i'm 20, live in the baltimore area, and am really into food! i just cook what tastes and feels good. i LOVE ethnic cuisines, trying new foods, and ESPECIALLY desserts. i hope one day to get a job working with natural foods, either at a cafe, bakery, or my own food truck :)
California BLT with Turkey (aka the most non-vegan sandwich I’ve made since I started dating Kevin)
You will need:
- Two slices of toasted bread
- Mayo
- 1 large thin tomato slice
- Lettuce leaves
- Deli turkey slices
- Avocado slices
- BACON
Spread desired amount of mayo (for me it was very little) on each slice of bread. Stack all ingredients on one of the bread slices, top with the other slice, and cut in half. Yummmmm.
Terrible quality picture I know, but I was so hungry my hands were shaking!! I made this tofu scramble on my last day at the beach last week, when I needed to use up all of the vegetables in the fridge. Basically you can put whatever you want in a tofu scramble and it will probably taste good. But here’s what I put in mine!
- 1 pkg extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed of all excess water, cubed, and crumbled
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- About 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into a 1/2 inch dice
- 4 larger white button mushrooms, chopped
- About 3/4 cup small broccoli florets, steamed in the microwave for about 45 seconds
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Combine the crumbled tofu and soy sauce in a bowl. Set aside
Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions, and saute for about 2 minutes until fragrant and the onions begin to look floppy and translucent. Add the green peppers and saute for about 3 more minutes until noticabley softer. Then add the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms begin to brown and look tender, about 4 or 5 minutes. Then add the crumbled tofu, steamed broccoli, turmeric and chili powder. Mix around in the pan until everything is well combined and has a yellow tint from the turmeric. Cook everything in the pan together for about 8-10 minutes until it is all heated through and any excess moisture from the tofu has cooked out.
I know it’s been a minute since I’ve posted a recipe on here, but I’m back from vacation and I’ve got lots of yummeh food to share with you guys, beginning with these DEEEELICIOUS cupcakes I made for my best friend Sophie’s birthday!
The recipe for these cupcakes comes from this awesome book I got for Christmas from my mom. It’s called Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor and it’s by the dinner/cake doctor Anne Byrn! Basically all the recipes begin with a simple boxed cake mix and they’re amped up to make really delicious cupcakes. Some of the people who ate these told me they were the best cupcakes they had ever eaten! They’re definitely not figure nor vegan friendly, however they’re pretty worth it!
You will need (for cupcakes):
- 1 pkg (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix
- 1 pkg (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
You will need (for frosting):
- 1 pkg (8 oz) reduced-fat cream cheese at room temperature
- 4 tbsp butter at room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp cinnamon sugar for topping/sprinkling
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners and set aside.
Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, and cinnamon using an electric mixer on low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until the cake batter is thick and well combined. Spoon 1/3 cup of the batter into each of the lined cupcake cups (each cup should be about 3/4 full).
Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, about 18 to 22 minutes. After removing the cupcakes from the oven, let them cool in their pans for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack and letting them cool for an additional 15 minutes.
Either while the cupcakes are cooling or while they are in the oven, prepare the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. First, blend the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Then begin adding the confectioners sugar a little at a time while still blending on low speed until all of the sugar is well incorporated. Then add the cinnamon, blend on medium speed until the frosting is fluffy.
I made a makeshift piping bag to frost my cupcakes by filling a sandwich-size plastic bag with the frosting and cutting a small hole in one of the corners. You could certainly just frost your cupcakes with a knife or the back of a spoon though. After frosting, sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar!
Me and Kevin made these tonight for dinner. They’re REALLY tasty…we used quinoa for the filling of ours, but you could use brown rice, cous cous, or really any grain you want! Also feel free to mix it up with the vegetables and just use whatever you have on hand!
I kind of messed up the proportions with this and ended up with a TON of filling for only two peppers…so I adjusted the recipe so that there would be an appropriate amount of all the ingredients!
You will need:
- 3 bell peppers (any color; keep two of them whole for stuffing and roasting, use half of the third pepper and cut into a medium dice. save the remaining 1/2 pepper for tofu scramble, fajitas, or a snack!)
- 1/2 cup dry quinoa (or rice, etc.)
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch long, 1/4 inch thick pieces
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves, stems removed
- 1 garlic clove, minced or put through a garlic press
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
- About 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
Cook the grain according to package directions. When done cooking, take off heat and let cool.
Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the onions, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Saute until fragrant, about a minute or two, before adding the carrots. Cook for about 3-4 minutes before adding the peppers. Once the peppers begin to soften (another 3-4 minutes), add the baby spinach and cook until wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the cooked vegetables with the grain and fresh thyme leaves. Then, to prepare the peppers for stuffing, cut off the tops of each pepper, making a little lid for each pepper. Remove as much of the ribs and seeds from the peppers as you can, but keeping the peppers in tact.
