Mystery Produce of the Week: Fresh Almonds

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Like raccoons to shiny objects (oooh, shinnnyyyyy), I can't resist a good mystery produce. So when I started grabbing these fuzzy green fruit by the fistful with elbows up and ready to defend my right to the new found mystery produce, an elderly lady came up to me and asked a very simple question, but one that I hadn't considered: "what are you going to do with those?" After muttering something along the lines of "shinnnnyyyyy" and "I dunno," I took these fresh almonds home without knowing much more than that.

My most helpful and knowledgeable friend (google) told me that these can be consumed as-is with some salt if they are very young and have yet formed a hard inner shell. I ate one and found out that, no, mine are not very young and indeed have the inner shell, rendering the fruit almost inedible as-is.

You can clearly see the inner shell that's around the almond.

So to make these edible, my friend told me that I need to crack these open and remove the seed, which are the almonds that we typically buy at grocery stores and remove their waxy skin so to make the almonds edible. It was a labor intensive process and my knife needs to be sharpened after cracking all these hard fruit.

Upper left are almonds after waxy skin has been peeled off. The yellow/brown ones have not been peeled.

After peeling all the almonds, I simply dry toasted them in a non-stick pan until slightly browned and drizzled them with some extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The result was delicious but very hard to describe. The fresh almonds tasted nothing like the store bought variety. They almost have the consistency of coconut meat -- not chewy or crunchy at all, but smooth and fleshy. They are really not like anything that I've tasted before, so it's hard to describe them exactly. But to me, they taste slightly sweet and a little milky but green and bright. (Did I just describe something as green milk?) Try them if you find them in your local market. But you might have to fight me off first.

Mediterranean Dinner

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It's officially summer. It's hot outside and cooking feels like such a chore. This is the time of year when I prefer no-fuss cooking that showcases the freshest summer produce available. So here, we have some simply roasted eggplants and golden zucchini with some diced ripe tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, green olives and tangy feta cheese on a basil mint lemon sauce. It's so simple but stunningly fresh and bright -- just the perfect summer meal. I served it with some homemade hummus, toasted pita, dolmades and roasted beets.

For the basil mint sauce, you will need:

• 2 cups packed basil
• 10-12 mint leaves
• small handful Italian parsley (about 1/2 cup packed)
• juice from 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste

Blend all ingredients together into smooth sauce. That's it! You can also serve this sauce with some roasted artichokes and beets.

Fresh Fava Beans and Peas Bruschetta

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Over the past Memorial weekend, VB and I caught a baseball game in Oakland and stopped by encuentro cafe and wine bar afterwards. The review was mixed on this one: VB loved it and I thought it was too expensive and too much like bird food. But we agreed that their fresh peas and mint bruschetta was delicious. I had some fresh fava beans handy so I thought I'd make something similar at home.

It was my first time working with fava beans. I took some pictures to document the process, but they somehow disappeared when I tried to transfer them to my computer. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) Anyway, fava beans have to be first shucked and then par boiled. After boiling in water for 2-4 minutes, the waxy skin wrapped around the beans can be peeled off or squeezed off. But the easiest way to get the skin off, for me, was to cut a slit with a sharp paring knife then peel. The resulting beans tasted fresh yet earthy, tender and green like fresh peas but not quite as sweet. I supplemented the fava beans with some thawed petite peas and roughly mushed them with olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. The result was pretty comparable to what we had at encuentro.

You'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh fava beans
• 1 cup fresh peas or thawed petite peas
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• mint leaves for garnish
• slices of crusty toasted bread

Roughly puree all ingredients together and spread it on crusty bread. Garnish with mint leaves. That's it! Serve warm or at room temperature.

Super Bowl Madness

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If you follow this blog (which I know only about 3 of you do. The rest of you just stumble in from time to time.), you know that we eat pretty healthy (healthfully?) around here. I try my best to avoid fatty things like cheese and butter and you know we don't eat meat around here (most days for me anyways). But, once a while, we throw all rules out the window for the occasional indulgence. And that occasion happens to be THE SUPER BOWL.

