of very firm tofu, sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 TB fresh lime juice
2 TB low-sodium soy sauce
1 TB honey
1 TB peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 bag of washed and chopped kale
1 small cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup of baby carrots, shredded
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded white cabbage (pre-bought bag works fine!)
1/2 cup shelled and cooked edamame
sesame seeds

1. The first step is to cut and dry off the tofu. I usually cut it into my pieces and then place it between a double layer of paper towels, trying to squeeze out some of the liquid naturally in it. Then spray a baking dish with pam or olive oil, add the tofu and set aside while you make your sauce.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. In a blender, blend together all of the ingredients on the list from the garlic down to the sesame oil. Take out about 1/4 cup of the mixture and pour over the top of the tofu. Try to flip the tofu over once or twice to get the sauce on all of the sides. Bake the tofu for about 30 minutes, making sure to turn the tofu over about 3 times during the baking process.

4. In a large bowl (you'll see I used a pot because I didn't have a big enough bowl), add all of the kale and pour the dressing over the top. Next you have to massage with your hands, making sure that the sauce gets all over all of the kale. This massaging process helps to wilt the kale. If you're not sure if it's massaged enough, try a bite and if it's still too tough for your liking, massage some more and hopefully it will wilt more.
5. I also sauteed the cabbage in a pan before adding it to the rest of the salad so that it wasn't as tough as it would be uncooked. The heat from the cabbage also can help to wilt the kale a bit.
5. Add the cucumbers, carrots, scallions, bell pepper, and edamame, along with the wilted cabbage to the kale. Toss to combine and add the baked tofu once you're ready to serve. The last step is sprinkling lots of sesame seeds on top!

I'd like to note that I didn't love this salad leftover, and the salad also wasn't quite wilted enough for me. I'm not sure if I needed more massaging, or if I'm just not that used to eating kale yet, but it was a little tough for me. My favorite parts were the tofu and the sauce - which I could easily make again with different sides instead of the salad.

Kale, Potato and Onion Frittata

I noticed kale was on sale this week at Shaws and so I ventured to the web to get some ideas for what to make. I feel like I always come across recipes and dishes at restaurants that have kale in it and while I am intrigued, I don't usually bite. This time, I bit! I bought the kale with this recipe in mind - a frittata, which I usually make for breakfast, was on my schedule for Tuesday night dinner. I like the idea of eggs for dinner paired with greens, which is exactly what I did tonight.

Kale, Potato and Onion Frittata
1 small onion, sliced
3 cups kale
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small red potatoes, boiled and diced
3 eggs and 3 egg whites
handful of fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
2 TB sprinkle parmesan to top

The kale will need to be washed, trimmed, blanched for 3-5 minutes in boiling water and then drained, squeezed well of the excess water and chopped. To trim it, fold it in half and cut along the thick spine in the middle, throwing out the tough middle piece.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook onion for 5 minutes over medium heat (stir around so that one side doesn't burn), then add kale and garlic. Continue to cook for 5 mins more. Add the potatoes and stir to mix.
Combine whisked eggs with 3 TB water, paprika, and a dash of salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Add the sauteed kale mixture to the eggs, stirring to coat the mixture with the eggs. Spray the saute pan you had been using for the onions so that the eggs don't stick and then pour the egg and kale mixture back into that pan.

Heat over medium for just a minute or two until the eggs set a bit. Sprinkle the top with the chopped fresh basil and a sprinkle of parmesan, then put your pan into the oven to bake for 6-7 minutes until your eggs are cooked through!

I liked this combination, but it needed more egg compared to the rest of the ingredients so I adjusted the ingredients above accordingly. It was also a bit bland, so it will help to be pretty generous with the salt and pepper. I served this with simple mixed greens with a lemon vinaigrette! You could also serve this at breakfast or brunch very easily.

Red Lentil

A couple weeks ago my friend and I ventured out to Watertown to a wonderful little vegetarian/vegan restaurant, Red Lentil. Such a unique menu that made it very difficult to decide what to order - thankfully my friend is a good sharer so we were able to try out 3 different dishes! The portions were pretty generous and so we both went home with leftovers too. The place isn't too big but apparently they have a second location in Connecticut. I would definitely go back!

Red Lentil
600 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown

Potato Leek Soup

After buying an excessive amount of leeks for a latke recipe, I had to find something to do with all of the leftovers. I've been meaning to try out a recipe for potato leek soup, so now seemed as good a time as ever. It's a pretty hearty soup because so much of it is made out of potatoes, but in small amounts it's good. A very wintery dish.

