Somen Noodle Soup

Somen Noodle Soup with Marinated baked tofu and veggies and homemade broth

For the broth
Zest of 1 lime
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2-inch piece ginger, cut into coins
½ of a large red onion, sliced
sprigs of fresh herbs
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and sliced (i left this out)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. Bragg’s or soy sauce
1 tbsp. light brown sugar

For the tofu
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. hoisin sauce
2½ tsp. light brown sugar (if it’s dark, use less)
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated or finely minced
1 pound extra firm tofu, blotted dry – drain as much water out with breaking the loaf… (I can teach you how.. just reply) and cut into small cubes

For the soup
6 ounces somen noodles
Vegetable oil
½ red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced (again, I didn’t use this)
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely minced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 celery stick
5 – 10 Brussels sprouts, cut into four

Make the broth
Put all ingredients except for the soy sauce and brown sugar in a large saucepan.  Pour in 8 cups of water and add a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  Cool slightly, then strain out and discard the solids.  Stir in the Bragg’s or soy sauce and brown sugar.  Adjust seasoning as necessary.  Keep warm over low heat.

Make the tofu
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Mix together the marinade in a medium baking dish.   Stir in the tofu, coating well with the marinade.  Allow to sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally to make sure the tofu is coated with the marinade.  Place in the oven, uncovered, and allow to bake until all the marinade is absorbed and the tofu is getting a slight crisp to it, about 35 minutes.  Toss the tofu once or twice in the baking process so that all the pieces come into contact with the pan.  Remove tofu from the oven and allow to cool.

Make the soup
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the somen noodles and give a good stir.  Cook the noodles until they are almost done, with just a slight bite, and drain.  Rinse well with cold water, drain, and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the red onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, jalapeño pepper, and ginger and cook for another two minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the veggies and continue to cook, stirring often, until the green vegetables are crisp tender, about 5 minutes.

Place some noodles in the bottom of a deep soup bowl.  Ladle on the broth.  Add tofu and vegetables.

Enjoy… you may garnish with herbs, scallions and slice of jalapeño pepper.

Inspired by another recipe post.

Chinese Potstickers

Ingredients:

• 8oz tofu crumbled
• one carrot, peeled and chopped
• one zucchini, chopped
• a couple of button mushroom, chopped
• one celery, chopped
• handful of broccoli, chopped
• fresh cilantro
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce or BRAGGS
• 1/2 tbsp vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Mix ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Place a spoon full in the mix into the center of the pot-sticker. wet the sides and gentle press together.

Fry: heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large skillet. Add closed pot-stickers. brown on each side. Pour 1/3 of water and cover lid. lower the flame and wait until all the water has been absorbed.

Serve while hot with your favorite sauce.

AWESOME vegan Veggie Pasta BAKE excellent recipe

Oh my goodness… I was not at all in the mood to cook tonight, but I found myself motivated by the idea of a baked pasta… I looked into my fridge to see what we had in the veggie bin… and the idea hit me… this is what I did…

Ingrediants:

• pasta
• olive oil
• chopped tomatoes with juice.. 2-3 tomatoes
• 1 pepper if you like – I don’t because my kids eat it..
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• a bit of cauliflower
• one stick of celery
• a bit of broccoli
• a zucchini / squash
• garlic – I use 5 cloves.. but that’s a lot
• herbs: fresh thyme, oregano, sage, parsley, basil, garlic chives (whatever you have)
• tofu – one block – FIRM or Extra FIRM
• red wine vinegar
• pinch of sugar

I cook my pasta with boiling water salt and a bit of oil.. drain pasta when ready and wash with cold water.. set aside

wash your veggies and cut them into bite sized pieces..

Heat the oven to 425

on the stove: Add oil to pan and saute onion and garlic for 2 minutes then add all other veggies…

cook for 5 minutes.. about maybe 8-10

add tomatoes with juice, sugar and vinegar.. saute for another 15 minutes. Then, add tofu cubes. Mix.

add veggie stock or water if it gets dry

Add pasta to the veggies… mix.. cook for 2-3 minutes..then add herbs

transfer to a baking dish.

bake at 425 for 10 minutes and lower heat to 320 and cook for 25 more minutes…..don’t let it burn!

add fresh parsley on top.. and serve..

Krista’s Mushroom Potato Stew – Slow Cook’n

Krista’s Mushroom Potato Stew – Slow Cook’n

Ingredients:

1 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
4 large potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 carrots, pealed and chopped
1 (8 ounce) sliced organic button mushrooms
2 bay leaves
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon fresh oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 cup of peas… add later..

Directions:

1. Line the bottom of slow cooker with the onions. Add the garlic on top of the onions, but be sure the layer of onions is thick enough for the garlic not to fall through.

2. Add potatoes and carrots. Add the mushrooms to the top of the other vegetables. Add the bay leaves. At this point, mix in a bowl….the tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire, thyme, oregano and 1/2 the pepper in bowl. Stir well and pour over veggies.

3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. At the end of that time, stir cooker contents; add peas and the remaining black pepper.

Bean and Lentil Soup Healthy & Easy – Slow Cooker

The beans and lentils I used:

- kidney bean, red bean, garbanzo bean, lava bean, black bean, green lentil, red lentil and brown lentil

however, use what you like.. any and all will work..

1.) Wash and Soak beans and lentils over night..