I happen to watch (and love) football. But the Super Bowl, for me, is not really about football. It's about food. A couple of years ago, we cooked enough food for 6 but invited no one over for the Super Bowl. This year, we still made too much food and... decided not to share with anyone.

So, we had:

Homemade hummus with toasted pita and baby carrots.

Nachos with a side of salsa, guacamole and Tofutti sour cream.

You can hardly tell, but these are hand-cut steak fries covered in Imagine mushroom gravy and soy cheddar, fancily known as "poutine."

Tofu balls from Tofu Yu with gyoza dipping sauce.

Field Roast Frankfurters with Smart Veggie Bacon, to be topped with freshly made (not by me) saurkraut and mustard.

Last but not least, jalapeno poppers and Kim & Scott's Pizza Pretzels.

 Looking at these pictures gave me food coma...

Aloo Tikki Burgers

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VB loves these Indian vegetarian burgers that we'd see from time to time at some local Indian restaurants. They are simple veggie patties topped with slivers of raw onion and ketchup. Not knowing what exactly they are called, I googled a bit and found this aloo tikki recipe and figured that this had to be it.

Well, long story short, that wasn't it. But it was still delicious. Aloo tikki is a potato patty that's served as street food in northern India. I stuffed it inside a pav bread (white Indian dinner roll) and added some ketchup. It was delicious! Not exactly what VB was looking forward to, but delicious nevertheless in an expected way.

Roasted Eggplant "Meat" Hand Pies

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I tend to go through phases when it comes to food. I would go on a two week doughnut binge or KFC or Taco Bell. But never a salad binge (I wonder why). So I guess this is my pie binge. I made these meatless hand pies with some Gimme Lean Sausage, roasted eggplant, and roasted jalapeno peppers (home grown!). I guess you can also call them empanadas, but "hand pies" has a nice ring to it.

You'll need:

• 1 pound equivalent of ground meat product
• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon harisa
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 portion vegan pie crust, recipe below

To make vegan pie crust, you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, chilled
• 3/4 cups vegan butter spread (Earth Balance is the choice for me), cubed and chilled
• 1 tablespoon (plus more if necessary) cold water
• 1 pinch of salt

To begin, mix all purpose flour, chilled vegan butter spread and a pinch of salt until the mixture has a wet sand consistency. You can use food processor and pulse a few times or you can use your hands and break up the butter spread into finer granules. Mix in water. The dough should barely come together. If not, add a little more ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill.

Place eggplant and jalapeno peppers on top of open flame to char the skin. Turn occasionally so the skin is charred evenly on all sides. If you don't use a gas stove, try broiling in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes a side. Set aside to cool. Once they are cooled, rough chop eggplant into medium cubes and mince jalapeno peppers. In a medium pot, heat up tablespoon of olive oil. Stir in garlic and minced jalapeno pepper. Saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add ground meat product. For Gimme Lean, you need to cook it like ground meat, i.e., break into smaller chunks with a spatula and brown. With other mock meat products, you may not have to. Saute until browned. De-glaze the pot with red wine vinegar. Stir in eggplant, harisa and tomato paste. Cook on low heat until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Divide chilled dough into 8 equal pieces. Shape a piece into a ball then roll out into a disc 1/4 inch in thickness. Add 1/4 cup of eggplant mixture to one side of the disc. Fold over and crimp edges with a fork. Work with one piece of dough at a time. Chill the other pieces when you're not working with them. If you plan to bake the pies immediately, return assembled pies into the fridge while you make other pies. You can also freeze these pies at this time. Either way, they need to stay cool before baking.