In a greased (with extra virgin olive oil) meatloaf-sized baking pan, set the two peppers upright with the “lids” off. Stuff each pepper with half of the grain/vegetable mixture. Put the pepper tops on and bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes, until the peppers are very tender and the tops begin to brown. When the peppers are done, remove the “lids” and top the quinoa mixture with salt, pepper, and 1 tsp lemon juice. Enjoy! Serves 2
These noodles were pretty easy to make and really tasty! I cheated a little and used a store bought sesame sauce instead of making my own entirely from scratch. These noodles could be served at any temperature, but since it’s been so hot here lately (in the 100s), I’d suggest chilling them for about an hour before serving.
You will need:
- 8 oz whole wheat linguini pasta
- 1 package extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed of all excess water, and cut into 1/2-1 inch cubes
- 2 large carrots, grated
- 1/2 head of purple cabbage, shredded
- 1 cup scallions, sliced
- 1/3 cup store bought sesame sauce (I used Coupla Guys Serious Sesame Sauce)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Sesame seeds, to taste
- Salt and pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; boil pasta until al dente (about 11-12 minutes). While the pasta is boiling, combine the sesame sauce and lemon juice in a bowl or cup and whisk together until well blended. Set aside. Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse with cold water until cooled. Set aside.
Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu cubes and saute them until they are golden on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the tofu to a plate or bowl and set aside.
Put the skillet back on the heat and add a few teaspoons of olive oil, then add the shredded cabbage and saute until slightly wilted, about 4-5 minutes. Remove the cabbage from the pan.
In a large bowl, combine the noodles, tofu, cabbage, grated carrot, scallions, and sesame sauce/lemon juice mixture until very well blended. Season with salt and pepper and top with sesame seeds. MmmmmMmm noodles. Serves 5.
The caprese sandwich…so good, so classic, so simple. And I made one the other night that kicks the ass of the caprese sandwich at school. I served mine with avocado salad aka half an avocado sliced with hot sauce and kosher salt on top.
You will need:
- 1/4 a baguette/1 ciabatta roll (I really think it would taste best on one of these, I had some really nice baguette from whole foods it was MM yeah)
- 5 cherry tomatoes, sliced/chopped (could use regular tomatoes but I like cherry cause they’re sweeter and never mealy)
- 3 or 4 1/4-inch thick slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
- A few fresh basil leaves, sliced thinly
- 1 clove garlic
- Salt and pepper
Toast the halves of the bread, then rub each half with the garlic clove (MAKIN GARLIC BREAD). Assemble all the ingredients between the slices/halves of the bread, sprinkle with salt and pepper before topping. Then put the sandwich in a panini press/George Forman grill for a few minutes, until the mozzarella is melted.
I made this stir fry for Kevin and a friend and myself for lunch this past weekend, it was pretty good. I FINALLY got PERFECT tofu, I was so proud of myself for those golden lil cubes. Perfect texture. To get the tofu the perfect amount of firmness, I drained it of its water, and wrapped it in many layers of paper towels. Then I set the block on a plate, then put another plate ontop of the block of tofu, then put TWO heavy books on top of the top plate, and let the water press out for about a half hour. Then I rewrapped it in fresh towels and let it sit for about 15 more minutes. Then I cut the block into about 1/2-1-inch cubes!
Feel free to use whatever vegetables you like in this stir fry, whatever you have. I just had red peppers and broccoli on hand, and there were some gorgeous carrots at Giant the other day so I threw those in there too. I served this stir fry over long-grain brown rice.
You will need:
- 1 package of extra firm tofu, prepared as described above
- About 1 head of broccoli, cut into medium florets
- 4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- Juice of half a lime
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- Salt and pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
Whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, sesame oil, rice vinegar, ground ginger, and garlic in a bowl. Set aside.
Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium heat until the pan is fully heated, then add about two teaspoons of olive oil to the pan (should not look like much). Add the tofu cubes and cook, flipping occasionally, until all cubes are golden brown on all sides (about 10-12 minutes). Remove the tofu from the pan, then place the pan back over heat.
Add some more oil to the pan, then add the carrots and saute until they start to get softer, about 3-4 minutes. While the carrots are cooking, place the broccoli in a microwavable cereal-sized bowl with a few tablespoons of water. Cover with a paper towel and microwave for 45 seconds (this steams the broccoli a little bit so that it doesn’t take forever to soften in the pan). When both the broccoli is done steaming and the carrots have begun to soften, add both the broccoli and red peppers to the pan and cook with the carrots for another 3-4 minutes. Then add the tofu and sauce to the pan. Cook all the ingredients together until most of the liquid is absorbed and the tofu is heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve over rice or noodles.
