Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

Cilantro not optional! It's so good on this. One semester in college, I had a Vietnamese roommate who was willing to cook all sorts of delicious things for us while I washed dishes and peeled shrimp as her sous chef. This was one of my favorite meals that she taught me to make, and I can't believe I haven't blogged it yet. I like to make it with fried tofu, but it's also great with shrimp and chicken and probably other proteins as well. I imagine the vegetables could be changed out, but I'm partial to broccoli in this. And white onions. And did I mention the cilantro? I really like cilantro on top. This "recipe" is more a reminder of what ingredients to use than a guide to quantities, because I've learned how it should taste and I adjust the proportions accordingly. If you are reading this blog and you are not me, you might want to do some googling to get some more foolproof instructions. The Recipe: 1 block tofu (or another

My Thanksgiving turkey. I was searching for a tempeh recipe that would work as a turkey substitute in Thanksgiving dinner, and I came across  this recipe  for tempeh sandwiches with Thanksgiving condiments on top. It sounded delicious, so I took a chance and made this tempeh as the main protein in our meal. I thought if everyone revolted, I could do something with meat next year, but everyone claimed to like it! It has now joined my mushroom gravy on the list of things to make every year. It's way less work than a turkey. It took a few minutes to mix up the ingredients, 10 minutes to cook, and 30 seconds to slice. I let it marinate in the fridge for 4 hours, but the original recipe says that that part is optional. The Recipe: 8 oz tempeh 1/2 c vegetable broth 1 tb soy sauce 1/2 tb maple syrup 1 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp liquid smoke Mix all ingredients besides tempeh. Place tempeh in shallow dish, pour marinade on top, and marinate in the refrigerator f

These disappeared quickly. Every time I want to make pumpkin cookies, I look back to this blog to find a recipe I've enjoyed before. And then I remember that I always partially improvise my cookies, so there's no bloggable recipe, and also the cookies don't come out so well. Time to change that. I did a quick search for "healthy pumpkin oat cookies" and the first hit was from  Amy's Healthy Baking , which kind of seemed like fate. I read the recipe and it sounded great, so onward I went. I did follow the recipe without improvising (a step up for me), but I still couldn't be bothered with actually measuring the ingredients, so I bet these would be even better if someone wanted to go to ALL THAT EFFORT. But even with eyeballing the quantity of flour, these came out great and I will be excited to use this recipe again in the future. They are quite healthy - lots of oats, lots of pumpkin, and not too much butter/flour/sugar. The "sugar&qu

These are DEFINITELY not layered to hide a missing bite from the bottom pancake. Ever since my 7th grade hobby of baking fat-free cakes (with green food coloring), I've had a habit of over-healthifying my baked goods. This habit has led to many years of eating hockey-puck-like pancakes, laden with oats and flax meal and applesauce, and sometimes no flour. But now that mornings are occupied with baby, and it seems we might have pumpkin pancakes a total of one time this season, it seemed like a better idea to just make them taste good. Within reason, of course, so I worked from this EatingWell recipe . It uses whole wheat flour, minimal sugar, and includes a note suggesting that one might add oats or flax seed. But no additions for me this time. And whaddaya know? Actual fluffy pancakes. Finally. I like the large amount of pumpkin in these. Sometimes pumpkin pancakes don't have enough pumpkin for my liking. These had a ton, and the texture is really smooth and rich

Simple delicious food. Now that I'm making  miso ramen  regularly, I often have some silken tofu left over. I searched Pinterest for ways to use silken tofu that don't involve chocolate (because as much as I love silken tofu chocolate mousse, that's not a habit I want to get into), and I was reminded of this great dish that we had in Japan. It's now one of my staple lunches. It is ridiculously easy. It's barely a recipe, even. There are some recipes for hiyayakko that are slightly more involved (like, they might take 3 minutes instead of 2), but this version takes no effort or special ingredients and it's delicious. The Recipe: silken tofu (however much you want to eat) a splash of soy sauce a drop of sesame oil optional toppings: sesame seeds, green onions, other? Put tofu in bowl. Put other ingredients on top. The Verdict: Overall grade: B Overall reason: So so easy and so so healthy. Flavor could probably be better balanced by addi