Pre-heat to 400 degrees. Place these pies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray the top with canola oil spray so they will brown. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. If the pies were previously frozen, bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let pies cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Wontons with Red Chili Oil (红油抄手)

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This is a classic Szchuan dish made vegan. Traditionally, this dish has two components -- small one-bite wontons and red chili oil. It is almost always served as an appetizer or snack. Since mine is meant to be enjoyed as the main dish, my wontons are overstuffed and the size of regular wontons that you're likely to find in wonton noddle soup. Mine is certainly not the traditional take, but I think it captures the spirit of the dish.

You'll need:

• 1 recipe of wontons, below
• 4 cups of bok choy, blanched for 3 minutes
• 2 tablespoons chili oil
• 2 tablespoons chili sauce (Sriracha is fine)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese vinegar or rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

For the wontons, you'll need:

• 1 package of wonton wrappers (I used the medium thickness kind because I like the chewiness of the thicker wrapper and I need something that will hold all the stuffing. Traditionally, you would use the thinner wrapper)
• 16 ounces vegetarian ham or firm unflavored bean curd, minced
• 1/2 cup minced (about 1 stalk) celery (I prefer Chinese celery, but it can be hard to find. Regular would do just fine in a pinch.)
• 5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and minced
• 1 scallion, minced (both green and white parts)
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• salt to taste
• 1 egg, beaten together with a little water (if you want to keep this vegan, substitute egg with a slurry of 2 tablespoons water and 2 teaspoons starch -- flour, potato, corn, tapioca, or something similar)

Combine chili oil, chili sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Mix well and set aside.

Combine minced vegetarian ham, celery, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, scallion, sesame oil, ground white pepper and salt. Mix well.

Place filling mixture in the center of the wonton wrapper.

Wet two adjacent edges with egg wash or starch slurry. Fold wet edges onto dry edges to form a triangle. Pinch shut.

Wet one acute angle and fold onto the opposite angle, like the wonton is hugging itself. Pinch shut.

Boil wontons in a large pot of water for 3 to 5 minutes. Place cooked wontons on top of bed of blanched bok choy. Drizzle with red chili sauce mix. Serve.

Goat Cheese, Roasted Piquillo Peppers and Tomato Focaccia

Pin It You know how sometimes for weeks, you wake up looking like crap and there's nothing you can do about it? Well, the same thing happens to me when it comes to cooking. There are weeks when I can't make an edible meal to save my life. I burned two pots recently -- first, I melted a silicone steamer right into a pot that I've had since college. Then I burned the replacement pot after reducing poaching liquid for way too long. The enamel at the bottom of the pot came up with the black burned on mess. I'm still having trouble saying goodbye to my almost brand new but now toxic and useless pot.

After professional athletes get out of a slump, they always look back and define the turning point of the season -- the one key event that brought their groove back. I think I've hit my proverbial turning point. I made some easy mac-n-cheese plus corn muffins for a friend's early Thanksgiving dinner. Both items came out pretty good. Then, the very next day, I made this --

Hellllllloo, Good Looking! I'm really pleased with how this turned out. And it was pretty easy to do with a bit of planning ahead.

You'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cup of warm water (80 - 100 degrees)
• 2 teaspoons (one envelope) of instant yeast
• 2 teaspoon of salt, divided
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 1 jar of roasted piquillo peppers (or roasted red bell peppers would be fine too), drained and rinsed
• 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 medium/large beef steak tomato, sliced thin
• 2 ounces of goat cheese
• 5 to 6 sprigs of thyme

Add yeast and olive oil to warm water and set aside until yeast dissolves. Mix together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon of salt using stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. While the mixer is on low, slowly pour in the warm water mixture until dough comes together. Replace paddle attachment with hook attachment and knead for 4 minutes on medium-low.

Spray large prep bowl with olive oil and then transfer dough into the prep bowl. Turn the dough once over to ensure it is well covered with olive oil. Cover the dough with wet paper towels and set aside for 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in size. Punch down the dough and then spread it flat into a baking pan greased with olive oil. Cover with wet paper towels and set side for another 1 1/2 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

While the dough is rising, combine piquillo peppers, garlic, red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Process the mixture until it becomes a smooth sauce using either stand blender or immersion blender.

