Miso Almond Cabbage Slaw

I see cabbage in your future. Why is that? Because cabbage is amazing and delicious but also because it is St. Patricks Day this coming up week and every single food store is having a massive cabbage sale. Word of advice. Buy as much of that cabbage as you can. It will last for weeks and really is super versatile, can be eaten is sooo many different ways, but basically because it is tasty as all hell.

This is just one yummy and simple way to prepare and enjoy the cabbage. Shredded up nice and fine, roasted until tender and slightly chard, then coated with a creamy miso dressing. Topped with almonds for crunch and goodness, a simple dish with all the complexity of a complex thing.

Get that cabbage.

Now to the slaw!

The stuff. You need cabbage( red and or green) plus tahini, soy, miso paste, minced garlic, powdered ginger, maple syrup, a lime, some black pepper and lastly, some almonds.

First thing first. Finely shredded up the cabbage.

Palce cabbage on a baking sheet and pop into a hot oven.

While the cabbage is roasting, mix up the miso dressing. Place everything in a bowl, mix together with a little hot water until creamy and not to thick, and that’s it.

Pulled from the oven you have tender and chard cabbage. So good.

Dump cabbage into a big bowl and pour on the dressing.

Toss it all around, then toss in the almonds.

And there you have it. The goods. All ready for eating so you should do that .

Enjoy all the cabbage!

-C

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Miso Almond Cabbage Slaw

side for 3-4 people

• 5 cups shredded cabbage (red and or green)

• 1/3 cup toasted almonds

• 2 teaspoons tahini

• 3 teaspoons miso ( I used red miso but any of your favorite miso paste will do)

• 1 teaspoon soy or tamari

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup (more to taste)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 1 lime or 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 2 tablespoons warm water

• black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Grab cabbage and shred with a knife or mandolin, super finely until you have 5-6 cups of shredded cabbage. Place on a lined of very lightly oiled baking sheet and spread around so the cabbage is evenly distributed . Now pop into hot oven.

In the meantime make miso dressing. Add miso, maple, soy, garlic, ginger, and the juice of the lime (or the vinegar) to a bowl and whisk until combined. Add in the hot water to thin out a bit.

Once cabbage starts to wilt and char on places, around 20-25 minutes, remove from oven. Dump cabbage into a big bowl, pour on the dressing ans toss until the cabbage evenly coated. Rough chop up the almonds and toss in. Top with black pepper to taste.

Eat.

Black Bean Soup with Cornbread Dumplings

Black beans soup is eaten on the regular around here. Not always the same way but pretty much. Why screw with a good thing you know?

Now soup with dumplings. This is not (yet) a regular thing but I was making the usual blacken soup and planing on making corn bread to go with (in a pan) , when I had a moment of clarity and realized that I should just make the corn bread into dumplings and not have to deal with baking and another pan to clean. Duh. Why don’t I do this more often?

And that is it. A black bean soup, nice and thick, with light fluffy cornbread dumplings cooked in one pot. Quick, easy and all sorts of delicious. Can’t complain about that.

Now let’s get to the soup and dumplings!

The stuff. For the soup there are bLackbeans, and onion, spices, a carrot, garlic, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar. For dumplings we have flour, baking powder, salt, oil, and plant milk. Salt and pepper too.

Start by dicing up the carrot and onion and mincing the garlic.

Dump all that you diced into a big pot, along with the spices, some salt and pepper, and about 1/2 cup of water. Place on stove and cook down on medium heat until the onion is becoming translucent and the whole pot is starting to smell fragrant.

Now add in beans and tomato paste and about 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil then turn down to medium an cook for about 20-30 minutes.

Soup. Cooked and all taste but one more little step.

Remove a third of the soup and blend until smooth and then add it back it.

Dumplings. Mix dry together then add in oil and milk. Mix together unit incorporated.

While soup is still on medium heat, scoop the dumping mixture right into the soup.

Place a loose side on top of pot ans let the dumplings cook util list and fluffy which will take about 15-20 minutes.

Cornbread dumplings looking all nice in the soup.