I'm pretty proud of myself. I no longer have to crave  Toshi's Ramen  every time I drive by it. I can now make delicious miso ramen at home, and I intend to do so often. This may become a weekly dinner. I hadn't tried this sooner because I thought I needed dashi to make good miso soup, and I didn't want to buy another specialty ingredient and then feel compelled to use it up. But I found  this recipe , the reviews were good, and I had all of the ingredients, so I went for it. The topping choices are endless, and Jess would like them to include meat, but my favorites are what I did this time: silken tofu, green onions, roasted corn, and egg. I need to find good ramen noodles. I used the ones from a package of ramen this time (organic ramen from Market of Choice, but still). I'll explore the asian store and see what I can find. Don't leave out the little splash of sesame oil. That's what makes it taste like restaurant soup. And if you limit it to

With toasted sesame seeds. The tub of miso in my fridge has given me reason to try more miso recipes, and it is becoming apparent that I will from now on always keep a tub of miso in my fridge. I could not decide whether I wanted to try miso-glazed eggplant, salmon, or mushrooms. So I made the first two for dinner and made the mushrooms for lunch the next day. Upon reading many recipes via Pinterest, I decided to take the easiest possible route: a 2-ingredient glaze and a cooking method that creates the fewest dirty pans and dishes. I imagine some of the other methods create better texture, but we enjoyed this. The Recipe: 1/4 c white miso 3 tb mirin salmon, eggplant, mushrooms, and/or other things white rice, for serving toasted sesame seeds, for serving cucumber salad (marinated in rice vinegar with a touch of salt and sugar), for serving Mix miso and mirin. Score the top of whatever you will be glazing, if it's sturdy enough to handle scorin

Next time there will be a bigger scoop of guacamole. I had  Chipotle's sofritas  once, in an airport at like 8:30am when I'd already been traveling for a few hours. I liked it. I would eat it routinely except that our Chipotle is a block away from  Mucho Gusto , which is similar except way better (and local) and has among my favorite tofu in town. But when I saw the  spicy sofritas veggie bowls  on my favorite food blog,  Pinch of Yum , I was excited to try it. One day, I'll follow the original recipe exactly and make my own sauce. In the meantime, I cheat and buy a chipotle salsa at the store and use that as my sauce. I almost didn't add any beans because they didn't seem to belong, but I'm so glad I did. They really break up the texture of the tofu and add more depth to the dish. The Recipe (serves 4): 1 block extra-firm tofu small jar chipotle salsa (or make the sauce in the Pinch of Yum recipe ) 1/4 c water 15 oz can black be

THE PIT OF ETERNAL STENCH! Or, refried beans. In my long-overdue discovery of the crock-pot, I decided to try making one of my favorites - refried beans. Why not make them healthier, cheaper, and probably more delicious than the usual canned type?  These are really delicious and easy to make, and I love the versatility to make them spicier or more garlicky or doctor them up in any number of other ways.  And the house smelled incredible while they were cooking. I like these over rice (preferably yummy Mexican-flavored rice), with cheddar and shredded lettuce and avocado on top. The Recipe: 1 lb dry pinto beans, rinsed 8 oz canned green chilies (I like the mild ones in this) 1 onion, peeled and halved 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tb salt 1 tb black pepper 1/4 tsp cumin 8 c water Dump everything into the slow-cooker. Cook on high for 8-9 hours, until beans are mushy. Remove the onion halves. Ladle off the water floating on the top (I kept ladli

Garrrrlicccccc. This is SO EASY. And it tastes really good. And yeah, there's some butter in it, but overall it's a pretty healthy meal. I found  this recipe  on Pinterest while searching for ways to use up lemons, because I had a few leftover. We've had it twice already this week, and I foresee making it many more times. The Recipe: 2 tilapia fillets (or more; there is enough sauce for at least 4 fillets) 2 tb butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 small lemon salt and pepper rice and veggies for serving (I like jasmine rice with lemon zest, and greens sauteed in the pan that had the sauce) Melt butter in a pan (recommended tip: use a big enough pan for your veggies, so you can sautee them in the remnants of the sauce while the fish bakes) Add garlic and sautee for 1 minute, being careful not to burn the garlic Add the juice of the lemon and turn off the heat Place tilapia filets in a shallow baking dish that has been prepared with cooking spray. Sprinkle