Once the dough has risen, dimple the dough in two inch intervals. Season with salt. Spread enough of the piquillo pepper sauce to cover most of the focaccia dough, leaving about one inch all the way around. You may have leftover piquillo pepper sauce, which can be served as dipping sauce. Add tomato slices on top. Add nubs of goat cheese and sprigs of thyme on top. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on top. Bake for 25 minutes until the bottom of the focaccia is crispy and the edges are golden brown. Serve with extra piquillo pepper sauce on the side.

The piquillo peppers really add a nice balance to the tart tomatoes and the creamy goat cheese. (Yes, that tomato was from our "harvest".) Watch out, I may have gotten my cooking groove back.

Glutinous Rice Chicken (Lor Mai Kai 糯米雞)

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I'm a lean, mean, cooking machine! Here, I take on yet another Cantonese dim sum classic, glutinous rice chicken or lor mai kai. Seriously, I just pulled this one out of my butt (not literally... gross). I had no recipe to work with, no idea how to make it, and I've never seen it done. So it's just a big kitchen experiment for me. With that caveat, it goes without saying that this is probably not the most authentic product. In fact, I think it's more of a hybrid of lor mai kai and Taiwanese-style zhongzi. Whatever. It's all good.

You'll need:

• 2 cups of glutinous rice
• 1 cup of diced vegetarian ham
• 2 pieces of five-spice tofu curd, diced
• 3 1/4-inch slices of ginger
• 1 tablespoon of vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1/4 cup of Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing)
• 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons of five-spice powder
• 2 sprigs of scallion, chopped
• 1/2 cup of blanched or roasted peanuts
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of canola oil
• 4 large dried lotus leaves
• some twine for tying

Begin by rinsing and soaking glutinous rice in water for at least 2 hours. After 2 hours, drain and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Submerge dried lotus leaves. Turn off heat and cover for 20 minutes to soften leaves.

In a large skillet, saute vegetarian ham, five-spice tofu curd and ginger in canola oil until browned. Stir in water, cooking wine, rice vinegar, soy sauce, five spice powder, vegetarian oyster sauce, salt and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn the heat up and add peanuts and glutinous rice. Stir fry until all the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes or so. Discard ginger pieces.

Set up by placing one large lotus leaf flat on the work surface. Place a quarter of the glutinous rice mixture in the center. Fold four sides in tightly like an envelope. Secure with twine. Steam pockets for at least 1.5 hours. Remove. Unwrap and serve with some chopped scallion on top.

Turnip Cake (Luo Buo Gao 蘿蔔糕)

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In the B.C.G. (Before Carnivore Girl) era, VB thought Chinese food was boring. Like so many innocent Americans out there, VB knew Chinese food as fried rice, chow mein, chop suey, and pu pu platter (what is that, exactly?), all thanks to the proliferation of American-Chinese food that barely resembles its origin. I blame every P.F. Changs, Panda Expresses, Jade Gardens, and Dragon Houses out there. Shame on you for dumbing down Chinese food for the American palate! I think everyone can enjoy Chinese food in all its glorious deliciousness.

(Stepping off the soap box)

Now, VB really enjoys authentic Chinese food, particularly Szechuan/Hunan style, which is generally very flavorful and spicy. It's easy to see why -- vegetables doused with hot sauce and spices tend to taste a heck a lot better (it's the secret to Indian food too). VB is not particularly fond of Shanghainese or Cantonese style of Chinese food, partly because they tend to be a bit bland. I'm very partial to Shanghainese food, but I'm not a big fan of Cantonese food.

In an effort to highlight some of the more "bland" styles of Chinese food, I made this Cantonese dim sum classic -- turnip cake. It's a must-have for my family at any dim sum. Unfortunately, this is also generally not a vegetarian dish because it almost always contains dried shrimp and bits of meat. Come to think of it, what is actually vegetarian at a dim sum (apart from dessert)?

