Veggie Pad Thai with Korean Melon

Pad Thai is a great dish to make when guests come over because it is just so easy to make in big batches. Bear and I had a friend over last night for dinner and movies and drinks, so I made a huge bowl of pad thai for us all. Bonus- this version is free of not only eggs, meat and shellfish, but also tofu and other mock meats, so it's a very easy sell to omnivores. 

To make this dish special I made a few changes from normal pad thai. First off, I used brown rice noodles, because they seemed a bit healthier. I also added some korean melon to this dish. Korean melon is really tasty and the sweetness and crunch add a much needed light note to a dish like this, which makes it extra perfect for late Summer evenings.

Pad Thai with Melon-

• 1 package brown rice noodles
• 1 medium sized korean melon
• 3 baby bell peppers (or two normal ones)
• 4 stalks green onion, chopped fine
• 1 can water chesnuts
• 1 large handful beansprouts (canned will work fine)
• 1 large carrot, sliced thin
• 6 mushrooms, sliced thin
• 3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 1 lime's worth of juice
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger 

First off, boil a pot of water. Once the water reached a rolling boil toss in your rice noodles, wait a few minutes, and when they seem cooked through, drain them and set them aside in a large mixing bowl.

Next, take the soy sauce, tamarind paste, ginger, lime juice, chili sauce and peanut butter and toss them in a large pot or pan (I use a huge non stick frying pan for everything) and heat them on medium, stirring thoroughly. Then add a quarter cup of water and the carrots, mushrooms and green onion. Let that cook on medium for five minutes, then add the other veggies, and allow it to cook for 10 minutes with the cover on.

During that time, slice up the melon. First step, cut the melon in half length wise and scoop out the seeds. Then simply cut it into slim matchstick like slices and put it aside. When the veggies are done toss them in the bowl with the noodles and add the melon. Toss well and serve in bowl.

Vegan Eggplant Curry with Roasted Chickpeas and Ginger Fruit Tea

Indian flavors are some of my favorite to cook with. I love chutneys and curries and lots of spice. So today i decided to make something spicy and something sweet to drink to accompany it.

Iced tea is a Summer staple, and the perfect thing to go with a spicy dish. The best iced tea is made with a lot flavor, and real fruit juice is the best way to get it. For my iced tea I used Yogi Ginger tea, but any ginger tea base would work fine.

Ginger Fruit Tea-

• 2 bags ginger tea
• juice form 1 large grapefruit
• juice from 2 kiwis
• juice from 1 lime
• (optional) 1/4 cup simple syrup or other sweetener

I brewed my tea for a few hours before simply juicing the fruit in my juicer and mixing it all in a pitcher and adding some sweetener. It's a really nice refreshing drink.

Roasted Chickpeas-

• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp chili powder

Preheat oven to 250. Drain and rinse chickpeas and then toss with the seasoning and olive oil. Then set aside until the oven is ready. When it is, spread the chickpeas on a baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes. 

Eggplant Curry

• 1/2 a large eggplant, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 1 can diced tomato
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds

This is the easiest recipe. Chop the veggies, measure the spices, open the cans, and toss it all in a nice big soup pot and simmer on medium for an hour. Best served over jasmine rice.

What I Want- Under $50

Complete Kitchen Knife Set $39.00

My current knife set is made of mismatched pieces and some hand me down items. I know a good knife is a cook's best friend, and this cute set looks perfect. I also like that it comes with a pair of kitchen scissors because they're really handy. 

Cassette Tape Cookie Cutter $14.00

I don't make cookies that often but these cute cookie cutters might be the motivation I need. I remember having a killer cassette collection as a kid and these just bring back the fun memories.

Essential Utensil Set $49.00

Non metal utensils are essential if you're like me and like to use non stick pans. Right now all I have is a random collection of old wooden spoons to use. These seem like a good step up.

Obsessive Chef Cutting Board $24.00

I have two cutting boards already but they're both long and sort of thin, which can leade to bits of chopped veggies falling off and making a mess. A nice big work surface liek this with a fun pattern is just what I need. 

Bear Box #3! Sweet Potato and Quinoa Croquettes, Sauteed Veggies and Pasta with Sweet Potato and Tomato Puree!

Top level- Rice pasta with a puree of sweet potato and tomato with garlic.

Bottom level- On the right, asparagus and mushroom sauteed with garlic and oregano and topped with crushed roasted nuts. On the left are croquettes made form sweet potato, quinoa, onion, garlic and gluten free breadcrumbs on a bed of baby spinach.