At a quick glance, the cucumbers with carrots look like fried eggs. Having bought miso for this  roasted vegetables recipe , the hunt is on for more miso recipes. So far so good. I'm not really sure why miso has never been a staple ingredient in my fridge before. This salad is delicious. And best yet, it tastes even better the next day, so it can be made ahead of time or made in large quantities. I worked from  this Snixy Kitchen recipe , which doesn't put the salad over rice, but we ate it over brown rice to make it a more substantial dinner. It's good both ways. I adjusted the proportions of ingredients a tiny bit from the original recipe. The Recipe: 2 large english cucumbers, sliced thin 12 oz frozen shelled edamame, boiled 2 carrots, sliced thin 1 tb toasted sesame seeds 1 sheet nori, cut into thin strips 2 1/2 tb white miso 1 1/2 tb hot water 2 tb rice vinegar 1 tb ginger root, grated 1 tb sesame oil 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp soy sauce Whisk

This makes me want to sing. It's possible that I should just delete my blog postings and make this URL redirect to  Pinch of Yum , because a good portion of the things I cook now are from that site. And almost all of them have become favorites.  I'm at the point now where I'm trying recipes from  Pinch of Yum  that don't initially sound that good to me, because I trust Lindsay that I will love it. She has yet to let me down. In this case, I'm not big on stew, or coconut milk, or anything with chunks of potatoes. But I was lured in by how healthy, cheap, and easy it looked to make. And guess what? It was delicious. Bonus: SO MANY LEFTOVERS. I'm more excited about going back to work now that these are waiting for me. My only change to the original is that while she uses 3 cups of vegetable broth and 1 cup of water, I used 4 cups of vegetable broth, because that's the amount in a box and I hate having ingredients left over. And I added th

Sesame seeds are key to making it pretty. This was my second attempt at enjoying this dressing, and it was a success. A friend had spoken highly of the sauce recipe, and so I tried it, but instead of putting it on roasted vegetables (as in the original  Smitten Kitchen recipe ), I thought it would be good on salmon and spinach. The result was way too rich and salty-tasting. But with the sweet nuttiness of roasted vegetables, this has the potential to become a new favorite meal. It's a good way to use tahini, if you are tired of keeping tahini around just to make the occasional hummus. Of course, it requires the purchase of another seldom-used ingredient: miso. Looks like I will be finding some more miso-based recipes in the near future... stay tuned. If anyone finds a good use for this sauce beyond roasted vegetables, let me know! It's delicious and I think there's good potential there... but the salmon debacle has left me reluctant to branch out at the momen

Envision the sprinkle of paprika that would make this more photogenic. I've had a hummus breakthrough. Thank you,  Inspired Taste . I've been making hummus on and off for a while. It's always been better than most store-bought hummuses, but not better enough to get really excited about it. It's mainly been a texture issue... it's been kind of clumpy and not very rich-tasting, and I always figured that the rich creamy ones in stores and restaurants were laden with fats and/or chemicals to make them so. Turns out it's just a matter blending the ingredients in the right order. Tahini and lemon go first. Blend them for a good minute until they're kind of whipped together. Then comes the rest, minus water, and then the water. I also squeezed fresh lemons this time instead of using bottled lemon juice, and it makes a big difference. It's worth keeping lemons on hand. I briefly glimpsed something in the original recipe that debates the merits

Pretty, right? When there's only one salmon filet left, we get to do decadent things like include half of a salmon filet with a stir-fry that already has tempeh in it. Both were good, though I think I prefer seafood with these flavors. I think next time I'll try shrimp. I really like this sauce because there's no oil in it! I don't think I've ever had such a delicious stir-fry sauce that wasn't oil-based. There is some sugar, but you really don't need a lot if your mangos are sweet. I work from  this recipe . Aside from subbing whatever proteins and vegetables look good that day, I haven't made any changes. Yum. The Recipe (makes enough sauce for about 4 servings): 2 fresh mangos, or  2c frozen mango chunks 1-2 tsp chili-garlic sauce (or chopped chilis and garlic) 1 tb rice vinegar 3 tb soy sauce 1 tb fish sauce 1 tsp lime juice 2 tb brown sugar (more or less to taste) 1/2 c cilantro, plus more for garnish protein and veggies for sti