For my vegan turnip cake adapted from mmm-yoso's recipe, you'll need:

• 1 small/medium turnip, shredded (you should have about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup of diced vegetarian ham (I found this ingredient at 99 Ranch, but you can substitute other fake-meat products like veggie dogs or tofurkey)
• 6 medium dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water then minced
• 1 large shallot, sliced thin (or 1/2 cup of fried shallots that you can find at Chinese supermarkets)
• 2 green onions, diced
• 2 cups of plain rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of canola oil
• 1/2 cup of canola oil for frying shallots (omit if you're using pre-fried shallots)

Start by heating up 1/2 cup of canola oil in a small pan over medium high heat until hot. Add sliced shallot and pan fry until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towel. Skip if using pre-fried shallots.

In another pot, add shredded turnip and 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover and bring liquid to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, saute diced vegetarian ham, minced shiitake mushroom in a tablespoon of canola oil until browned, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add soy sauce. Stir in diced green onions and fried shallot. Cook for a couple more minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine rice flour, salt, sugar and ground white pepper. Pour cooked shredded turnip with all the liquid into the bowl. Add vegetarian ham, shiitake mushroom and shallot mixture. Stir to combine. At this point, the mixture should be very thick and sticky.

Prepare your steaming device. I used my extra large stock pot and placed a metal rack inside. I then found a round pan that would fit into the pot and sit on top of the rack. Fill the pan with turnip mixture and spread evenly. Fill the pot with water but water should not touch the bottom of the pan. Cover and bring water to simmer. Steam for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove pan and set aside to cool.

Once the turnip cake is cooked through, remove from the pan and cut into square pieces. Lightly pan fry each piece until golden brown on both sides, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Serve with spicy yellow mustard and hot sauce.

Korean Kimchi Pancake

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I love Korean food. After living in Los Angeles for a number of years, how can I not? Its abundance and my proximity to K-town made it my must have in Los Angeles. VB, too, loves Korean food. But it's not so easy to find vegetarian Korean food that's any good. All the Korean BBQ restaurants are automatically out. There's always the fear of chicken broth in any sort of tofu pots. Kimchi may or may not have shrimp paste. VB usually ends up with seafood pancake (hold the seafood) and tofu bibimbop (hold the raw egg yolk). It can be a bit sad, but fortunately at least we can make a decent kimchi pancake at home now.

I found this recipe on the New York Time's website under The Temporary Vegetarian feature by Elaine Louie. First of all, this recipe is... wonky. One cup of dry ingredients cannot be made into pancake batter by adding only one egg. I tried it (despite my disbelief when I first read the recipe) and the egg formed small clumps in the flour. Secondly, not all kimchi is made vegetarian. Of the few brands to choose from at my local 99 Ranch, only one did not contain shrimp paste. That may not matter to a temporary vegetarian, but it does to a permanent vegetarian.

That said, for my adapted kimchi pancake recipe, you'll need:

• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of potato starch
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup of water
• 2 scallions, cut into 1 1/2-inch-long pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of garlic, sliced thinly
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of Korean red pepper powder or cayenne
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of prepared cabbage kimchi, cut in 3-inch-long pieces
• 2 tablespoons of kimchi juice
• 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Start by mixing potato starch with flour. Whisk in eggs and water. Add all the remaining ingredients except vegetable oil. Add about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, ladle in about a third of the pancake batter. Spread the mixture out evenly. After about 3 to 5 minutes, lift the pancake and add another tablespoon of oil into the skillet. Flip the pancake and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. The edges should be light brown and crispy. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter. You will get 3 to 4 pancakes.

For the dipping sauce, you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon minced scallion 
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds

Mix together. That's it!

I only wish that my pancakes were spicier and a bit fluffier. If I had to do this all over again, I'd add even more cayenne pepper (that's just me!) and maybe some leavening agent that gives the pancakes more substance.