Croquettes are a great lunch box staple, they're easy to make in batches and travel pretty well. This box is loaded with veggies and healthy crabs to keep Bear full of energy all day long. 

Vegan Quesadillas with Salsa Fresca and Taco Sauce

Quesadillas were one of my fave foods as a kid. It's cheesy and gooey and you can eat it with your hands. I had figured they wouldn't be a part of my life after going vegan. But with the power of Daiya and some creative cooking, I made the best quesadillas I have ever had, all without the icky animal cruelty. 

These were shockingly easy, and when served with some fresh avocado and salsa, makes for a healthy meal. I made two types of quesadillas- bean and bell pepper, and mushroom and onion, both were easy and delicious!

Mushroom and Onion filling-

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 diced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

Then add half a package of pepperjack daiya.

Bean and Bell Pepper filling

1/2 can beans (I used kidney)

1 bell pepper, diced

1 tbsp adobo seasoning (or 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder)

 1 tsp smoked paprika

Then add the rest of the daiya

For the salsa-

1/2 large cucumber, diced

1 large tomato, diced

Juice from 1 lime

1 medium bell pepper, diced

1/2 onion, diced

2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

2 tsp hot sauce

fresh cilantro

Taco Sauce-

1 cup soaked cashews

1 small can tomato sauce

1 tbsp cumin

2 tsp salt

2 tsp chili powder

simply toss it all in a food processor until smooth and creamy.

Vegan Curry Fried Rice

Have a lot of left over cooked rice? not sure what to do with it? Sick of normal friend rice? How about curry? No one gets sick of curry. At least, I never do.

Curry Fried Rice

• 2 cups of cooked rice
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 can peas/chickpeas/1 cup cooked lentils (this will help with leftover legumes too!)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 cup mushroom slices
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tbsp garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp salt

Optional

• Frozen broccoli or cauliflower
• Green beans
• Bean Sprouts
• Cubed tofu
• Hot Sauce
• Plain coconut yogurt

Add coconut oil to a large frying pan on low heat, once it melts add the veggies and cook on medium heat for 10-15 min until the carrots are tender. Then add leftover rice and spices and stir constantly until rice begins to brown in places.

The best ting about this meal is that you can use any veggies you want, even just a frozen mix will work fine. That mean's it's a great option when you need a quick bite to eat but don't just want a frozen burrito or a bowl of cereal.

Bear Box #2! Chickpea Omelette, Rice and Marinated Tofu

More bento! Bear was in the mood for Asian food for dinner again so I made another bento. I decided to play on some bento classics, white rice with umeboshi (pickled plums), omelettes, and marinated tofu. My version has brown rice, a chickpea omelette and tofu marinated without fish sauce.

Tofu marinade-

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp chili sauce  

1 tsp Worcestershire 

Simply mix these together with the tofu and let it sit for at least 30 min. Cubing the tofu lets it soak in easier. Then I fried the tofu and set it on a bed of spinach.

Chickpea omelette-

1 part chickpea flour

1 part water

1 tsp baking powder

This is the basic ingredients for the omelette. However, this would be a bit pain. The great thing here is that chickpea omelettes are very easy to season in different ways so they can be eaten with a lot of different things. For this recipes I added sesame seeds, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Then you just cook them like a pancake. 

I then shredded up some carrot and diced some onion and sliced a handful of mushrooms, sauteed them in sesame oil and garlic and then rolled them up inside. 

The rice was pretty simple. Brown rice cooked in the rice cooker, some pieces of nori, a hanful of shelled edamame and an umeboshi with the pit removed. Steam the soy beans and the rice and layer it all neatly into the box and you're done. 

Cook Book Review- The Vegan Stoner Cookbook

I am not a stoner. I have friends who are and I have nothing against pot, I just don't smoke because I have wicked asthma and my man gets tested for work. BUT I do love The Vegan Stoner Cookbook.
My grandma, who recently passed away, got me this cookbook for my last birthday. She was very supportive of my going vegan and thought this book was something I would enjoy because it had simple recipes that were a lot of fun and also a bunch of cute illustrations. I like my cookbooks with lots and lots of pictures.
The book is divided into sections, breakfast, lunch, munch, dinner and dessert, with different recipes in each section. It's a small book but each recipe is only a single page so they really make use of the space. The back of the book has a short guide on making basics like vegetable broth, a basic tomato sauce, and "herb oil" which is handy if you want to make edibles instead of smoking or vaping. I haven't tried that one though, so I'm not sure how great it is.
The best thing I can say about this book is that it is super useful on a regular basis. It is very uncomplicated. The recipes don't need a million ingredients, and they don't take a lot of time or effort to make. They're also very easy to customize. I always end up adding own fave fruit or veg or spices, and that is something this book encourages.
Today I am going to be making two great recipes, partly to show how awesome this book is and partially because I am going to go see friends tonight and that's an excuse for me to cook for a bunch of people and I love that.  
This is how The Vegan Stoner presents recipes; in super cute illustration form with a simple list of instructions on the side. Easy and cute!

