Pesto Tofu Tower

This was QUITE good.  It was so nice to have pesto!  Can't wait for other recipes that use pesto as well... as soon as my basil plant recovers...  Inspired by EatingWell.

So, tofu was cut into large, thick bricks of varying sizes, lightly coated with italian flavoured bread crumbs, sprinkled with FYH mozzarella cheese, and baked for 45 minutes and 375.  In the last 15 minutes of baking, I threw in some asparagus spears as well, to get some veggies in the plate.
The pesto was a mixture of fresh basil, mirin, garlic powder, peanuts, and cashews.
That's it... easy, right?

Asparagus, Tofu, Pasta Casserole

Quick post tonight - lots of homework to do (physics... precal... you name it!)  Adatped from WTHDAVEA

Cook ww penne pasta.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, plop in 19 silken tofu, and remove from heat.  Drain after 2 minutes, blend tofu with jucie from 2 lemons.  Reserve 1 cup of tofu for another use.  Mix the remaining tofu with a smidgen each of maple syrup, soy sauce, nutmeg, nooch, shredded FYH mozzarella cheese, and apple cider vinegar.  Chop some fresh oregano and parsley, and mix this in as well.
Saute a shallot, carrots, garlic, and chopped asparagus.
Mix all of this in a casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes at 375.

Asparagus and Carmelized Red Onions

It's obviously asparagus season- so I just have to take advantage of that!  I was delighted to see this way of preparing it- another simple variation on an asparagus saute.  The thyme adds quite a bit of flavour, and the onions are sooo tasty.  I love carmelized onions- especially when they are cooking, because they give off such a lovely aroma.  And, of course, pine nuts are a great thing to go on top.  But I bet any sort of nut would work- cashews, walnuts, you name it.

Asparagus with Caramelized Red Onions and Pine Nuts

Adapted from Tasting Spoons

Serves 6

1 tsp peanut oil
1 red onion, chopped into ½ rings
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp vegetarian fish sauce

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 large bunch asparagus

3 tablespoons pine nuts

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, and add the onions. Cook over medium high heat for 10 minutes, until the onions begin to smell nice and turn a little brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, snap the tough ends off the asparagus, and then cut into bite-sized pieces. After the onions are done, put the asparagus in the frying pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in the balsamic vinegar, fish sauce, and thyme, and stir well. Stir in the onions, and serve topped with pine nuts.

Spicy Peanut Asparagus Plus Soft Mutton Soup

These two dishes went very well together because they are both pretty easy to throw together.  The asparagus was some of the best that I have ever tasted, and I would make it over and over again.  Five million times.  Not really, but it was still one of those quick dishes that are nice to take advantage of asparagus season.  The soup was not exactly what I had hoped but it was good in its own right.  If nothing esle, I always love the mutton.  I thing that my beans and pasta were a bit over cooked, but the soup still tasted amazing.  It had spinach, too, which I had been craving for quite some time now.

Simple Peanut Chili Asparagus

Serves 3

Adapted from Chinese and Thai 400

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp chili sauce, or to taste

2 tsp corn starch

2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp agave nectar

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tbsp grated ginger
Scant 1 lb asparagus, trimmed
2 tbsp chopped peanuts
Mix together the lemon through agave in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat a wok over medium heat, and add some water. Stir fry the garlic and ginger for a couple seconds and then add the asparagus. Stir fry for another 3 minutes and add the sauce. Cook until asparagus is done, about another minute. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts. Serve.

Pasta, Bean and Mutton Soup

Serves 8

Adapted from 330 Vegetarian Recipes

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, pressed

3 carrots, coined

3 cups cabbage, chopped

5 cups water

1 tbsp vegetarian chicken bullion

1 cube vegetable bullion

4 yukon gold potatoes

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 1/2 cups white beans, cooked
1 1/2 cups pervuano beans, cooked

1 cup soy milk mixed with 2 tbsp corn starch

1 1/2 bunches spinach, stemmed

2 cups dried penne pasta, cooked

4-5 cups vegetarian mutton, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat with a bit of water.  Saute the onion and carrot for a minute and add the garlic.  Saute for 2 minutes more and then add the cabbage.  Saute until tender, about 4 minutes.  Add the remianing ingredients though coriander, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.  Add the beans and corn starch mixture, cook for 5 more minutes, and add the spinach, pasta, and mutton.  Serve with salt and pepper.