Check out the cheesy browned mushroom on the lower left. I want it. Alternate title for this recipe: "Use Up Any Mexican-Themed Ingredients In the Fridge." The ingredients are greatly interchangeable, but the method is good - layer a carb, veggies, salsa, and cheese. Bake. I do recommend the mushrooms and spinach, though... the mushrooms made it feel meatier and the spinach dissolves into almost a creamed spinach layer that was really delicious. It feels very similar to eating enchiladas, but without the effort of rolling each one up before baking. It's also easy to make while caring for a baby - the only part that can't be walked away from is sauteeing the veggies, and it can totally be prepared ahead of time and baked later. I had a bit of leftover sour cream so I put that in dollops between the salsa layer and the cheese layer, thinking it would melt down and give the whole thing some richness. It didn't... it just kind of separated out so there

Cheese. Since casseroles are often meaty and not often healthy, I don't make many of them. However, tuna noodle casserole is the perfect post-partum meal to have in the freezer. Aside from the obvious benefits of casseroles post-baby (easy to make, freezes well, cheap and quick to make in large quantities), I had been avoiding tuna during pregnancy for its mercury content and I was eager to start eating it again. This isn't the most healthy way to indulge in tuna, but it is delicious and easy, and I lightened it up as much as possible. I used  this recipe  as my guide, but I sauteed the onions, added other veggies, and seasoned the veggies. I also have no idea whether I followed their quantities of each ingredient, because I just did what looked right. The Recipe: 1 box whole wheat noodles (I used rotini) 3 cans tuna, drained 1 onion, chopped 1 bag frozen peas 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 c milk (I used almond milk) 6 tb cheddar cheese, shredded

I must start remembering to photograph my lasagna on night one, rather than on leftover night, so the sauce won't look so dried up. It still tasted great. What should one do when presented with lasagna noodles in the pantry and a baby whose reflux gets worse if I eat too much dairy? Mix the cheese with tofu, obviously. I had this idea and didn't know whether it would work, so I googled around and it seemed that it would. This was my combination of several different recipes, and it was perfect. This will be my go-to lasagna recipe from here on out. I love being able to get more protein into my non-meaty lasagna! The Recipe (makes two lasagnas): 1 package no-bake lasagna noodles (Trader Joe's are the best I've tried) 2 32-oz jars tomato sauce (I like Classico Roasted Garlic) 2 packages extra firm tofu, mashed or food-processed to an even consistency 15 oz ricotta cheese 12 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced (or more if you're not limiting dairy)

My new love. I am head over heels for this tempeh. I could snack on it all day. I've made it twice now, and the second time, I was sure to make extra tempeh in case some "disappeared" before making it into the wraps. But the wraps are good too. I worked from  this recipe . My only ingredient change was to use balsamic vinegar instead of Chinese black vinegar, because I don't have Chinese black vinegar. (The first time I tried rice vinegar, but the balsamic version came out better). In terms of cooking method, I also seared the marinated tempeh before adding the sauce at the end (instead of cooking the sauce the whole time), just to make a bit less mess of the pan. The wrap idea was really just an excuse to eat avocado with this tempeh. Match made in heaven. The Recipe: 1 package tempeh, sliced into wide strips 1 green onion, sliced small 2 tb soy sauce 2 tb balsamic vinegar 2 tb mirin 2 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp maple syrup 2 tsp olive oil sea salt,

I haven't yet mastered taking non-foggy photos of hot food. Is this possible? Note:  this saag recipe  is better. Motherhood has changed me in many ways. One of these ways: I now understand the allure of the Crock-Pot. Previously, I would have said, "How hard is it to stand at the stove for 3 minutes to sautee onions and spices before adding the other ingredients and turning down the heat to low?" Now I get it. Dump things into cooking vessel, return to baby, and don't worry about burning anything. Eat sometime between the next 4 and 8 hours. Pack lots of leftovers. Done. I used  this recipe  as my guide because I was looking for something non-dairy. I omitted the peas and tofu (though I want to try it with tofu next time), added chickpeas, added onions, and improvised my own garam masala by combining crushed cardamom seeds with pumpkin pie spice. A good reason to be friends with your neighbors: In case your immersion blender dies partway through blendi