Then you eat it. Add some avocado on top of you want. Avocado is always a good idea.

-C

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Black Bean Soup with Cornbread Dumplings

feeds 3-4

• 3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 16 oz cans)

• 1 large onion

• 1 good sized carrot

• 3-4 cloves garlic

• 1 teaspoon chill powder

• 1 tablespoon cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or none if you don’t like the spice)

• 1 tablespoon maple cider vineger

• 1/3 cup tomato paste

• 5 cups water

• salt and pepper

  Dumplings

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup corn meal

• 3/4 cup plant milk

• 2 tablespoon neutral oil

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Start by dicing up the carrot and onion into small pieces. Mince the garlic and then place the garlic, onion, and carrot into a large pot with the cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes, a good pinch of salt and pepper, and about 1/2 a cup of water. Place pot on stove on a medium low heat and sweat the mixture for about 10-15 minutes or until fragrant and the onions are slightly translucent.

Add in the tomato paste, beans , and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium heat and let cook for about1/2 hour. Once soup has cooked down a bit and tastes delicious, remove form heat and carefully transfer 1/3 of the soup to a blender or jar (if using a hand blander) and blend until smooth. Add the blend soup back to the pot and turn the heat back on to medium low. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Now make dumpling mixture. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl then add in the oil and milk and mix until incorporated. Scoops the dumping mixture into the soup while the soup then place a lid loosely on the pot. Cook for another 15-20 minutes or unit the dumplings are nice a n fluffy.

And when they are done, remove lid, tun the heat off, and paddle soup and dumplings into bowl. Eat. Add sliced avocado for a little more yum.

Almond Crusted Tofu

Are you a tofu person? I am very much a tofu person. I know that some people still think tofu is not so great or that it doesn’t taste like much or my favorite, that it doesn't taste like meat. And with that I say, well tofu isn’t meat so duh and yeah, it doesn't have a super powerful taste but it does taste good (especially really good fresh tofu) and tastes even better when you make it with tasty ingredients. But If you are a tofu person you already know that.

This tofu is good. I mean really really good. It is dredge and breaded in almonds and then baked until crispy., like a tofu nugget of sorts. I mixed mustard and vinegar into the dredge for some tang and added garlic and red pepper flakes to the almond coating to give it a bit more flavor but if you were feeling something different, say curry or Italian flavoring, well by all means, give it a go. I think the next time I make these (probably tonight) I am going to add a shit ton of cumin and chili powder and way more red pepper flakes. My stomach is rumbling already. And hopefully they will be to spicy for the mr so I don’t have to share. Its my craving. He can eat something else. Ha!

Now to the almond crusted tofu!

The stuff. A brick of firm tofu (which I have smooshed out a lot of liquid), whole almonds, and oats. Then there is flax meal, mustard, vinegar, almond milk, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.

Cutting up the tofu. Fist cut brick in half. Then turn each half on its side and cut into three equal pieces. flip back down each piece then can be cut into 4 triangles. And if you want to cut it up differently well then who am I to tell you otherwise.

Make the almond crust mixture. Almond and oats along with garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and sat and pepper go into the food processor and pulses utlil a crumbly. You don’t want it to fine but also not to chunky. Think bread crumb consistency.

Now make the dredge. Combine mustard, flax, vinegar, and plant milk in a wide shallow bowl until completely combined. Let it sit for a few minutes to really thicken.

Now you are all ready to go.

To coat the tofu just drag each piece through the wet mixture making sure it is evenly coated then drag with through the almond mixture.

Once all the pieces are crusted and on the baking sheet pop it into the hot oven and bake. 20ish minutes at first then flip eat piece and another 10ish minutes after that.

Baked and crispy.

Now you eat. Grab some dipping situations (I grabbed some guac and tomato sauce) and get at it.

So good.

