Main Dishes – Page 5 – a hippie with a minivan

yummm… Sushi….

I love Sushi… I really do..

The first time I had it I was about 6 and we were living in Nelson, BC and we were invited to a Sushi party… I remember loving it then but it wasn’t at all popular then so I didn’t have it for many more years…

I had it a few more times over the years… but then I was pregnant with Xavier a little Sushi shop opened near our apartment and I couldn’t get enough…. That place was good and it wasn’t expenesive and I would go at least once a week… it was the perfect pregnancy food and was the first thing I ate when I came back from the birthing center…

When Xavier was a baby and we were not going out as much and the place near us closed I started to make it at home…

Over the years my rolls have looked better and better… and for a while I was making it every week… now I am not making it as often because it does take a bit of time but I make as often as I can and I also make more of an assortment instead of making the same rolls all the time…

For the rice I found the perfect recipe is this…

Make enough rice for what you need (calrose rice using about 1/2 cup rice per large roll) and while the rice is cooking mix together

(per cup of rice)

1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
a bit less then 1 tsp salt

(so for 3 cups of rice…. use 3 tbsp vinegar etc)

bring to the vinegar mixture to a simmer (until the salt and sugar dissolve) and then let cool… when the rice is ready pour the mixture over it and let it cool… it is also best to use all wood instruments… or at least not metal…

then have fun and make sushi… there are plenty of site now that show you how to roll…

Here is some of tonights assortment… (there are more that I made for the boys that are not shown here…)

top row…

Spicy scallop ship roll , kamikaze roll (salmon, tempura, spicy mayo, avocado, carrot and cucumber), spicy shrimp ship roll

bottom…

Spicy shrimp, avocado, kamikaze, avocado, salmon

what a treat… and way cheaper that the restaurant… plus we have leftovers!

Crispy Tofu on Coconut Quinoa… two ways!

This is a variation of a recipe that Annie shared with me a while back and I love it!

Usually I make another variation of her way and make curried tofu (the recipe is at the end for that) and of course that is always delicious but I was craving spicy peanut sauce tonight…

What I love about this recipe also is that it takes very little preparation, takes little time to cook, is filling, delicious and nutritious…

For the Coconut Quinoa..

Chop up an onion and sauté in a pan until translucent (I sauté it in coconut oil)
Add 1 1/2 cup of Quinoa.. I like to leave it in there a few minutes and toast it a bit…
Add one can of coconut milk and one can of water and simmer until ready (about 20 min) and then fluff with a fork

Peanut Sauce

Mix together in a saucepan on low heat … 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/2 cup hot water, 3 tsp tamari, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp brown sugar and garlic chili sauce (to taste)

Crispy Tofu

cube one block of tofu
in a container (with a lid) add a few tsps of corn starch, add a bit of salt and garlic powder and then add the tofu and shake so that it evenly coats the tofu
Add a few tsp of peanut oil to a wok or pan and toss and fry until crispy on all sides…

Serve the Tofu on the Quinoa and drizzle the peanut sauce on top.

If you want to make the curried version don’t make the peanut sauce and instead coat the tofu with the following spice mix:

1 tbsp of cornstarch
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne (optional if you want the heat or not)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp tumeric…

Fry the tofu in a bit of oil until crispy and serve over the Quinoa with veggie of your choice 🙂

(curried version)

Adventures with Seitan…

Since last week I have really felt really put off by meat… So last week my meal plan involved more veggie meal than meat based ones and this week they are all veggie based…

Yesterday when making my meal plan I looked over a few YouTube videos on how to make Seitan… and having Vital Wheat Gluten already in my cupboard today I decided to try it out and make some Seitan Souvlaki…

So I put about 1 1/2 cups of gluten in a bowl with nutritional yeast, a bit of flour and a few spices

Added Broth (water, tamari and spices)

Knead together and let rest…

Boil in Broth and simmer for an hour…

It doubles in size and looks… well… a little like a brain…

Took it out of the broth and patted it dry…

and then I cut it in bite size pieces and marinated it in a bit of oil, lemon juice, garlic, tamari and oregano for a few hours… and then took it out and placed it on a baking sheet…

Then Broiled it for about 10 min…

It turned out really good!!

I made some Tzatziki with some homemade yogourt that I drained a bit before mixing with drained shredded cucumber, garlic, salt and a bit of dill… and then served it on a pita…

I really liked the texture, especially after broiling, and the broiling added a bit of crunch like when you BBQ…. Simon and the kids liked it also…. So I think that I will be trying out different ways to eat it…

yumm…. vegetable chowder and pumpkin butter…

After feeling awful yesterday morning I needed some light comfort food to keep my tummy happy happy…

I cleaned up the house a bit, dusted and cleaned the kitchen (cooking is always better with a clean kitchen)

I got the pumpkin in from outside cut and roasted it and then pureed it…

Then I made an amazing Vegetable Chowder… a variation of a recipe that I got on Recipezaar (I add a lot more seasonings and more veggies and broccoli instead of peas and not as much dairy) and we ate that with some of my sourdough bread…

I started to fill some mason jars with pumpkin puree when I remembered a recipe that I had “stumbled” on a few days ago…

Pumpkin Butter

So easy to make and SO delicious!

One batch made 4 jars worth…

and of course while it was still warm I had to scoop a bit on some vanilla ice cream…

Thai Coconut Curry soup

Saute 2 chopped stalks of Lemongrass, 2 cloves Garlic, about an inch of Ginger and a large onion…

once the onions are translucent add a few tbsp of Curry paste and Miso and a bit Chile sauce…

Add whatever veggie (I have carrot and Cauliflower in this one) and some cut up tofu… saute for a few more minutes…

Add about 6 cups of veggie stock, 2 cans of coconut milk and a bit of sugar to even the taste out and let simmer…. then add the juice of 1 1/2 limes… simmer again and add rice noodles…