Sesame-Soy Tofu w/ Asian Mustard Greens

I was at Shoppers last week and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had expanded their Asian vegetable section! They had lot of different sizes of bok choy (including teeny baby ones the size of my thumb!), and Asian mustard greens which I just had to try. They are a lot more mild than regular mustard greens, and a lot of the bitterness cooks out. To go with the greens, I made a sesame-soy tofu and served everything over red quinoa (TJs just started carrying it, a lot more texture [similar to how brown rice has more texture than white] and really good).

Sesame-Soy Tofu w/ Asian Mustard Greens

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 onion, quartered and sliced
4 garlic cloves, cracked & peeled
1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed or sliced
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 shots sriracha
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Asian mustard greens, cleaned & chopped
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet and saute onions 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more.
2. Add tofu and brown 1-2 minutes on each side (if you cubed the tofu, don't worry about browning on all sides as that could take a while, just cook 3-4 minutes, stirring carefully).
3. Combine soy sauce, sriracha and rice vinegar and add to skillet. Stir to coat, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 5-6 minutes until tofu is heat through. Remove to a dish.
4. Place mustard greens in skillet and cook in remaining liquid 2-3 minutes until wilted.
5. Serve tofu and greens over red quinoa (or rice or pasta), topping with toasted sesame seeds if you like.

The cost:
onion: .45
garlic: .10
tofu: 1.99
mustard greens: 1.99
red quinoa: 2.99

Grand total: $7.52; serves 2 with leftovers for lunch

Check Out My New Guest Blogger Gig!

Dear Lovely Readers,

In case you couldn't get enough of my over here, you can now also read my random musings about food, being Jewish and other contemporary issues at The Jew & the Carrot! I'll be blogging there a few times a month, but in case you don't want to be checking back there all the time to see if I've posted, I'll post a link here so you can check it out if you like.

Here is my first post: Quinoa, a Passover Game-Changer.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @RellaBellaK, and if you use a feed reader (like Google Reader), you can subscribe to my blog by clicking on the little arrow to the right of this post where it says "subscribe."

Thanks for being a loyal reader! Oh, and stay tuned for some very special St. Patrick's Day themed posts over the next few days (hint hint: Guinness Braised London Broil!!)

Quinoa Salad w/ Curry-Ginger-Cardamom Vinaigrette

A few weeks ago, AK and I visited his sister (a fellow gluten-freenik) and brother-in-law; Saturday we had a pretty lazy morning (read: slept in very late :)) and decided lunch should be light fare, mostly salads. I whipped up this quinoa salad with chickpeas, chopped pecans, and raisins for lots of texture, and a simple vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar, curry, ginger & cardamom.

Quinoa Salad w/ Curry-Ginger-Cardamom Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa, cooked according to package & cooled
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp honey or agave
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of pepper

Directions:

1. In a salad bowl mix together quinoa, chickpeas, scallions, raisins & pecans.
2. Blend together remaining ingredients and pour over quinoa mixture, stirring to combine.

The cost:
quinoa: .99
chickpeas: .69
scallion: .10
raisins: .40
pecans: .40

Grand total: $2.58; serves 4-6 as a side dish (recipe is easily doubled for a larger group)

Roasted Brussel Sprouts & Baby Sweet Potatoes

Last night I made dinner for AK and myself; I decided on my baked BBQ tofu and a pot of quinoa, but also wanted something else so I roasted some brussel sprouts and sliced baby sweet potatoes with just a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

P.S. In response to some comments I'm going to start having periodic posts about entire meals, such as the one I made last night. I whipped the whole thing up in about 20 minutes, then just had to wait for everything to cook with very little maintenance.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts & Baby Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 bag brussel sprouts
1 container baby sweet potatoes (about 8)
1 Tbsp light olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice brussel sprouts in half lengthwise. Slice sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch thick rings.
3. Place veggies in a roasting pan, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with spices. Toss to coat.
4. Roast in the oven covered 20-25 minutes, then uncovered 8-10 minutes.

The cost:
brussel sprouts: 2.49
sweet potatoes: 1.99

Grand total: $4.48; serves 4 as a side dish

Meal cost:
tofu: 2.98
roasted veggies: 4.48
quinoa: 3.99 (if you count buying the box, I only used about 1/3)

Meal grand total: $11.45

Cooking with Quinoa

Although I didn't know quinoa existed until about 4 years ago, it has become a staple in my diet and I can't remember what I ever did without it. It is versatile and super simple to make (you can even use the microwave, although I prefer to stove-top method), and it goes well with pretty much everything. I like to use a 2-1 liquid-quinoa ratio (just like when cooking rice). I also like to use vegetable stock or chicken broth to give it some flavor (although quinoa's inherent lack of flavor makes it the perfect candidate for almost any flavor profile).

This is one of my fave quinoa recipes. The melding of spicy curry and juicy mango really does it for me (I love spicy-sweet combos). [Yes, I realize this is two curry recipes in a row, what can I say, I like curry.]

Interesting quinoa fact: When the Spanish invaded Peru (quinoa's native land), they forbid its growing because the Inca used it as part of religious ceremony. Too bad conquistadors, you don't know what you missed out on!

Curried Quinoa w/ Mango

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp allspice
dash of white pepper
1 cup quinoa
1 ripe mango, cubed
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts or almonds, toasted

Directions:

1. Combine stock and spices in a small stockpot. Stir in quinoa, bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer 12-15 minutes or until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed.
2. Stir in mango, chickpeas, scallions and nuts.

The cost:
stock: .98
quinoa: .99
mango: 1.29
chickpeas: .79
scallion: .08
nuts: .45

Grand total: $4.29; serves 4-6 as a side dish