Kale + Tofu = 2 of my fave foods!

A variation of kale chips made in to a meal!!

Sesame Tofu with Crispy Kale *vegan*

Tofu:

1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 block regular firm tofu, drained and cubed (I like sunrise or superior foods)
1 tsp canola oil

Kale:

1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 bunch of kale, washed and devained
1 pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Break the kale into bite sized pieces and put on the lined cookie sheet. Coat with oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and salt. Bake for 10 minutes. While kale is baking, heat oil (canola and sesame) for tofu over medium heat. Add tofu and cook for 3 minutes. Add sesame seeds and cook for another 3 minutes. Keep warm on low heat, stirring occasionally until kale is done. When kale is done, take tofu off heat. Place kale in the bottom of your serving dish and top with tofu.

With a twist...

Yum! Make your favourite grilled cheese, but, add in thinly sliced peeled apples for an added sweetness and crunch. My favourites to add in are granny smith, ambrosia and pink lady. Enjoy!

delicious vegan dinner + my blog's anniversary!

*THIS POST GOT UPLOADED 2 DAYS LATE.

It's been a year! I started this blog on December 7 2011 and today it's been one year! So, here is a delicious {vegan} recipe I made last night to celebrate my blog! {I had almond milk on the side to complete the meal.}

Panko-Tofu Quinoa

Tofu:
1/2 package firm tofu
1 cup panko {Japanese breadcrumbs}
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Quinoa:
1 cup water
2 cups quinoa

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the quinoa then bring back to a boil. Cover and cook on med-low heat for 15 minutes. While the
quinoa is cooking, cut the tofu into cubes. Coat the tofu in the soy sauce and drain any extra soy sauce. Heat both oils in a small saucepan over med-high heat. Meanwhile, put the panko on the soy sauce-coated tofu {keep in mind that the panko won't stick intirely to the tofu.} Cook the tofu in the oil {the oil is hot enough when a pinch of panko sizzles in the oil.} 4 at a time. Be sure to cook both sides of tofu. Repeat with remaining tofu. When the quinoa is cooked, put into a serving bowl and top with tofu.

Since I have mentioned quinoa in a lot of my recipes, I'm going to give you the meaning of quinoa.

Quinoa: {KEEN-wa} Quinoa is a seed from Peru often used in vegetarian and vegan cooking. It is a substitute mostly for rice, pasta and couscous.

Comment and tell me if you made this. I'd love to hear it!! Thanks for one successful year of reading my blog!!

Bon Appetite!

xo,

Nailah

A milestone…

I'm sure most of you like poached eggs... Right? Well, today I went back to Chewies (look at the post "Chewies.") for brunch today and I had my first poached egg (also my first benedict) in a southern crab cake benny. It was SUPER good! When I was deciding what to have, my Mama told me, "You won't regret it Nailah, I know you don't really love eggs, but, it's a crab cake benny! You won't regret it." And, she was right! It was so good! And, I know, for me, to love food this much, I have NEVER had a poached egg, I am also a pescatarian and an egg being one of the like, ten proteins that are available, I don't really like them. Still, they aren't my favourite thing, but, now I know that I can have benedicts and poached eggs at brunch now. So, I guess I can call this a milestone (with many more to come.) of a successful chef, The Poached Egg Milestone.

Best Beets.

Any of you wonder how to cook beets? I always have. I just realized that they aren't that hard. Here is a recipe you could do with any kind of beet, I used golden beets.

Roasted Pesto Beets

4 beets
3 tablespoons basil pesto
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil, for greasing the pan
Cooked quinoa, for serving (optional)

In a large pan, cover the beets with one inch of water. Boil the beets with the water, once boiled, lower heat to med-low and cook for 30 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain out the water and cool until you can handle them. Once you can handle the beets, peel them and slice them in to 1/2 inch slices. Toss the beets with salt, pepper and pesto. Grease a baking pan with olive oil. Spread out the beets onto the greased baking pan. Bake at 400F for 10-15 minutes. Serve on top of the cooked quinoa, if desired.

Yum! Saturday Night at Earls.

On Saturday, I went to Earls for my grandpa's birthday. I had such a great, delicious salad! It was a seared albacore tuna sushi salad. The tuna was perfectly seared and tossed in chilli mayo and sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds. A pile of that was on top of: organic greens, roasted nori, brown rice, sushi rice, mango, avocado and tossed with a white miso vinaigrette. Delicious!

Breakfast before school…

A delicious spread on top of toast {l used english muffin} for the quickest out the door breakfast or even snack! It kind of tastes like pumpkin pie filling! {what a treat!}Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter. Happy Wednesday!