2.) morning: Rinse and pour all into your slow cooker

3.) poor safflower oil – oh about, 1/2 cup.. up to you..

3.) add vegetables if you like.. this time, I did not.. but you may)

4.) add fresh herbs.. I like oregano, tarragon and thyme.. but use what you have.. or dry herbs are fine too..

5.) sea (mineral) salt and black pepper…

6.) I also add: dry mustard, celery seed, garlic, onion, chili peppers

7.) add your favorite bouillon ( I use non-”beef” but up to you)

8.) fill to the rim with clean water.. mix and turn on low all day..

later on that night.. enjoy!

Quinoa Seitan Vegetable Stew Recipe

Quinoa Seitan Vegetable Stew

This recipe is simple and quick to make…. a sure win! Warm, filling and so so so good for you.

Things you’ll need:

Quinoa, Veggies, Seitan, garlic, olive oil, salt pepper, veggie broth, seasonings of your choice.

First things first: Rinse the Quinoa well and soak for 10 minutes and drain. To cook the Quinoa, take 1 cup quinoa and 1 1/2 cups cold water. Then,

1. Drain quinoa well in the strainer, transfer to the cooking pot, add 1 1/2 cups water & 1/2 tsp salt if desired
2. Bring to a boil, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and turn the heat down to simmer
3. Cook for 15 minutes
4. Remove quinoa from heat and allow to sit five minutes with the lid on
5. Fluff quinoa gently with a fork

Take your Seitan, cut into bit sized pieces and sear both sides in a pan with olive oil. You may add Braggs (soy sauce, Worcestershire) if you want. This will take about 5 minutes.

Then, cut up what ever veggies you have into bit sized pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan and add veggies and garlic.

In a few minutes, add some water or veggie stock. Just a bit and cover with a lid. Cook for about 3 minutes and turn off heat.

Prepare veggie broth on your stove. Add quinoa, seitan and veggie mixture to the soup… you may add any seasons you like.. salt and pepper, for me, is a must.

Hearty, yummy and warm!

Please enjoy.. I added saltines cracks with ours. please be as creative as you can when making this. Add whatever seasonings you want to the quinoa and the soup. You can add green onions on top for a nice spicy touch!

Teriyaki Glazed Seitan with Green Garlic Veggies and Rice Recipe

Picnic Style….

Our nights are becoming just perfect for our outside dinners. Quite casual and laid back.

Yesterday, I made some home made Seitan and today I cooked up a few pieces of it and glazed it with some ingredients I had laying around the kitchen.

ingredients:

• seitan cutlets cut into little bite-sizes pieces
• olive oil

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce – vegan
• 1/4 cup Braggs or a soy sauce of some sort
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup garlic seasoned rice vinegar or regular

• Rice – I used brown

Veggies:

• garlic – pressed or minced
• vegan butter
• broccoli – all veggie bite-sized
• green beans
• mushrooms
• zucchini
• salt and pepper

• Then, a salad of whatever you want

Directions:

Sauce: Mix all the sauce ingredients together over the stove and simmer for 20 minutes… do not burn… as the liquid cools, it’ll thicken (glaze)

Seitan: Heat oil in pan, and sear both sides until browned. Once sauce is ready, add the seitan…only cover slightly…glaze.

Rice: directions on package or quick search on the internet

Veggies: heat butter and garlic in pan for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add Veggies, mix. Add a bit of water (veggie broth..liquid) and cover. This takes about 5 minutes.

Put it all together how you want and enjoy!!!

Blood of Nature

We have been receiving our organic fruits and vegetables from CSA – Community Supported Agriculture (Inland Empire) on a weekly basis.  Not only have we gotten a beautiful arrangement of vegetables, greens and fruits, it’s different every week. We are supporting our local organic farmers and lighten our footprint on this earth while doing our part to help the community in the ways we feel best fits our lifestyle.

In these boxes, we have receive lots of greens, beets, wild spinach and broccoli rage. I have not yet figured out how to cook all these items, so we have decided to start juicing again. Every morning, I pull out a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs, and juice them into a beautiful drink to start our day.

Today’s Juice was the BEST I have mad yet, Really, so good, it tasted like it was the blood of nature. Here are the ingredients:

• 2 baby beets
• wild spinach
• collard greens – a few leaves
• arugula greens
• broccoli Rabe
• ginger – a little square piece, maybe a teaspoon (pealed)
• half of a cucumber with peal on if organic (peal the skin off if it’s not organic)
• 3 Fuji apples
• 3 small carrots, washed but not pealed

Unbelievable!!! Yummy!!!

Two Thumbs UP!!!

God’s Pharmacy! Amazing! Natural Healing…

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums.  Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female – they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this?  It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body’s cells. Today’s research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

A working companion,

Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Hearty ‘Beef’ Casserole

Ingredients:

• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 Tbsp. dried thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. marjoram
• 1 tsp. fresh rosemary
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup peeled and sliced carrots
• 1 cup cubed red potatoes
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 3/4 cup cubed seitan
• 2 Tbsp. molasses
• 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1 15-oz. can navy beans, (soaked over night, cooked and drained)
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs mixed with 3 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot, saute the garlic, onions, thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, and rosemary in the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add the wine, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the seitan, molasses, mustard, beans, salt and pepper. Heat through. Transfer the mixture to 6 15-oz. oiled casserole dishes. Top with the bread crumbs, cover, and bake for about 45 minutes. Makes 4 to 6 servings.