A quinoa and tofu caesar salad is always a go-to for us. I have eaten this salad four thousand times. It is still good. My carnivorous friend asked me for my tofu recipe and I was shocked and my little vegan heart returned from stone to it's warm and beating state.


Every year I ask for chocolates from Lagusta's Luscious for valentines day and I finally got them!! I got the "box of hearts" which contains three types of caramels and 2 types of cream-filled hearts. The top row is my fave, which are chocolate caramels with some chocolate salt. Next row is a pear cream-filled heart, my favorite of the two hearts. Next row has violet caramels, more flowery than your average, then rosewater cream-filled hearts, a bit perfumey but it is Valentines day, after all, and the last row are cinnamon caramels which were great and literally exactly that. I ate them all. Within a week. They were for me, so...


For dinner, we opted not to go out, but stay in and cook. I made a "seitan au vin" with mushrooms, red wine and seitan, some gnocchi with rosemary and garlicky green beans. It was fancy. Observe:



We hadn't been to Champs in weeks (gasp) so last weekend we trecked out and got lucky because there was no wait. This breakfast burrito always takes me when I go. I think I'm going to order something new but nope. I get this almost always. If it's dinner time I get the awesome bowl and add guac. Sometimes I get mozzarella sticks. Don't judge.


Since Champs moved, we make a habit to stop by Dunwell Doughnuts on the way home. This time we were feeling particularly sugar-starved and got 3 each. My picks were berry french toast, Maple caramel pecan, and raspberry cheesecake. Alex got all the boring flavors. All six were eaten by the night's end.

 Here is my plate:

 These are my slices. You can tell they are mine based on the proper amount of avocado on each slice. Being flush with avocado is as close a second to being flush with cash that I have yet to come.

The fluffy quinoa salad was the first thing to stand out to me and so I went with it. I have trouble making up my mind about what to order when I'm faced with a menu I could order anything off of. Do you know what I mean?? I'm used to scanning the menu for the one thing I can eat, and determining what I need to leave off of it, and my decision is quickly made for me. When I go to all-vegan restaurants I get so fickle and can't decide if I'm craving quinoa salad, keylime pie or chick'n nuggets.



Alex ordered the mediterranean veggie panini, which comes with pesto and cashew cheese. I'm a big fan of pesto veggies on sandwiches, or on rice, or on pasta, or anywhere near or around my mouth, so it worked out.

It was flush with broccoli and cauliflower. It was like, a broccoli sandwich. It was good, but I needed more pesto and I couldn't taste the cashew cheese that much. I only got two bites of the sandwich so maybe that's why I missed the main event.



It was unanimous that we wouldn't be passing on the baked soy nuggets with thousand island dipping sauce. Be still, my young American heart.

My fluffy quinoa salad arrived in all its glory with a mountain of avocado. Shouldn't it just be assumed that you want that much or more avocado topping every plate that is put in front of you? I mean, let's get with the times. I expect silverware, a napkin, a full glass of water, and a mountain of avocado. It's not like I'm asking for blood, just the bare necessities.


The salad was dressed with a whole-grain mustard, and you already know that mustard is my second favorite condiment and in the top 3 list of what I couldn't be vegan without. So I'm thinking you already know how much I dug this salad. I ate every last seed of quinoa, but left feeling like a million bucks. I wish I would eat like this more often. Food can be delicious, but it doesn't always leave your body feeling like it's superhuman. After I ate this salad, I put my cape on, and flew-- To the closest vegan ice cream shoppe.


It's the Ice Cream Shoppe Formerly Known As Lula's. It's like Prince, but vegan and delicious. Kind of like that episode of Sunny when they go to the bar with no sign. I was tempted to say to the person at the counter, "Um I noticed you guys don't have a sign. I thought that was really cool.." But he was too friendly to get it, and I think he was an owner or something because he was super lively. Too lively to be scooping ice cream for minimum wage.