Asparagus and Tofu Soba Stir Fry

I went to the grocery store yesterday, and oh my gosh.  They had the most beautiful veggies that I have ever seen in my life.  I had such a hard time holding myself to just getting what M and I could manage to eat, or else those beautiful veggies would have gone bad.  But, oh- the bell peppers were so big and red, and the asparagus was so tall and thin.  I was falling over with excitement, and M was just rolling her eyes at me the whole time.  Who cares, though, because they were so pretty.  I really wish that veggies would always be that pretty, but a person really has to take advantage of moments like this when they can, lest the pretty veggies disappear without a chance for them to appear on their plate. 

Which is what happened to a bunch of asparagus in this dish, which tastes stellar for the minimal 20 minutes of time it requires to make.  I loved the sauce, which way almost too spicy, but just right in this case.  The veggies were so fresh and excellent quality, that they really shone in the stir fry.  Not to mention that the long matchstick shapes were absolutely beautiful on a plate.  The sesame seeds nicely round things off.  Not to mention the ever popular tofu made an appearance in this dish once again.

Tofu, Asparagus and Carrot Soba Stir Fry

Serves 4

Adapted from 330 Vegetarian Recipes

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
Equal amount of carrot matchsticks
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 cup each soy sauce, dry sherry, and mirin
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp agave nectar or honey

Chili sauce, to taste

12 oz pakcage fried tofu, cut in half if large

2 servings soba noodles, cooked

Black and white sesame seeds, to serve

Heat a wok over medium high heat coated with nonstich spray.  Add the asparagus, carrots and green onions, and stir fry until almost tender, about 6 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix together the soy sauce through chili sauce in a small bowl.  Add to the wok, with the tofu.  Cook for another minute and add the noodles.  Saute until heated through, and serve with sesame seeds.

Five Spice Multi-Coloured Chicken Stir Fry

So, today I ran a 5k, the first one that I have ran in a while.  I'm really excited about how well I did.  Yes, I am really avid about excersise, and love running.  I ended up doing the 5k in 27 minutes, 29 seconds, which coverts to an 8:52 mile!!  That's awesome for me... I kind of feel like a whimp, because I know that's really not all that good in the grand scheme of things, but it's a personal best, that's for sure.  That really made my day.  And M reached her goal, too, of 10 minute miles.  So we're both satisfied.  And I beat M.  Heehee.  I also got a free banana, which is always nice.  Plus the T-shirts are really cool.

Now that I got that out of my system, on to the important part.  Here's another stir fry with one of those awesome vegetarian chickens.  I keep forgetting to look on the package to see how much the thing actually weighs, so I'll have to remember to do that one of these days...  I normally don't cook with any bell pepper but red, but the yellow seems to go very nicely with the stir fry.  Kind of a story behind this one- M and I got home at 5.30, and normally if that happens then we have leftovers.  But I knew that was impossible, so we ended up whipping dinner out in an hour- this stif fry, plus our usual two monster salads.  Which was really impressive, if I do say so myself.

And, just another little random thing that made me happy.  I found two pennies on the ground...  Childish joys!

Five Spice Multi-Coloured Chicken Stir Fry

Inspired by Wok

Serves 4-6

1 generous tbsp five spice powder
1 generous tbsp Better Than Bullion Beef Flavouring
4 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp vegetarian stir fry sauce
2 tsp yellow curry paste
1 generous tbsp yellow bean paste
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp corn starch
1 onion, sliced thick
2 carrots, coined
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 small bunch asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
2-3 cups red cabbage, shredded
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
2 baby bok choy, chopped into ribbons
1 vegetarian chicken, defrosted chopped into bite sized pieces (about 3 cups-ish)
Cashews, for topping

Mix together the five spice powder through the corn starch.  Set aside.
Heat a wok over high heat with a bit of water.  Stir fry the onion and carrots for 2 minutes, and then add the asparagus and the mushrooms.  After two more minutes of stir frying add the cabbage and peppers.  After three more minutes or so add the remaining ingredients except cashews.  Saute until bok choy is wilted and the massive pile of veggies is heated through. 
Serve over rice, topped with cashews.

Sweet and Salty Five-Spice Tofu Stir Fry

There'e nothing to warm the soul like a giant pile of veggies covering a small nest of noodles, and that's exactly what so many of my stir frys turn out to be.  This is just another one of those, only this is my first stir fry with five spice tofu.  It's really good stuff- I love the texture.  Although, for some reason this dish tasted quite salty, and I think the tofu was the culprit.

It all stemmed from an extra bundle of asparagus that was lying around, and really needed to be used up.  I also got an insiration to add edammame, which is something that rarely happens, and the concoction turned out rather tasty.  Not to mention the ingredients were easy to prep. 

Honestly, now I know what sleep deprivation feels like.  I've got two major tests tomorrow, and that's so not cool.  I don't know how so many of my buddies are living off of only a couple hours' sleep every night, but they are.  I suppose it's because they don't cook!

