Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

I should have gotten some of the caramelized onions in the photo. The last food that I really have been missing in quarantine and hadn't been able to recreate is the tempeh dip at the Bier Stein. (It's a regular dip sandwich, but they have an option to substitute tempeh in any sandwich). I hadn't found a way to prepare tempeh that tastes like the Bier Stein's tempeh, and I had no idea how to go about making au jus without having to touch meat. When my neighbor told me that you can buy instant au jus packets, I decided it was time to make this happen. Maybe the packets are blasphemous to anyone who makes real au jus, but I'm no connoisseur. In fact, if it tastes a little less like it came from real meat, I'm all for it. I did some searching for tempeh marinades and decided to try  this one from Food 52 . It didn't come out exactly like the Bier Stein, but it's close enough. It works perfectly in this kind of sandwich. This tempeh is also deliciou...

If you put the feta under the veggies, it hits your tongue when you bite into the sandwich This is one of those meals I turn to after a stretch of eating poorly. It's light and healthy and has lots of veggies, but if also has bread and cheese, so I don't feel deprived. It's perfect on a hot day, too. I have varied ingredients depending on what I have and what's in season. This time, I had good lettuce in the garden, so I went with pretty typical salad ingredients. Other times, I've roasted vegetables and used that as the base of the salad. I would have added banana peppers if I'd had any, and I imagine that other people would enjoy olives in this. It's worth home-making the  hummus , especially if you have fresh parsley in the garden that can be blended into it. (See the green specks? So good.) And I recommend buying whole feta and cutting it into slices. It's less messy than crumbled feta, it tastes stronger, and it's usually ch...

I think I understand now why people like to snack on beef jerky. I'm including some options here, since the same method can produce two different varieties of tempeh, and the same tempeh can be served in a few different ways. For the sauce from scratch, 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. But option: just use store-bought barbecue sauce instead, for a meatier, less Asian variety. For wraps, put the tempeh slices in a flour tortilla with greens, avocado, and red onion. But option: just eat it plain, maybe with coleslaw and corn muffins on the side. The Recipe: 1 package tempeh, slice...

Not pictured: drooling husband. One of the great mysteries of life is why Eugene STILL does not have a Panera. I feel confident that it's only a matter of time. But in the meantime, I decided to fulfill my craving for a Turkey Bacon Bravo without necessitating a road trip. And turning it into a panini just seemed like a good idea, because why have gouda cold when you can melt it? I've been obsessed with the Turkey Bacon Bravo since before Panera was called Panera. (It'll always be St. Louis Bread Company in my heart.) Even through my various periods of vegetarianism, any time I found myself at a Panera, I made the exception and had turkey and bacon.  One concern I had in the recreation process was the bread. It's supposed to be on this deliciously sweet tomato basil bread, and I couldn't find anything like that at the store. So I decided to put the tomato-basil flavor inside the sandwich instead, by sprinkling basil (and sea salt) on my tomato slices ...

Jess added more bacon after I photographed his sandwich with this respectable amount. Sad story: We recently went to  Cornucopia , prepared to order our usual matching Crab Salad BLT's, and the menu looked suspiciously different. I opened it, which we never do, because we always order the same thing. I went straight to the sandwich section, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, and my fears were confirmed: No more Crab Salad BLT. So, I have taken matters into my own hands. And I dare say, except for the lack of delicious crispy french fries and thoroughly buttered bread, my version is at least as good as the original inspiration. I strongly recommend splurging on good crab for this sandwich. Fresh crab is expensive and sometimes hard to come by, but it really makes the difference in this sandwich.  This sandwich showcased my very first ripe tomato of the season, as well as home-grown lettuce, shallots, and parsley. Now if only I could start raising dungeness...

Rice cake optional. Did you ever wish you could just eat guacamole for your meal, but then you feel like you should eat something with more substance/protein? I experience this wish often. And so, in a stroke of genius, I chopped up a hard-boiled egg and mixed it into my guacamole. It's a great way to bulk up your guacamole, or to remove the mayo from your egg salad, depending on your angle. I like the crunchiness of a rice cake to offset the mushiness, but it would also be good on regular bread or just with a fork. The Recipe: 1 egg, hard-boiled and chopped 2 tb guacamole  (I just mix 1 avocado with 1 tb lime juice and a pinch of salt, and maybe some red onion if I feel like it) Fold egg into guacamole. That's it. The Verdict: Overall grade: A- Overall reason: Nutritious comfort food - always the goal. Time to prepare: 30 seconds, if you have guacamole and hard-boiled eggs on hand Husband quote: (The husband is anti- hard-boiled eggs.)

Oops, the serving platter is full and I have 5 left? What to do, what to do... These are so simple and delicious. Just get some good-quality ingredients, put them together, and you've got a crowd pleaser on your hands. There's no cooking involved here, unless you get par-baked bread and bake it yourself at the last minute (recommended). Just layer bread with goat cheese, pear, honey, and cinnamon. I'm going to pull an Ina Garten here and specify that you should get "good honey." I don't think this would be good with your standard store-bought honey; I'd probably skip the honey in that case. Get yourself some truly delicious honey from the farmer's market and showcase it here. My honey of choice. My sister agrees; this bottle was mostly full before her recent visit. The Recipe: 1 baguette, sliced into rounds 4 oz goat cheese 2 tsp good honey 1 pear, sliced into as many pieces as you have rounds of bread cinnamon, to ...

Mmmmm grainy mustard. I considered centering this post around the marinade rather than the sandwich. It is the best tempeh marinade ever. The flavors are balanced and it's completely versatile for different kinds of recipes, as opposed to my usual rut of Asian-themed marinades for tofu and tempeh. Any time I want flavorful tempeh for a non-Asian recipe, this is the marinade I use. The beginning of beautiful things. The rest of the recipe is flexible. Of course you'll want sauerkraut, but I've varied the rest of the ingredients and I've never gone wrong. Thousand Island or mustard - both good. Onions or no onions - both good. Rye bread or sourdough bread or Ezekiel bread or Sarah Lee 45 calorie wheat bread - all good. Swiss or provolone - both good. I even tried cheddar once in a pinch, and it was perfectly acceptable. My original inspiration was from  this recipe . Her sauce with the cannellini beans sounds great, but I've  never gone to the eff...

Not out of a can, but almost as easy. I totally missed the boat on sloppy joes as a kid. I never chose it at school (I only ate turkey or tuna for lunch during my entire elementary school career) and my parents never made it. But once I discovered the possibility of simmering tempeh in barbecue sauce and eating it on a sandwich, I was a sloppy joe convert. This is one of the quickest dinners I can whip up. One day I want to make up a sauce from scratch so I can eliminate some of the sugar, but the convenience of this recipe in its current form is pretty great. I usually freeze the leftovers in individual portions over rice for an easy lunch. UPDATE October 2016 - Avocado! From now on, avocado will be spread on the bun before spooning the hot filling over it. It's amazing. It adds richness and also mellows the sweet tang of the sauce, plus the hot/cold contrast is yummy. The Recipe (serves 4): 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped 1 package t...