We shared a Brownie Sundae. My life is complete now. I'm writing to you from the afterlife. Earth had its problems, but that brownie sundae made high school, mean older brothers, and a decade at a shit-job all seem worth it. All those troubled times I worked through all led me to this sundae. My path was laid to lead me here, to the ice cream shoppe formerly known as Lula's, to eat this brownie sundae with swirl soft serve with cake batter flavor and chocolate, a scoop of peanut butter banana ice cream, vegan hot fudge, graham cracker crumbs, and coconut whipped cream. Folks, it's alright on the other side.

I went to Florida for vacation and to visit some family. It was very relaxing. I make soft pretzels to relax, so this is a picture of me relaxing.







I also made a pot-o-guac. I put some grilled corn and tomatoes in there too, trying to make it as reminiscent of chili's guacamole as possible. I mean you don't go to chili's and NOT get the guac appetizer. That would be worse than going to a sushi place and not getting sushi. Or like going to bueno y sano and not getting a burrito. Or Stuff Yer Face and not getting a boli. Basically, you don't really have a choice. You should be served this guacamole upon being seated and understand that it is going to be part of your bill.

Many Salad/Smoovie nights have taken place this week. They are a fun June tradition we started a year or two ago. As long as your salad is not bitchy and small, and you have some good stuff in there, a salad can really slam dunk it. A delicious smoovie doesn't hurt it either.

I have heard of and even seen red quinoa at the store and wanted to be adventurous and try it sometime soon, but stumbled across black quinoa in the bulk bins, and danced on the dangerous side and bought a few cups of it, you know, to live on the wild side, cut loose, spice things up.. etc.
So I had my suspicions about black grains. This may not or may be due to this time 5 years ago or something when I made wild rice and had the same silly ideas about getting amped to eat healthy food, thinking it was gonna be great with little effort or gameplan. And it was really just horrible. It took me about 4 more years to give even brown rice another shot after that. But now that brown rice and I are friends, I bought some black quinoa under the same delusions I once labored the day I made wild rice for the first time. I really love plain quinoa just as is, with some salt, pepper, olive oil and paprika or whatever. So I figured I would start the same way with the black quinoa. It has a funny smell that regular quinoa doesn't have and I tasted it first, pre-seasoning, and didn't like it at all. I threw in some onion, garic, red vinegar, and agave with a ton of salt and pepper, but it still wasn't great.
How do you make something that just isn't very good taste good? Guacamole of course.
Alongside is italian-y seitan with breadcrumbs and kale covered in garlicky creamy cashew sauce. I just realized that I get myself to eat healthy food by dousing it in stuff that's bad for me. Though if the worst things for me that I eat are guacamole and cashews, then I suppose I could be doing much, much worse.
That's my rationalization and Im sticking to it :)

Rice and beans sounds really boring, but really, it's so good! You can season it to taste and make it as flavorful as you want it to be. So what I'm saying is, if you don't like your rice and beans, it's your own fault! So just add some salt or something. Ooo or avocado. That'll fix it up.

Rice and Beans and everything else in the fridge:

1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups baby spinach
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
1 cup brown rice, rinsed
2 cups water
1 tablespoon annatto powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

1 avocado, diced (optional)

Bring rice and water to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Simmer about 40 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Don't stir. Just turn the heat off and keep covered.
Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and saute about 2 minutes. Add carrots, jalapeño and baby spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted and add beans. Stir in salt, pepper and spices (except annatto powder) and let cook about 10 minutes, stirring every few, until carrots are tender.
Add annatto powder to rice and stir. Add to veggies and beans and stir to combine. Top each bowl with some chopped avocado and serve!

The enchilada is filled with a red chile pesto and chopped avocado with sauteed poblano peppers and red onions. The rice is brown basmati with annatto powder and the beans are black eyed peas with chipotle chiles in adobo. It totally did the trick.