Use only up to the light green part of the leek

Potato Leek Soup
1 leek (discard the thick green part) = about 2 cups sliced
3 cups diced white potato
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper
pinch of rosemary and/or thyme
1 TB olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup skim milk

Tofu and Shrimp Thai Noodles

So this dish was originally supposed to be pad thai, but any time I make it it never quite comes out the same as what you order at a Thai restaurant. On top of that, when I started cooking I realized I didn't have the right kind of noodles, but that's okay - you make the best with what you have! I'd say even though it wasn't pad thai, it still came out good and while it looks like a lot of ingredients - if you do any sort of asian cooking in your home you probably have a lot of these on hand already anyway!

Tofu and Shrimp Noodle Stir Fry
1/2 container of tofu (firm)
9 med size shrimp, shell removed
rice noodles
1 egg, beaten

vegetables of your choice - broccoli, bell pepper, pea pods, carrot
1 TB fresh ginger
garlic
3/4 cup bean sprouts
scallions, chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
sesame oil
Sauce:
1 TB fish sauce
1 TB brown sugar
2 TB soy sauce (reduced sodium)
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 TB rice wine vinegar
1 TB sesame oil
1 frozen cilantro cube

Cauliflower Pasta

Whenever I buy cauliflower I have so much I don't know what to do with it all - a head of it goes a long way, and this was my 3rd recipe using this one. I've made a cauliflower mac and cheese in the past that I really liked, so I sort of took ideas from that recipe and this one from Rachel Ray, and made up something a little different tonight for dinner!

Cauliflower and Chickpea Cilantro Curry

At the beginning of this week I attempted to plan out everything I would cook for the dinner this week . I've been a bit lazy about trying out new recipes and cooking anything extensive - especially when I don't get home from class two nights a week until 8pm . But tonight I stuck to my cooking plan! I had seen a couple recipes for Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry over Rice - so I thought I'd try it out.

Cauliflower and Chickpea Cilantro Curry
1 TB butter
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 TB mild curry paste
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup water + 1 tsp chicken bouillon
1/2 head of cauliflower
1/2 can of chickpeas
1 cilantro cube
3 TB white wine
1/4 cup of tomato sauce
dash of ground ginger
dash of cinnamon
handful of chopped spinach
salt and pepper

I realize this is a lot of ingredients but I think it's because I wasn't following a recipe. I have a bad habit of throwing everything but the kitchen sink in a dish when I'm not following something because as I cook I keep thinking of things I think might enhance the flavors/dish. Unfortunately, I didn't track my amounts, but with this recipe - it's a bit of a 'how you like' situation. I don't like my dishes spicy, so I use less curry paste. I tried to at least estimate the amounts I used here!

Tofu Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

I know, I know - it's been well over a month since I've written any new posts. I apologize - it's been one heck of a month, with lots of weddings, family, friends and the start of a new fall course. With all of my weddings behind me, I'm back and with lots of foodie things to share with you!

After a lovely fall afternoon apple picking my friend and I worked up an appetite so we decided to make some dinner together at her place. Soon to come is some sort of yummy fall apple dessert with all of these great fresh apples! I had bought a package of tofu a few weeks back that I needed to use so that was an easy selection. Our go-to with tofu has been stir fry so far, so we went with that and decided on a peanut sauce, like you often find in thai restaurants.

Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, choppped
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 TB rice vinegar
3 TB reduced sodium soy sauce
1 TB toasted sesame oil

The nice thing about this peanut sauce is that you can use it on almost any sort of stir fry - you don't have to like or want to use tofu. It would go great with chicken or shrimp - or even just lots of vegetables!

Perfect Summer Salad with Chickpea Burgers!

When my friend and I decided to cook dinner in one night a few weeks ago we decided on trying out a recipe for chickpea burgers. I thought a little summer salad would be a good side, so I came up with this mixture of ingredients to highlight some of the fresh basil from my porch! It was a great refreshing salad to put together but it's best served soon after you make it - so don't make too far in advance.

Tomato Basil Corn Salad
1/2 TB white wine vinegar
1 TB olive oil
salt and pepper
1 ear of corn (cut off, not cooked)
2-3 tomatoes
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
2 TB green pepper, chopped
lots of fresh basil!

Lemony Spinach Broccoli Soup #1

Late last week I found that I had a few things left in my fridge that needed to be used: broccoli, baby spinach, celery, scallions - the usual suspects that I inevitably throw together to make a soup. Soup to me is the easiest dinner to make - yes, it requires lots of chopping, but otherwise the prep work is pretty easy and it creates good leftovers to bring for lunch. The flavor of this soup was great - thanks to the fresh lemon juice I used, but the texture could use some improvements, so this is Lemony Spinach Broccoli Soup, round #1.

