hot for food

Well I finally took a break from watching/listening to the Antoine Dodson Remix to actually cook something for myself to eat. I worked up quite the appetite from all that crunking!  This is what I’ve dubbed a Modern Miso Soup. The miso soup you get at Japanese restaurants is usually too salty and has the tiniest pieces of tofu, green onion, and sea weed… and that’s it. My version has much more appropriate veg for a modern vegan and a smoother, tastier broth! But I still think it’s pretty authentic.

Modern Miso Soup

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 cup vegetable broth
3 tbsp white miso paste
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 clove minced garlic
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 cup firm tofu, chopped into cubes
3 cups kale, chopped
1 cup shitake mushrooms
1 carrot thinly sliced

I made this on the fly, so the measurements are mostly accurate. I decided frying the tofu cubes in an iron skillet with a few drops of sesame oil would make the tofu more palatable and interesting (which it did!). Fry the tofu cubes while you bring the water and stock to a boil. Once it’s boiling add in miso paste, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. Stir until mixed and simmer on low-medium heat for a few minutes. Add the tofu cubes to the soup once lightly crisped on the outside and put the shitake mushrooms and kale in the hot frying pan for 5 minutes or so until everything shrinks in size. Add the mushrooms, kale, green onion, and carrot to the soup and continue to simmer on low for another 5-10 minutes. Taste the broth to ensure it’s to your liking in terms of flavor and saltiness. You can always add more miso or a dash more soy sauce.

Modern Miso Soup is the only miso soup I’ll ever eat again… and the Antoine Dodson Remix might be the only song I ever listen to again… I can only hope!

P.S. if you have no idea what I’m talking about, I hope you’ll take a minute and fifteen seconds of your time to engage in the most amazing thing the internet has offered up yet!

My chef friend Denise Blinn has been wanting me to try her Krispy Kale Tofu recipe for months. She’s not a vegan, but includes this dish and other options as part of her Meals on Heels lunch delivery service. I was supposed to eat a batch that she made herself, but instead she sent me the recipe… and I tried it right away! Of course, I always have these ingredients in my kitchen at any given time so it’s the perfect thing to whip up and make large batches of for easy leftovers. Surprisingly, the kale stays crisp after day one. My only addition to the original recipe is chopped apples.

Krispy Kale Tofu

Ingredients
1 cup short-grain brown rice or basmati
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 lb kale chopped (ribs removed)
1 gala apple, chopped into cubes
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 lb extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/4″ cubes
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350° and place shelves in upper and lower thirds of oven. Prepare Brown Rice. Whisk together olive oil, sesame oil and soy sauce.  Reserve 1/3 of the dressing, then combine remaining with kale, coconut and tofu.  Toss well, then spread in a single layer on 2 sheet pans. Bake until crispy, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to cook evenly on all sides. Remove from oven and toss mixture with remaining dressing and the cooked rice.  Season with salt and serve warm.

This recipe is a winner. I almost ate all of it in one day, which is possible sans rice! If you live in Toronto’s downtown core and either don’t bring your lunch to work, fail to eat a nutritious lunch, or just want a nice change check out Meals on Heels… it’s a steal of a deal!

I swear, I could eat sweet potato and avocado exclusively, for the rest of my life! Well, perhaps that’s a stretch. But I have been eating this winning combo for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the past few weeks. I thought I would show off the photos from my last few dates with these amazing ingredients. In most cases, the sweet potatoes have been microwaved until almost cooked through, then chopped and pan fried in a drizzle of olive oil, S&P, cayenne, paprika, cumin, and nutmeg. The possibilities for tasty additions is endless!

Here’s a simple side of potatoes for breakfast – pan fried sweet potato with onions, fresh avocado, salsa, and cilantro

This was a yummy warm lunch salad – pan fried sweet potato, with fresh avocado, green onion, red pepper, and sweet raisins all tossed in a good dose of lime juice. Next time I would add sliced or chopped almonds too!

This is a quick dinner staple. And if you want to be real quick, microwave your sweet potato or yam. Baking just takes SO long! Then slice it open and mash the insides, then top with freshly made guacamole. I always carrot ribbons for extra crunch!

Crispy sweet potato fries make a great dinner starter or mid-day snack. But instead of dipping them in a vegan spicy mayo, I’ve now resorted to my guacamole salsa for dipping.

If you have not incorporated these two ingredients, sweet potatoes and avocado, into your life yet you are truly missing out! Hopefully this gives you some ideas to start eating these vegetables together. If you have your own ideas and recipes for the marriage of sweet potato and avocado, let me know! Oh, and if anyone knows the difference between and sweet potato and a yam, please inform me?!