Potato and Fava Beans (Maybe) Empanadas

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Food people are obsessed with names, labels and categories. If you call your dish something, then it'd better really be that something. Otherwise, you're in big big trouble, mister! You see that on all the cooking competition shows. I remember on Chopped, an ill-fated attempt at banh mi was publicly called out as being so not. On Top Chef, one of Tom Colicchio's biggest pet peeve also has to do with what a contestants calls one dish versus what s/he actually delivers.

But does it really matter? Especially if it's delicious?

To me, the bigger crime is always bad food, not poorly named food. The point of called a dish something is to set up some sort of boundary in defining what it is, like if I grilled corn I wouldn't call it fried rice. But whether the boundary is fuzzy or firm is up to the listener. If everything we cook is subject to strict scrutiny, then we should just all stop cooking. Because there's no way that my Chinese food is as authentic as my grandma's.

I like to cook food that's out-of-the-box and hard to categorize. I'm not so concerned that Gordon Ramsay is going to call me a donkey for making unconventional, improper food. But I do want to make delicious food. Here, I made a potato and fava bean stuffed something. I struggled with what I wanted to call this. It's sort of like a perogie because it's stuffed with potatoes. It's sort of like a ravioli but I didn't boil them. It's sort of like an empanada but I didn't use puff pastry. It's sort of like a pot sticker, but I didn't pan fry it. It's sort of like a dumpling, because I used dumpling wrapper. And on and on that went in my head...

I ended up with something totally unique and defies categorization. What I should call this bizarro creation is up for debate. But it's really delicious with the lemon herb sauce that I made. The original recipe that inspired this monster of a dish can be found here.

Spicy Tofu Quasadillas

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I've been trying to make good food fast these days, considering that I don't have a ton of time to make elaborate meals. So tonight, I made some truly delicious spicy tofu quasadillas in a flash.

You'll need:

• 1 block of extra firm tofu or unflavored bean curd, diced small
• 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
• 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, chopped small
• 1 small yellow onion, diced small
• 1 tablespoon of canola oil
• juice from 3 limes
• 3 cups of shredded Mexican cheeses (basic mozzarella, monetary jack and cheddar will do nicely)
• 6 flour tortillas
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Start by marinating diced tofu in soy sauce, lime juice, cilantro and jalapeno peppers. Let the tofu marinate for at least half an hour. Ideally, you should marinate it for a couple of hours, but today, I only had half an hour. But that's enough time to make this very flavorful.

Start by sauteing diced onion in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, until it softens and browns on the edges, about 10 minutes. Drain tofu and add to the pan. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the tofu pieces turn golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.

In another non-stick pan, lay down a flour tortilla and turn the heat to medium-low. Add about half a cup of shredded cheese on top. Let the cheese melt and add a third of the tofu mixture. Spread the mixture out evenly, then add another half a cup of cheese. Top with another flour tortilla and flip when the bottom tortilla becomes crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes or so. Repeat with the remaining tofu mixture and cheese. You'll make about 3 quasadillas.

We paired our delicious melt-y quasadillas with homemade pico de gallo. Sadly, our avocados were past their prime, otherwise we would've had guacamole to go with our quasadillas. The tofu and the cheeses really give these quasadillas a nice chewy and gooey texture. It's the ideal casual finger food and our wonderfully quick dinner.

Gameday Overload

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It might look like we were having a big Super Bowl party for six, but all this food was just for us. Yes, we overdid it. Major food coma ensued and we ended up napping on the couch during the game. Let's take a closer look at this lineup, shall we?


Homemade tomatillo salsa made of roasted tomatillos, onion, garlic, one chipotle chili in adobo sauce, a pinch each of salt and sugar.


Homemade guacamole. A lot of it.


Homemade hummus with chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, and tahini paste.


Potato skins stuffed with minced jalapeno peppers, Mexican Monetery Jack, cream cheese and topped with bread crumbs.


Veggie hot dogs wrapped in Pillsbury crescent dough.