I love coconut dishes. It's not a flavor you see a lot in western savory cuisine, but it's something I have grown to love. This recipe is amazingly simple and so easy to customize. The recipe is fine as is, I just happen to like more spices in most of my dishes, so I add the following:

Optional Spices-

2 tsp turmeric

1.5 tsp curry powder

2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

.5 tsp fresh grated ginger

Simply follow the normal directions and stir in any or all of these ingredients when you mix the coconut milk and flour.

The second recipe I chose was a dessert, baked banana cake! I don't bake a lot but it's some I really want to do more of. Vegan baking can be difficult but this recipe makes dessert simple.

Once again, I decided to change this recipe a little. I love bananas but I also love a lot of other fruits. So I chose to add some strawberries and raspberries. Strawberries have a great sweetness while the slightly tart raspberries will keep the dish form being too sugary. Again, this recipe is great as is, but the thing I love most about this cookbook is using it as a starting point for some great dishes that are entirely my own.

And here is how mine turned out-

Overall I give The Vegan Stoner Cookbook a 5/5!

Keep up with lots of awesome recipes by going the Vegan Stoner Blog

Bear Box #1! Lime Portobello Caps with Spicy Cabbage and Peppers

Bear works on a boat, and he works long hours. So when it comes o food here's not a lot of options. He can buy some things at work, but the vegan options are limited and he can only do that on his rare day shifts. The rest of the time he has to bring food in. A lot of his coworkers bring in fast food or store frozen meals on board, but it can be expensive and unhealthy, so I started making him food to go. This one was pretty easy. 

Ingredients- 

1/2 Bell Pepper

1 Large tomato

1 Portobello Cap

1 onion

1 Handful Cilantro

1 small can Diced Green Chiles 

2 handfuls Red Cabbage

1 Lime

Hot Sauce, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper

Start by chopping your cilantro and setting it aside. 

Dice the onion.

Mix the can of chiles with the juice of one lime.

Slice the mushroom cap and toss them with the chilles, lime juice and cilantro, then set it aside for at least fifteen minutes.

Chop your tomato and bell pepper

Sautee the cabbage, pepper and tomato on medium. I added 2tsp of garlic powder, a dash of pepper, a dash of salt and several large shakes of tobasco. Adjust seasoning as you see fit.

Toss the shroom mix into a pan on medium high heat. The onions should become clear and the mushroom tender. Takes about 10-15 minutes.

I served min on a bed of seasoned brown rice. My secret for great rice? I add seasoning while it cooks. This time it was 2 tablespoons of adobo for 2 cups of uncooked rice, stirred right into the water. The great thing about this recipe is it microwaves really well and still tastes great.

Cute Cooking Is Best

This week I decided to really try and get back into cooking now that I have my own kitchen. It's not perfectly set up yet (pictures soon!) but it's still usable. So my first undertaking was to make bento. Bento is a style of japanese lunchbox packed with yummy and often cute foods. 

I bought myself a Nyanpire box with two levels and a small divider, made rice and then chopped up veggies and faux chicken. I used special cutters for the veggies to make them cute shapes and used rice molds to turn regular short grain brown rice into stars, hearts and even little bears! If you look closely you can even see my little bunny hot sauce container.

Now that I realized how fun it is to make cute lunches like this, all I want to do is get more bento stuff so I can make even more things! There's food picks, special food cutters, and dividers you can use to make your lunches special. I think taking the time to make a cute lunch is actually fun and in the end it's actually more satisfying then an ugly thrown together dish of leftovers.

These small silicone molds would be nice for making myself veggie sushi to bring to school.

I love these bunny food picks, they're cute and would be perfect for little fruit and veg skewers.

I love this three piece Pikachu bento box. I would put rice in the bottom layer, a veggie stir fry or curry on the middle and fill the top with fruit slices and nuts. 

Are any of you into making bento?