Dinner - March 9, 2010

So far behind. Trying to get started again with the posting. We have been cooking but I have been so busy with the new job and volunteering. This is a mango and black bean salad served with a side of broccoli. Maybe there was a recipe. Maybe it will come to me.

Dinner - February 5, 2010

I had a note in my recipes for the week for Orecchiette with Spicy Broccoli. I did not have orecchiette and I could not find the recipe. I made this up based on my memory of several of Bishop's recipes but I think I can claim it as mine.

Orzo and Broccoli with Olives
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 big stems of broccoli, broken into bite size florets and peeled and chopped stems
1/2 cup chopped olives
1 tbsp capers
salt
pepper
6 oz whole wheat orzo

Bring a pot of water to boil, cook the orzo about half way, add the broccoli and cook both until done. Meanwhile saute the garlic and red pepper flakes in the olive oil in a large pan. Drain the orzo and broccoli and add to the saute along with about 1/3 cup of the water. Add the olives, capers, salt, and pepper. Saute for a minute or two and serve.

We both liked this. It was great with some red wine. It is fast to make too. I would say this serves two for dinner with a good vegetable to pasta ratio.

Dinner - September 22, 2009

Yellow oyster mushrooms (before) are pictured above. Yellow oyster mushroom (after) with some flat green beans are pictured below. This is again based on the Eating Well recipe that can be found here.


Myra Kornfeld's The Healthy Hedonist has become one of my favorite cookbooks. I don't think I go a week without hitting it. The dish below is Glazed Tofu (with brocolli added) which is part of her Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry. The stir-fry is a great dish and works with a lot of vegetable substitutions. I have posted on this one before where I served it with some noodles. You can find the old post here. On this day I just made the Glazed Tofu step and added broccoli.

Dinner - September 5, 2009

This is a version of a recipe from Eating Well modified for the produce I had on hand. The recipe is called Asian Slaw with Tofu & Shiitake Mushrooms and can be found on the Eating Well website.

I used regular cabbage for the napa cabbage. I used broccoli which I cooked in advance for the bok choy, and I used regular tofu in place of the silken. I let the tofu drain for a while and then dry it in a dish towel before marinating. I use peanut oil in place of the canola oil.

You can find my previous post here.

Dinner - July 31, 2009

Again, I have no idea what this is. It looks to have broccoli, tofu, and mushrooms. Was there a peanut sauce?

UPDATE: I found an entry in my calorie tracker for that day. I called the recipe "Broccoli, Mushrooms, and Tofu in Peanut Sauce" but I credited no source so maybe I did make it up.

This makes 4 servings. One serving had 377 calories.

Here is a general list of ingredients:
4 tsp peanut oil
4 cups broccoli
1 cup cooked shiitakes
1 block tofu
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp mirin
2 garlic cloves
3 tsp grated ginger
serve over 3 cups of cooked brown rice

Lunch - June 18, 2009

I rarely have lunch posts because we just eat dinner leftovers for lunch. I was not going to have any lunch to send with Matt the next day so I decided to make up this extra meal a day ahead. It ended up that Matt came home from work early and we both had this for lunch on the day that I made it. I later took the left overs up to my parents and the three of us had it for lunch.

This is from the Healthy Hedonist and is served over 50% whole wheat pasta. This is the Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Glazed Tofu. The recipe says you can make this in half an hour but I found that is just the cooking time. It took me an hour to get this together. The tofu recipe is separate and is located just one page ahead in the cookbook.

Matt and I liked this and my dad really liked it to. It is probably a little bit sweeter than I am used to making things but it made it taste like it came from a restaurant. I will definitely make this again. It could become a weeknight regular that would work for unexpected company.

I have the Glazed Tofu at 184 calories per serving for 4 servings. I have the Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry (including the Glazed Tofu) at 364 calories per serving for 4 servings plus the pasta. I said the pasta was about 200 calories per serving.

I made a note to try cutting the sesame oil back in the Glazed Tofu next time but I doubt it would be as good.

Another Ugly Dinner

This looked a bit like worms and chewed food on the plate but tasted pretty good. The picture is from my messy kitchen just before serving.

The green beans are from my parents garden but were getting a bit older so I picked a recipe with a longer cooking time. I used Bishop's Braised Green Beans with Tomatoes, Olives, Capers, and Basil from Vegetables Every Day (page 174).

For the green beans I followed the recipe except for I cooked the garlic in two tablespoons of red wine instead of the oil. When the liquid in the pan looked a little low I added a tablespoon of the brine from the olives.

The green beans were tasty but we knew they would be. This is a standard recipe for us. Sometimes I will double the sauce part of it and serve it with pasta with the beans on the side.

The warm broccoli salad was a creation based on what we had around.
In a large bowl I mixed:
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 green olives chopped
1 tablespoon of black olive brine
I boiled for about 5 minutes:
1 head of broccoli chopped in bite size pieces
In a colander I placed:
6 baby bok choy stems sliced
I poured the broccoli and water over the bok choy and let cool for a few minutes.
I mixed the vegetables into the dressing.
I then mixed in:
2 Tbsp of basil chopped
2 Tbsp of flat leaf parsley chopped

I liked this odd salad with the bitter and crunchy bok choy set against the soft broccoli. The mild tang of the vinegar went well with the Sauvignon Blanc we had with dinner. I think Matt just found it weird but I would say it has potential.

All of the herbs were from my parents garden - THANKS

Double the C in Broccoli and Zucchini

We have been enjoying some vegetables from my parents' garden. Tonight we had zucchini and tomatoes from the garden augmented by broccoli and tofu from the local IGA.


For the zucchini I followed a recipe from Jack Bishop's Vegetables Every Day called Shredded Zucchini with Garlic and Herbs (page 370). I left out the olive oil completely and cooked it a little bit slower in a good non stick fry pan. Very successful.

For the broccoli I followed a recipe called Broccoli with Lime-Cumin Dressing from the same book (page 44). Again I left out the oil. I also reduced the shallot to about half since I wouldn't have the oil to mellow it. This was a good call. I also upped the lime juice to add some liquid and this was a bit to much. This one has potential.

For the tofu I followed the general directions I learned from Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. I used 12 oz of extra firm tofu cut into 8 slices. I cooked these in a dry non-stick fry pan until brown on each side. Then I added a mixture of 2 T soy sauce, 2 T mirin, 2 T lime juice, 3 T water, 1 clove garlic, and a good shot of hot sauce. Tossed the tofu and cooked down to a glaze. Probably worth going back to the source for a sauce but not bad.

Tomtoes were just sliced with a little salt ground on top.

Overall a very satisfying and quick meal. (I made it quicker by grating the zucchini and chopping the broccoli earlier in the evening). Couldn't really serve this to others and won't put this exact menu on heavy rotation. Glad to have the mellow dishes to sooth the tongue after eating the broccoli salad. These might be some good side dishes to know.

Made full recipes and had half each. With out the oil this is about 310 calories.