Avocado and Red Chile Pesto Enchilada

4 large whole wheat or corn tortillas
1-2 avocados, diced
1 red onion, sliced
2 poblanos, sliced into strips

red chile pesto:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 red jalapeño or fresno peppers
1 dried ancho chile
2 dried chile de arbols
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons nooch
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chile powder

Place dried peppers in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let stand for about 20 minutes and remove them from the bowl. Pull out their stems. Remove stems from fresno peppers and add to a food processor with the reconstituted dried chiles, garlic and pine nuts. Puree until smooth. Pour in the oil, add the salt, pepper, chile powder, and nooch. Puree and taste for heat and seasonings.
In a large skillet, sautee poblanos and red onion in a little olive oil, if desired, until soft. Toss with 1-2 tablespoons of the pesto. Turn off heat.
Heat the largest skillet you've got over med-high heat, and spray with some canola oil. Lay a tortilla out and place some onions and peppers down the middle of the tortilla and add some chopped avocado on top of that. Drizzle another tablespoon of the pesto over that and fold edged over the filling.
Place the enchilada seam-side down on the hot pan. Sear for about 3 minutes, the flip over and sear 2nd side. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Serve with Rice and beans!

It looks a little murky to be green, but green is the color of mostly all of the ingredients! This is chock full of good stuff for you, and hey, if you wanted to eat this 4 times a week, you could do much much worse. The broth is super spicy, because spicy chili is the bees knees. Or.. something.

Tempeh Green Chili

2 8oz packages of tempeh
1 head of green kale
4 cups baby spinach
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 1lb tomatillos
2 jalapeño chiles
2 poblano peppers
3 leeks
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, Diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb mushrooms, quartered
5 cups homemade vegetable broth
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon corriander
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 can canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsely
1 avocado, diced, optional but warranted

Cut leeks lengthwise and chop off the tough dark green ends. Discard tough ends and slice the leeks into half moons. Separate chopped layers of leeks and place in a bowl. Fill bowl with water and slosh the leeks around so that the dirt and grit falls to the bottom of the bowl.
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and add leeks, onion, mushrooms, carrots, and garlic and sauté. Rip the kale off the tough veins and rinse. Tear into bite-sized pieces and add to pot. Wilt kale for 2 minutes and add spinach. Wilt for about 5 minutes.
Peel tomatillos and rinse under water. Preheat the broiler. Place tomatillos, jalapeños and poblanos in a cast-iron skillet and broil for 8-9 minutes or until all tomatillos and chiles have split or blistered. Remove and let cool. Peel away the burnt skin and puree in a food processor. Pour mix into soup.
Tear tempeh into bite-sized chunks and place in a large skillet. Cover tempeh pieces with water and simmer about 10 minutes. Drain away excess water and heat tempeh over medium high heat. pour tamari over tempeh and stir. Cook 1 minute and turn off heat.
Now add corriander, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and paprika to soup and stir. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and add beans. Cook 15 minutes, covered. Add tempeh and stir. Cook for 3 minutes and turn off heat. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped parsley and diced avocado.

I like to make this super spicy. There's so many cool and refreshing parts to this dish that the spiciness is what ties it all together for me. My favorite way to eat it is to twirl up noodles with some toppings and then after that bite, take a sip of the broth with either a big spoon or... not.

Now I know not everyone gets amped about making 7 layers for just a dip. It's not like my mom is going to see this and go whip this up on a school night. This can be reserved for special occasions, with special friends. Or if you're like me, you could do a couple steps tonight and a couple steps tomorrow and have this on your table right quick. The choice is yours.

I don't know why, but I think of tacos as the ultimate family food. Don't you? Also, on a side note, I was thinking about that episode of LOST where Kate tells her husband she's a fugitive and yells through tears, "I Don't do Taco Night!!" Then I somehow caught that exact episode on TV last night, then produced a taco dip. This series of events led me to tacos, my ultimate purpose or calling in life. See? Life is sequential and purposeful.