And finally, chili cheese fries made of store-bought fries and chili topped with onions and Mexican Monetery Jack cheese.

Cannellini Beans and Artichoke Dip

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Okay, I admit it, the recipe is just fancy beans on toast. But it's still very good and super easy. I whipped this up one night after a long day at work. It takes 10 minutes and requires almost no cooking. VB enjoyed it so much that I made it again a few weeks later. This would be a good recipe to entertain with as an appetizer. It's as simple as Beans. Toast. Done.

You'll need:

• 2 or 3 large marinated artichoke hearts (thawed frozen artichoke hearts will also do), roughly chopped
  
• 1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• juice of a small lemon
• bread, sliced into 6 to 8 1/4-inch slices and toasted
• loose arugula leaves, about 4 or 5 leaves per slice of bread
• extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
• coarse flaky sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Saute garlic in a little bit of olive oil until fragrant, about a minute. Add beans and artichoke hearts. Cook until heated through. If you don't mind cold bean dip and raw garlic, you can even skip this step. I prefer to cook the garlic a little bit to take out the sting of raw garlic.

Put mixture into a food processor and add lemon juice. Pulse. While pulsing, drizzle in about 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Spread dip onto toast, top with arugula leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.


As a side dish, we had a roasted beets and pear arugula salad with orange lemon vinaigrette. Fresh, easy and seasonal. It would be even better with some goat cheese on top.

For fans of the F Word, you can check out this Gordon Ramsay beans on toast with cheese recipe. It's very Michelin star fancy pants.

Nachos with Lime and Black Bean Dip

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We have a lot of leftover food from one of our taco nights. It doesn't take a culinary genius to realize that taco night can turn into nachos night pretty easily. I've also got nachos in the brain because I've been craving those gross orange Velveeta nachos that you'd get at movie theaters. Since we haven't made it to a movie theater for Up 3-D, the next best thing is to make some nachos at home (minus the Velveeta "cheese", of course).

First, the lime and black bean dip:

• 1 15 ounce can of black beans, drained
• 1/2 of a 6-ounce can of tomato paste
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  
• 1 tablespoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
  
• 2 teaspoons of hot sauce (I used Sriracha sauce)
  
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped cilantro or green onions for garnish (optional)
  

Sweat chopped onion in olive oil over medium low heat until the onions are translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add drained black beans, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Mix together. Cover and allow to cook until the beans are soft, about 8 to 12 minutes. Squeeze lime juice over the top. Mix well. Garnish with cilantro or green onions, if desired.

To assemble nachos, I put some blue corn tortilla chips in a oven-proof dish and top with about 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, some black bean dip and bake in 350 degree oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Add pickled jalapeno peppers, soy sour cream and some green onions. Yay for nachos!

Baked Jalapeno Poppers and Guacamole (Vegan)

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Baked Jalapeno Poppers

I borrowed the recipe for the jalapeno poppers from Tofutti, but I added some shredded soy cheddar cheese that I had and baked them instead of frying them. They didn't brown up as nicely as they would have had they been fried, but they're just as crispy.

• 12-16 jalapeno peppers
• 8 oz. of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup of shredded soy cheddar cheese
  
• 1 cup of soy milk
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of bread crumbs

Remove the top of the jalepenos and slice down one side, removing most of the seeds. Fill the peppers with the cheeses.

Place the soy milk and the flour into two separate bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos into the soy milk and then into the flour, making sure that they are well-coated. Allow the coated jalapenos to dry for about 10 minutes in the refrigerator. Dip the jalapenos into the soy milk again and roll them through the breadcrumbs to cover.

Place the breaded jalepenos seam-side-up on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes.

Guacamole

I served the poppers with chunky guacamole, made by combining the following:

• 2 ripe avocados, diced
• 1 plum tomato, de-seeded and chopped
  
• 1/4 large sweet onion, chopped
• 4 serrano peppers, finely chopped
  
• cilantro, roughly chopped
• juice of 1 small lime