En-CURR-A
Again, I’m hilarious. Get on the pun wagon.
I’ve learned a decent amount in the past few days that I’ve been eating vegan. 1: When I give up cheese and the like, I accidentally give up crabs. 2: I can still control myself at work around cheesy garlic bread (my most favorite thing there) I did slip up today because Kati wanted to get Pho and I had some beef egg rolls with her. I had veggie Pho, however. (I actually like that better)
The past 4 days have been extra warm in Chicago. Like, around 40-50 degrees over the norm. Because of that, I’ve been able to pick up extra shifts serving on the patio at work. Yes, we’ve had people eating outside. Last night I got home and was STARVING. I had eaten my salad during work, but you run around for 9 hours, you’re going to be hungry. I had a half of a can of coconut milk left from the satay, and thought I’d do a quick curry. While it was simmering, I realized I needed some sort of carb, so I added rice.
This curry is super easy, full of fiber and protein. When you’re not eating meat, you need to make sure you have enough protein, and what better way than black beans and tofu? The longest part of this recipe will be making the rice, so don’t worry if you’re in a rush.
Here’s what to get from the store:
Coconut Milk
Tofu
Black Beans
Brussels Sprouts
Broccoli
Jasmine Rice
Red Chili Paste
Quick Veggie Curry
1/2 cup cubed tofu
1/4 cup black beans
4 cloves garlic, diced
4 Brussels sprouts, chopped
1/4 cup diced broccoli
1/2 can coconut milk
1/4 tsp red chili paste
Salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika
Cooked Jaime Rice
- Sauté your garlic until mostly cooked, add the broccoli and sprouts, cook until bright green. Add salt and pepper.
- Add the black beans and tofu with some turmeric and sauté until the tofu is browned.
- Add the coconut milk and chili paste and bring to a simmer. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve over cooked rice.
I’m really glad to have started working more again. I am partially grateful to mother nature for this, but this does make me more concerned for climate change. Even if you don’t believe climate change exists, please be more careful with the environment, it’s the only one we have.
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I crack myself up guys.
After gaining about 10 pounds in the past 6 months, I had to kick myself in the butt. Part of the gain was because my eating habits, and part of it was drinking. So yesterday I decided to be completely vegan for a week, and to cut down my drinking. Luckily since I eat a mostly vegetarian diet anyway, the only thing I have to really cut out is cheese (tragic) and switch the Greek yogurt in my smoothie to peanut butter.
I had originally wanted to make a stir fry with a Tahini sauce, but when I went to Jewel today and it took me along time to find the Thaini sauce (why was it with the Italian stuff?) that I decided to make peanut satay sauce instead.
I know I’ve probably said this before, but most food from Asian countries is kind of awesome for the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. They generally don’t have milk so you never have to worry about sauces, and they tend to use a lot more vegetables than we do in Western cultures.
Satay sauce is SUPER easy. It can be a little calorie dense, thanks to it being coconut milk based, but it’s still pretty good and you can choose how much to eat.
Here’s what to get from the store:
Coconut milk
Peanut butter
Red curry paste
Apple Cider Vinegar
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Mushrooms
Thai Peanut Satay Sauce
(From Rasa Malaga)
1/2 cp peanut butter
3/4 cp coconut milk
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp ground peanut
Salt to taste
- Put everything except the ground peanut into a sauce pan, bring to a boil and stir until combined. Top with the ground peanut.
Veggie Stir Fry
Broccoli, diced
Mushrooms, diced
1 small onion, diced
Brussels sprouts, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
Tofu, diced
Satay sauce
- Sauté the vegetables until cooked, add as much of the satay sauce as you would like.
I know, these were super easy, but that’s kind of the point. There was a guy on a dating site who said he liked cooking vegetarian because he said it was harder. As someone who does that all the time, I disagree. Cooking without meat makes things a lot easier, vegetables cook a lot faster, and if you do under cook them, they won’t kill you. The most important part about cooking vegetarian or vegan is to use the right spices. Spices are very important for any meal, and they don’t add any calories. Some spices have added health benefits, and there’s nothing wrong with that. 
Sweet Startch!
I’ve been trying to diversify what I’m eating, because my salad can get boring (no matter how yummy it is). So, when I went to the store the other day, I picked up some brussles sprouts and sweet potatoes. My resulting dinner tonight was pretty fantastic, sorry there aren’t any exact measurements, but it delicious!
Veggie Saute
1 sweet potato, cubed and skinned
1/2 red onion, chopped
10 brussles sprouts, halved
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Handful of Kale
chickpeas
Olive oil
Basalmic Vinager
Dill
Paprika
Honey
Salt and pepper
- Saute the sweet potatoes in some olive oil with salt, pepper and vinager. Once they have been cooking for a few minutes, add the sprouts and stir. Cover the pan, stiring every once in a while until the potatoes start to soften and the sprouts start to brown.
- Add the onion and garlic along with the spices and honey, cook until the onions are transluent. Add the kale and cook until it shrinks. Add chickpeas and cook for another moment.
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Ramblings of the Culinary Addicted 