-C

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Almond Crusted Tofu

makes 24 pieces

• 1 brick firm or extra firm tofu

• 1/2 cup almonds

• 1/4 cup old fashion oats

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 cup warm plant milk

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon mustard

• 1 tasblepoon ground flaxseed

• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450

Remove tofu from package and gently press out as much liquid as you can. Cut the tofu brick in half then flip each piece onto it’s side and cut each half into 3 equal pieces. Flip back down and then cut each third into 4 triangles. Or just cut the tofu into 24 each sizes pieces of your choice. Set aside on a dry towel.

Make the dredge. Combine flax seed, mustard, vinegar, warm plant milk and a inch of salt and pepper in a shallow bowl until completely combined.

To make the almond crust place the almonds, oats, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and a good pinch of salt and pepper into a food processor and pulse for about a minute or so until the texture is a small crumb the consistency of semi fine bread crumbs. Pour into a shallow bowl.

When all parts are ready to go, line up the dredge, the almond mixture, and get a baking sheet ready with either a baking mate or a little oil to keep the tofu from sticking. Take each piece of tofu and dip it though the dredge making sure to evenly coat it and then lift it out and let the excess drip off. The drop the tofu into the almond mixture and gently toss flip ti coat each side. Place coated onto baking sheet.

Once all the tofu is coated place it into the hot oven.Bake for 20 minutes then flip each piece and bake for another 8-12 minutes or unit crispy.

Once baked, remove from oven, place on a plate and eat. Want something to dip it in? I recommend guacamole. and or tomato sauce. Mustard and hummus are also fantastic!

Blueberry Orange and Pistachio Cabbage Salad

Ever since the mr got a gigantic bag of pistachios from my Dad for Christmas he has been eating them almost every night and not once has he asked if I wanted some. And I know he has been trying to hide them in the pantry on me, (obviously he has failed since it is MY pantry) so I took some when he was not home. Does that make me an asshole? Maybe a little but I share ALL of my food with him so he can give up a couple small handfuls of nuts.

Anyway I made salad with my stolen pistachios. A big cabbage salad with orange and blueberries because they pair amazingly with pistachios and plus I want to eat all the citrus right now. The blueberries, well they go so well in a savory situation and I wanted them in there too. (Plus the the color from the berries makes the salad so pretty!) So I made the salad and it was delicious. I ate some but you know what? I ended up sharing my stolen pistachio salad with the mr. And he liked it too, especially the pistachios. And he didn’t ask if I took then from him so I took that as a invitation to take more… Thats what it means right?

Now to the blueberry orange and pistachio cabbage salad!

The stuff. Cabbage, frozen blueberries, a big navel orange, pistachios, an onion, salt and pepper, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, and red pepper flakes.

Start by adding the blueberries to a pot with the maple and a little water. Place on medium heat and cook until blueberries pop to the touch and the liquid has reduced to ta thin syrup like consistency.

While blueberries are doing that, grab cabbage and shred as thin as you like. Also grab onion and slice a thin as you can. Place both into a big bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper and red wine vinegar.

Take orange and cut in half. Remove peel and pith from one half and cut into small segments.

Once the blueberries are cooked, dump the cabbage and onion mixture into warm pot. Squeeze the juice of remaining half orange and toss around until everything is evenly coated.

Dump it all back into the bowl and add the orange pieces and pistachios.

Toss around, add in a pinch of red pepper flakes and eat away.

-C

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Blueberry Orange and Pistachio Cabbage Salad

• 4 cups shredded cabbage (about 1/2 a head)

• 1 small onion

• 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

• 1/2 - 1 cup water

• 2 teaspoons maple syrup

• 1 orange

• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1/2 cup pistachios

• salt and pepper

• red pepper flakes (optional)

Start by placing blueberries into a medium pot with 1/2 cup of water and maple. Place on medium heat and cook for about 8-10 minutes or until the blueberries pop to the touch and the liquid has reduced to a thin syrup. Remove from heat.

Grab cabbage and shred or cut into thin pieces. Also grab onion and cut into thin rings. Place into a bowl, add in a good pinch of salt and pepper and the vinegar and toss around. You can do this while the blueberries are cooking,

Now take the tossed cabbage and onion and dump into the pot of warm blueberries. Toss around unit everything is nice and purple and dump it all right back into the big bowl.

