Bear Box #4! Asian Barbecue Veggies with Steamed buns

Top Tier- mushrooms and carrots in asian barbecue sauce and steamed buns with barbecue sauce and ginger

Bottom tier- steamed brown rice with edamame 

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.

Vegan Anywhere- Zen Palate, Midtown Manhattan

Bear and I had a weekend in the city with some friends and decided we had to make the most of the trip by going to a great vegan restaurant. Since we were in Times Square for the Marvel Agents of SHIELD STATION exhibit, we decided to go to Zen Palate which is nearby. 

We started the meal with veggie spring rolls with fresh basil, which were really fresh and tasty. I adore spring rolls, they're really cute and I loved the fresh herbs inside.

Then, dumplings! The veggies dumplings come steamed or pan friend, like we chose. They were just the right amount of crispy on the outside and the inside was warm and flavorful, you barely needed any sauce to dip them in.

For my main course, I went with the shepard's pie croquettes. It came with veggies, and some more spring rolls. The croquettes were stuffed with diced vegetables and faux ham, which was really tasty. They came with a thicker, somewhat sweet, dipping sauce which offset the saltiness of the fake pork really well. They were also perfectly cooked which can be a big problem with croquettes.

Bear went with the Moo Shu Fantasia, with green cabbage, soy ham and shredded vegetables. The portions were pretty big and he said the sauce was delicious. I tried a bite of his dish and loved how much flavor they had gotten into the vegetable filling.

Dessert was tofu cheesecake with a blueberry topping. It was amazing, creamy and rich and the crust was flavorful and the sauce was perfect. I love cheesecake so whenever I see a vegan version of it I have to order it. Bear and I shared this piece because the rest of the meal had already been so filling.

Final Scores-
Food- 5/5
Cost- 4.5/5
Service- 4.5/5

Bonus City Shots- 

Peach bubble tea from Vivi!

Wandering around Chinatown, drinking all the fruity beverages.

Bear and I are very romantic and stuff

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.

Rice Cooker Recipe- Basic Brown Rice Pilaf

I love my rice cooker. It's the appliance I use the most, partly because it's just so handy. When I first got it I was a bit underwhelmed. I mean, it's a machine that makes rice and a few other grains. it's not like it was hard to make those before right? The breakthrough for me was realizing how much easier it could make my life. I could make my grains ahead of time and they would stay warm and ready until dinner. I also learned that you can make more than just plain rice or quinoa. Beans, veggies and spices can all be tossed in with the uncooked rice for the perfect base to a meal.
Rice pilaf is a pretty straightforward dish. It's rice cooked in broth and seasoning, so it has more flavor than if it was cooked in water. With a rice cooker you can simply pour in broth with the uncooked rice and let it soak up all the yummy flavor. Here is one of my favorite versions-

Basic Brown Rice Pilaf-
2 cups uncooked brown rice
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme

Take ingredients and pour into rice cooker, then flip the switch. The trick is two have 2 parts liquid to 1 part uncooked rice. How long this recipe takes to cook will depend on your rice cooker and how much rice you are trying to make.

I served mine with mushrooms and lentils, but this side works with a lot of different dishes.