Sweet and Salty Five-Spice Tofu Stir Fry


Serves 4 - 6

Adapted from 101 Vegetarian Cookbooks

Zest and juice of one lime

¼ cup hoisin sauce

2 tbsp miso paste

¼ cup soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
Chili sauce, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

2 cups cauliflower florets

2 carrots, coined

1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 package oyster mushrooms, large pieces chopped
2 cusp red cabbage, shredded
1 cup edammame
2 packs 5 spice tofu, chopped

2-3 heads baby bok choy, cut into ribbons

2 handfuls fresh basil, slivered
Toasted cashews

Mix together the lime through the salt in a small bowl.
Heat a wok over high heat with a bit of water. Add the cauliflower and carrots. After 2 minutes add the ginger, asparagus, and garlic. After another 2 minutes or so toss in onions and mushrooms. When that is heated through add the cabbage. When the veggies are almost tender add the edammame, tofu, bok choy, and sauce, and cook until bok choy is wilted. Stir in the basil.
Serve over noodles of some sort… topped with cashews.

Simple Baked Asparagus and Carrots

If you are ever in need of something simple, beautiful, and delicious, look no further.  I think this takes the cake for falling in that catagory.  Just look at the pictures! (I couldn't resist adding a lot of them.)  This is one of the prettiest dishes that has ever come into existance at my house.  And I think it took all of 15 minutes to make, and then you stick it in the oven.  Not to mention that is tastes marvelous.  Cashews, a slightly zippy sauce, and some nice tender asparagus thrown together with carrots, which are always good.  It would be especially great for spring time, when the weather begins to warm up, because it's warm, but not very warming.  It's light and satisfying to the taste buds.  I almost didn't want to take it off the pan, it was so pretty!

Simple Baked Asparagus and Carrots

Adapted from Vegan Yumyum

Serves 4

1/4 Cup cashews
1 tsp chili sauce
1 lb asparagus, last little woody bit cut off
4 carrots, peeled and cut into long, thin strips (about enough to equal the asparagus)

2 tbsp Soy sauce

2 tsp Balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp Better than Bullion Beef Flavouring
2 tsp yellow bean paste
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Preheat the oven to 400 convection bake.
Mix together the chili sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, bullion, yellow bean paste, and lemon in a small bowl.

Add the carrots, asparagus, and sauce to a large plastic bag and shake well to coat.

Place the asparagus on a baking sheet coated with nonstick spray. Sprinkle with cashews and bake for 5 minutes, until veggies are tender. Turn the broiler on for a couple of seconds, just until the veggies are slightly browned, watching carefully to make sure they don’t become burned. Serve.

Aspargus and Chickpea Casserole

Sometimes, a person gets really lucky.  That's what happened here; asparagus was on sale, for some really, really strange reason.  But, hey, who am I to say anything about asparagus sales?  The grocery store gods do all the determining with that stuff... So what could I possibly do but take this oppertunity and make an asparagus casserole out of asparagus?

So, I ended up trying Fat Free Vegan's Asparagus Casserole, and much to my delight it ended up much better than I expected.  One thing about aspargus is that it is so finicky, and can either be really good, or really bad.  I just happened to pick a bunch of the former catagory. 

This is not your average casserole- anything but.  I loved the unique combination of ingredients.  Although it does not have much for seasonings, the veggies and chickpeas make this a lively dish, and I thought Susan's idea for the potato topping was really unique, to say the least.  And I was so amazed at how thick the dressing ended up!  Never would have imagined how creamy it could get...

M was in love with this dish.  I liked it- would definently make it again, partly because it takes remarkably little time to put together.  And something to set the mood for fall.  Yay!  It's actually cold today.  I am wearing sweats for the first time since last winter- it's amazing...

Asparagus and Chickpea Casserole

Serves 6-8

Adapted from Fat Free Vegan

1 medium-large onion, diced
1 carrot, coined
8 ounce, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb asparagus

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 cup water

1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Ham Flavouring
3/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 tsp fresh basil, chopped
1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
1 medium raw potato, peeled and shredded
Smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 400F. Coat a large casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onions with a bit of water for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and garlic and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until start to soften. Add the asparagus and two tablespoons of water, cover pan, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until asparagus is bright green and beginning to become tender.

Mix together the flour, water, and bullion. Add it, the milk, thyme, and basil to the pan and heat until bubbly. Add the chickpeas and salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low, and simmer for 5 or so minutes. Pour into prepared casserole dish and top with an even layer of shredded potatoes. Sprinkle paprika on top.

Bake until bubbly, about 35 minutes. If it is not browned, broil for a couple minutes, then serve.