I tried to angle the bread so you couldn't tell I took a bite first. This is a great healthy summer-ish recipe that's still rich enough to be satisfying. It's hard to NOT create something satisfying when guacamole is involved, but the salmon is really good too. And a chunk of yummy bread on the side helps. I've been on an avocado kick, so it was only a matter of time before I combined it with salmon. I usually like to pan-fry my salmon, but I tried broiling it because that was more conducive to taking care of a baby at the same time, and it was delicious! I still like the crispiness that you get in a pan, but I'll take this for how easy it was. I used Tony Chachere's blend (it's the only spice blend I bother keeping in the pantry), and it was perfect. No need to figure out how to balance cajun spices from scratch here. The Recipe (serves 2): 1/2 lb salmon (I like skinless to go over salad) 1 tb Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning (or

You'd never know the magical powers of this unsuspectingly delicious muffin. I'm still not sure whether there's any statistically significant benefit of lactation cookies/muffins, or whether they're just an excuse for women to eat baked goods in their first weeks of motherhood. But I'm willing to keep eating these muffins either way. I've tried a number of different varieties in the past few weeks: really delicious cookies (too much calorie consumption while being stuck at home all day), really delicious muffins (same deal, and they didn't have as much of the beneficial ingredients as I wished they did), really disgusting healthy cookies (chock full of the healthy stuff but it's a stretch to call them "cookies"), really REALLY disgusting oatmeal (it went into the garbage uneaten), and finally, these muffins. These are the winners... lots of galactagogues, not too many calories, and just the right level of decadence such that I look f

Yes, the raisins are giant. This latest installment of healthy bran-based muffins will likely be the last thing I cook for a while, as I'm 4 1/2 days away from Baby. There are now several batches of these in the chest freezer, ready to sustain a couple of frazzled new parents for a while. These muffins are a tiny bit more involved than most of the other things I bake, since they involve shredding carrots and apples. But I just toss both into the food processor with the regular blade and let 'em go, so the only extra work really is cutting the apple and then washing the food processor.  They're worth the work. They are tasty and also really good for, um, digestion. An excellent choice for an easy daily breakfast. I follow  this recipe . My only changes are switching to whole wheat flour and baking them a bit longer. Also, I leave out the nuts because I don't like the texture of nuts in muffins, but objectively I think nuts would be delicious in these,

Ok, I may have forgotten to take a picture of this meal until after we'd finished eating it. To be updated next time I make it... and there WILL be a next time. If only clams were cheaper, we would eat this all the time. So good, so easy, pretty healthy. I followed  this recipe  and didn't make any changes, and I don't think I'll be making any changes in the future. The only better way I've ever made clams is steamed in sake, but this is the way to go when you have leftover white wine in the house. Especially if you're pregnant and can't just drink the wine. The Recipe (serves 2): 3 lbs steamer clams 1 c white wine 1/2 c parsley, chopped 2 tb butter 6 cloves garlic, chopped drizzle olive oil crusty bread for serving Saute garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add wine and bring to a boil. Add clams, cover, and steam until clams start to open, about 5 minutes. Add butter and cover again until clams are c

I love red onions, but they look kinda slimy in a stir-fry, don't they? I should really do a Julie/Julia thing with the  Pinch of Yum blog , because I've probably cooked my way through 10% of her recipes already. At the very least, I need to go back through my blog entries and categorize together everything I've made from the blog. In the meantime, I'll just say a big thanks to Lindsay for providing us with so many fantastic meals. She has yet to lead us astray. For this one, I followed the exact sauce recipe from her  Honey Ginger Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry recipe . I bought baked tofu from Trader Joe's instead of frying up tofu of my own (my pregnant achey hips are eager for short-cuts in the kitchen right now), and I grabbed whatever vegetables looked fresh and easy to prepare. Those ended up being asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, red onions, and celery.  The sauce has a real ginger punch but it's perfectly balanced with the honey. I also really l