Lemony Spinach Broccoli Soup

1/2 cup orange pepper, chopped
1/4 cup carrot, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 cups broccoli, chopped
2 cups baby spinach, packed
1 TB butter
2 cups chicken broth*
3 TB fresh lemon juice
2 TB light sour cream
1 cup milk
1 TB flour

*You could make this recipe vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese

After eating a bit too much of the Mediterranean White Bean Dip the main dish was just about ready and it came out of the oven looking beautifully cheesy and golden. Perfect little dish for a group of 4-6 people (we had 4 and I was more than happy to have some leftovers!). An extra plus was getting to use my new red baking dish, with these pretty swirly edges.

Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes

Pasta (a little less than 1/2 a box)*
1/2 Head of Cauliflower
1/2 cup chicken stock**
2 TB butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves roasted garlic
1 1/2 TB flour
1 1/4 cups milk
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash of nutmeg
Fresh sage leaves (3 sprigs/leaves)
1/2 TB dijon mustard
3/4 cup white cheddar cheese
3/4 cup gruyere cheese
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese

Ladies Dinner Night - Cauliflower, White Beans and Berries, Oh My!

As you saw last week I bought a head of cauliflower and used 1/2 for the Curried Cauliflower Soup, which meant that I still had 1/2 left. With my ACIS ladies coming over for dinner Sunday night I knew I wanted to incorporate this cauliflower into something, but I didn't know what. Then I remembered I saw Rachel Ray use cauliflower in a mac and cheese recipe, and I thought - that's perfect! I'll note that the ladies have very different food preferences - 1 vegetarian, 1 vegan-to-be and 2 we'll eat anything kind of girls (yes, one of those is me), so I knew I wanted to make something vegetarian, but still filling!


This was the first dish I decided on for a little something to nibble on while my friends arrived, I was still cooking and for catching up over wine!

Mediterranean White Bean Dip
1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
Head of Garlic, roasted*
2 TB fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1/3 cup olive oil plus 1 TB
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
1 stalk scallion, chopped
1/4 tsp salt and 2 grinds of fresh pepper
Veggies, Pita Chips, Marinated Artichokes

Curried Cauliflower Soup

I wish that I could buy just a couple pieces of celery at a time, but instead it tends to come in giant packages with so much celery I don't know what to do with it. You can only eat so much celery and peanut butter, and you don't usually use more than a couple stalks for a soup dish. Cream of celery soup doesn't really excite me either, so I had to be a bit more creative than that. I also noticed a fresh looking head of cauliflower on sale at the grocery store this weekend, so I had that to play with last night for dinner too. Despite getting home from work late I still had enough motivation to try out this new soup, which I threw together on a whim around 7:45. I was sitting down to dinner by about 8:45! I was also motivated to finally open and setup my new blender, which was an extra incentive to try this dish.

                                                                      Curried Cauliflower Soup

1/2 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 TB lemon juice
2 TB butter
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 TB Patak's mild curry paste
2 TB sour cream
                                                                                       1 cup skim milk

Coconut Almond Oatmeal

I know that oatmeal is good for me - a healthy, filling breakfast to get me through to lunch, but I can't seem to get into it enough to eat it every morning. I like trying different kinds - adding cinnamon and cut up apple, or frozen blueberries. I'm trying to be better about eating plain oatmeal and not the oatmeal packets, so when I had some leftover coconut milk I needed to use I thought it would be a good addition to my oatmeal!

Coconut Almond Oatmeal all finished!

Coconut Almond Oatmeal
1/3 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup old fashioned quaker oats
1/2 TB. ground flaxseed meal
1 TB shredded coconut
1/2 TB chopped almonds
1/4 tsp.  ground cinnamon

My new favorite pesto - Cilantro Pesto

If you recently bought a bunch of fresh cilantro for a recipe, you probably also realized quickly that you used just a couple sprigs and now have an almost full bunch of fresh cilantro left. Fresh cilantro makes a big difference in a recipe so I always buy the fresh bunch when a recipe calls for it rather than using dried. Then I have to cook with cilantro all week to actually use it all up - which is pretty difficult ... until now!! I bought the bunch of cilantro originally for the Thai Peanut Noodle Salad I made with my friends last week - until I could figure out what I was going to do with the rest of the it I put the stems in a cup of water in the fridge (to help the bunch last longer).

In the summer with my tons of bunches of basil I make lots of fresh pesto, and so the same thought came to mind with my cilantro. This may be my new favorite recipe idea - and it's so versatile, which makes it even better.

