Cashew Asparagus

I'm terrible at blogs. Sorry. Here's a new recipe for anyone who's interested. This recipe came into existence mostly because I associate on-sale asparagus with the arrival of spring. It's also a very quick and healthy recipe.

I might be creatively inspired to update the blog more regularly soon- the first co-op pick-up of the season is scheduled for Thursday morning! I don't know that I will be able to make that market, but hopefully I will have lots of new vegetables to try and find uses for on a regular basis soon!


Cashew Asparagus

Ingredients:

1-2 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup cashews (or almonds or other type of nuts)
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 bunch asparagus
Soy sauce to taste

Apparatus:

Knife
Cutting board
Large frying pan (or wok if you’re lucky enough to have one)
Spatula

Process:

1) Prepare asparagus by cutting the woody ends off. Dispose of the ends and then cut the remaining asparagus in half.
2) Place oil, garlic powder, ginger, cayenne pepper, and cashews into pan. Saute over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes.
3) Add asparagus to the pan, and sauté just until asparagus becomes tender.
4) Serve over brown rice.

Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup

This recipe is a favorite of mine, and got excellent reviews from the taste tester aka fiancé (he’s biased towards Mexican-leaning dishes in general though.) This recipe is a life-saver for me though because it is no-brainer easy AND I usually already have everything I need for the soup. It’s also great now that the weather is getting chillier. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced (or equivalent amount of frozen pre-diced onions)
28 ounces diced tomatoes
10 ounces tomato paste
24 ounces vegetable broth
2 cups frozen corn
24 ounces black beans (preferably ones you have soaked yourself, but canned is ok as well)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
Pinch of dried oregano
Pinch of dried thyme
1 tsp black pepper

Tortilla chips
Mexican blend cheese (optional)

Apparatus:

Crockpot
Stirring Spoon
Ladle

Process:

1) Place all ingredients (except for tortilla chips and cheese) in crockpot.
2) Stir. Place lid on crockpot. 
3) Set crockpot on low and leave all day. ( I left mine alone for over 12 hours and it turned out fine.)
4) Serve. Garnish with tortilla chips and cheese if desired.



Tortilla soup shown with chips and cheese

p.s. I have now added planning a wedding to the list of things I do!! I think that means we will be seeing strong emphasis on easy, quick, no-brainer recipes for the months to come. But, I am also sure I will be inspired by some of the fancy food that I have to deal with so there will still be more fun posts too!

Tandoori Tofu

Tandoori Tofu


I was asked a while back if I knew any tofu recipes, and this one is one of the first that features the tofu. I was also asked if this recipe was “man-able?” and I think the answer would have to be yes-it is very, very easy to make! It’s not a pretty recipe, but I like to think of it as tasty.

Ingredients:

Non-stick cooking spray
¼ cup frozen diced onions (or fresh if you have time)
1 package extra-firm tofu, drained
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed
½ cup frozen peas
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tandoori powder (pre-made stuff is available from

Apparatus:

Pot
Knife
Spoon

Process:
1)Dice tofu. I prefer to do this while it’s still in the package and just cut in a grid pattern.
2)Spray pot with non-stick cooking spray. Add onions and sauté on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes to thaw.
3)Place all other ingredients in pot, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. (The longer you let it simmer, the more flavor the tofu absorbs.) Stir occasionally, but the more you stir, the less shape your tofu will retain.
4)Serve.


*Notes* I serve this over brown rice and with seasoned lentils on the side.

Zucchini-Tomato Quick Stew with Goat Cheese

Zucchini-Tomato Quick Stew with Goat Cheese

The other day I had the good fortune to be handed a Ziploc bag full of organic goat cheese. So when I got home from out of town, the only ingredients I had were those below, and I decided to just attempt to put them together. Lucky for me it turned out fairly well!

Ingredients:

Non-stick cooking spray
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 can “no-salt-added” diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
4 tbsp goat cheese

Apparatus:

Pan
Spatula
Knife
Bowl
Spoon

Process:

1)Spray pan with non-stick spray. Put garlic in pan and sauté on medium-high heat until garlic is fragrant. (2-3 minutes)
2)Place zucchini in pan with herbs and sauté until zucchini becomes soft. (Time will depend on how thick you cut your slices.)
3)Add tomatoes to pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes, shifting vegetables occasionally.
4)Place vegetables into bowls, and top with dollops of goat cheese (about 2tbsp per bowl).

*Notes* I serve this over brown rice to make it more filling.

Spinach-Lentil Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe is a bit of a desperation recipe. I had forgotten to soak beans to make the dinner I had planned, and was running way short on time, so after staring at the fridge and shelves for a bit, here's the result.



Spinach-Lentil Stuffed Mushrooms


Ingredients

¾ cup brown lentils
1 medium onion, diced
¾ cup frozen spinach
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
Cayenne pepper to taste
Non-stick cooking spray
2 portabella mushroom caps

Apparatus

Frying pan
Spatula
Pot
Wooden spoon
Small knife
Baking sheet


Process

1)Place lentils with pot and cover with water (approximately 1 inch above lentils). Place on stove on medium high heat and allow to boil until all water is absorbed.
2)Spray pan lightly with cooking spray. Add onion, and sauté until transparent.
3)Add spinach and spices, and reduce to low heat.
4)Wash a mushroom cap, and very gently remove the center and brown ridges. Add these parts to the pan with spinach and onion. (I prefer to lightly scrape them off over the pan so they go directly in) Repeat this process for the second mushroom cap.
5)Spray baking pan lightly with cooking spray, and place mushroom caps on pan, stuff-able side up.
6)By this point, the lentils should have absorbed all, or almost all of the water. Transfer approximately ½ of the lentils to the pan with spinach and onions.
7)Heat vegetable mixture on medium-high while moving quickly with spatula, for approximately 1 minute.
8)Transfer mixture in small amounts to mushroom caps.
9)Place in oven at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes, and serve.


The complete meal (yes, that is microwave-steamed asparagus. Not nearly as good as fresh, but it does add another vegetable!)

*Notes* I like to serve this with the extra lentils on the side (after I’ve added some garlic and cumin!) You can also stuff smaller mushrooms with this recipe and use them as appetizers if you’re the entertaining sort. The left-over spinach onion mixture is great in a whole wheat tortilla wrap for lunch the next day too!

One final note- I really like the nutritiondata.com site for telling you what the nutritional content of ingredients is. If you are watching any sort of calorie intake, calorie ratio, or just want to try to guess whether you’ve been getting all of your micronutrients, etc, I would take a look at it.