Cut orange in half and add the juice of one half. Take the other half and remove the peel and pith and cut remaining orange into small pieces.

Add orange and pistachios to the salad and toss. Season with more salt and pepper if needed and add a pinch or so of red pepper flakes.

Eat.

Can be serves warm or cool and left overs only taste better. Store in fridge in fridge for up to 5 days.

Butternut Squash and Apple Parfait

I have a thing for squash and apples. I roast them together all the time. It is a combination that I never get sick of. I go savory mostly but once in a while I’ll go the slightly sweeter route. This is one of those times. And I also opted to make it seem fancier then my average eating situation (eating with fingers of baking sheet) and added a few steps, and made parfaits out of them. (Parfaits are fancy right?) The result is amazing and maybe even more delicious then ever before. That’s saying something.

Basically what these parfaits consists of is layers of creamy pureed roasted butternut squash and slightly chunky cinnamon applesauce topped with oats and walnuts. That might not sound fancy or even that spectacular but you know when you underestimate something but once you experience it you are very much surprised by how fantastic it really is? Well if you are doubting me then that is what will happen here because this parfait situation even surprised me at how much I loved it.

So if you are in need of a breakfast, lunch, snack, or dessert that will satisfy all of your hunger needs then you should most definitely try this out. It is simple and easy to make, super healthy, can be made ahead or time, and looks cute. (Did I just call a parfait cute? Yes, yes I did.) And again, super freaking delicious of course.

Now to the parfaits!

The stuff. Butternut squash, a couple of big apples, old fashion oats, walnuts, maple syrup, cinnamon, and almond milk.

For the squash you need to roast it so do that. Place on a baking sheet and roast until tender. Once cooked transfer to a blender or jar (if using stick blender) , add in milk or water and blend until smooth. Add in maple to taste.

For apples. Core and chop apples into small pieces and place into a pot with water. Cook on medium heat until apples completely break down. Then either transfer to a blender or use as stick blender and blend until slightly smooth but still a bit chunky. Stir in some cinnamon.

And toast up the oats and walnuts, in the oven, just for 5-8 minutes.

Now assemble. You can do this while the stuff is still warm or wait until it is cold. Delicious either way.

So basically all you do is layer a bit of the squash and then apple a few times in a bowl or jar then top with toasted oats and walnuts. Simple as that.

Ans then you eat it. Or wait and eat it later. Or do what I did and assemble a few jars for the week but then eat all of them in one day. I couldn't stop myself. It was just too freaking good.

-C

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Butternut Squash and Apple parfait

makes 2-3 parfaits

• 3 cups cubed butternut squash

• 2 large apples (I used Macs)

• 1/2-3/4 cups plant milk (or water)

• 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup (optional)

• 1-2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 cup old fashion oats

• 1/4 cup walnut pieces

• 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 425.

Place cubed squash on a lined baking sheet and stick into hot oven and roast until fork tender.

While squash is roasting grab apples, cut and remove core and seeds, chop into smaller pieces and place into a pot with enough water to submerge the apple. Place on medium heat, stirring every few minutes, and cook until the apple starts to break down. If the water evaporates, add in more. When apples are soft and falling apart remove from heat and let cool a few minutes then either transfer to a blender or using a stick blender, blend until less chunky, but not completely smooth. You could also just smash it use with a fork. Add in a teaspoon or so of cinnamon and mix.

Once squash is roasted , remove from a pan and place either in a blender, or a jar or bowl if using a hand blender, add in 1/2 cup milk or water, and blend until smooth. If it seems really thick still, add in more liquid. Also add in maple to taste.

While oven is still hot, place oats and walnuts on baking sheet and place in oven for 5-8 minutes or unit walnuts and oats are toasted.

To assemble parfaits grab a bowl or jar and layer in a bit of squash then apple a few times. Top with some toasted oats and walnuts and sprinkle with more cinnamon and drizzle more maple if you want.

Eat warm or cold. Store left overs in fridge for up to a week.