Homemade Tomato Sauce Sunday

I'll admit that in the occasional last minute situation I'll resort to a bottle of pre-made tomato sauce (usually from Trader Joe's), but it's definitely rare and I'll tell you why. Because making homemade tomato sauce is actually very easy! I've been using this same recipe for at least 6 years (basically since I started cooking for myself) - and my mom's been using it as long as she can remember. I think if I look back it comes from the Leone family (on my dad's side by marriage) - but either way, it's a keeper! As you can see from the title of this entry - it's a great Sunday afternoon cooking activity, and it's exactly what I did this past Sunday! Making up one big batch is perfect for me - I can keep some in the fridge and then freeze the rest in smaller portions so I don't have to make fresh sauce every time I want to cook with it (as you can see with all of my containers to the left). It's not just pasta and sauce that you can use it for either - you can use this homemade tomato sauce for an endless list of recipes: stuffed shells, lasagna, homemade pizza, soup, spaghetti and homemade meatballs, stuffed peppers, chicken/eggplant parmigiana - I could keep on going but I think you probably just want the recipe by now!

Homemade Family Tomato Sauce
Pastene Ground Peeled Kitchen Ready Tomatoes - 28 oz. can
1 can tomato paste
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1/2 TB olive oil
1 TB minced garlic
half of an onion, chopped well
Dried parsley, oregano and basil - 1/2 tsp of each
Salt and Pepper

You don't need a Boiled Dinner this St. Patrick's Day!

Because I found the perfect green dinner dish to make instead, and it's both easier and healthier! Whenever I see recipes I like online I send them to myself and store them in a "recipes" folder in my email account - that way if I'm in the mood to try something new I can go right to this folder and find a recipe that at one point, sounded good to me already! I invited my coworker over for dinner last night and went straight to this folder to try and find something kind of quick and light for us to make. I would also like to point out that this is the coworker that found my apartment for me - so it was fun to say thanks and show her the new place!

In my wonderful folder of "recipes" I scrolled down to the oldest emails I had sent myself and found this Rachel Ray recipe that I've been wanting to make since July of 2009 apparently - "Spring Baby Artichoke and Spinach Pesto Pasta." I'm not sure if I saw her make it on one of her shows or just stumbled upon it online, but wherever I found it, I'm glad I did! As usual, I changed the recipe up a bit - so here is the link to the original in case you trust Rachel Ray more than me!

Breakfast Banana Bread Pudding

Given I started my job this week and have been commuting from NH until I move into my apartment next weekend, I've had ZERO time to cook! Leaving at 6:30am and not getting back until 8 or 9pm, I've been relying on my wonderful mother to have dinner waiting for me! So after sleeping in this morning, I was excited to get a lot of cooking fit into the long weekend.

First on the list - a nice Saturday morning family breakfast! We go through a lot of bread in this house, but there's always some left that hardens and dries out. It's perfect for me though because I love making bread pudding - I have a lot of different versions I make - for both breakfast and dessert. This morning instead of making french toast I decided on a breakfast bread pudding. I've made a great overnight apple version, but decided to try out a sort of tropical banana one today. This would be perfect for a brunch or a nice family weekend meal. Add a bit more sugar and top with whip cream, and it could be dessert too.

Breakfast Banana Bread Pudding

Mixture of white and whole grain old loaves of bread

8 cups dried, 1-2 day old bread, cut into small cubes
1 banana, mashed
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1/8 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
butter, for greasing the baking dish
Nutmeg and Cinnamon, for dusting
confectioners' sugar, for dusting
maple syrup

Gone East for dinner Friday night ...

I love trying new, exotic recipes - and this one definitely counts. When asked what we were having for dinner, my answer - "African Stew." Despite the concerned looks I got, I went for it and in the end, everyone loved it. I am so appreciative that I have open-minded foodies in my life to cook for! For a while now I've been totally in love with eating Asian cuisine - though cooking it is a completely different story. I can never seem to get the right spices and flavor to the dishes I've tried, but one recipe I've gotten down is the fresh summer rolls you often find at Thai and Vietnamese restaurants.

Friday: Fresh Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce, African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew over Couscous and for dessert - Tropical Crumble

Picking up where I left off

After going to a Winter Farmer's Market in Raymond, NH this past weekend I was inspired to try out some new recipes this week for dinner. I found lots of winter root vegetables, Macintosh apples from the fall harvest still and some homemade blueberry jam. Once I returned home I was determined to plan out our entire week of dinners, which was only complicated by the fact that our oven broke on Sunday! Some of you may have seen the start of this on facebook, but to recap:

Sunday: Roasted Chicken with Apple Chutney, Mashed Root Vegetables and Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Baked Apples for dessert!

Cooking is all about innovation and creativity. With the oven broke I decided to sear the chicken (bone-in chicken breasts) first in a hot pan on the stove, and finished under the broiler - making sure not to keep the pan too close to the top.

The Mashed Root Vegetables drove this menu. I bought a Rutabaga at the farmer's market and had never cooked with it before - so I went in search of a recipe to use it. My dad recently bought a vegan cookbook (The Vegan Table) thinking it was a vegetarian one - but as it turns out the book is full of these great, healthy recipes. This is where the recipe came from - except I substituted all of the animal products I wanted for their ingredients - no butter substitute for me, thank you!