Sesame-Almond Salad

Another tasty yet healthful meal! The best part were the five spice almonds. I made this a bit ago, so I can't remember amounts.

Asian Tofu Salad

Romaine Lettuce
Carrots
Broccoli (sauteed and steam in small amount of sesame oil)
Water Chestnuts
Celery
Cucumber
1 Tbs. Soy Sauce
3-4 Tbs. Rice Vinegar
1 Tbs. Honey
1 Tbs. Sesame Oil
Ginger (1/2 - 1 inch piece)
1 clove Garlic
Terriyaki Tofu
Five Spice Almonds (see below)

Layer lettuce, sliced celery, slice cucumbers, shredded carrots, water chestnuts, and broccoli in a large bowl. Whisk soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, grated ginger, and grated garlic in a bowl. Pour over salad and toss. I made the baked terriyaki tofu from The Higher Road to Health. Serve on a plate, topped with terriyaki tofu and five spice almonds.

Five Spice Almonds

1 c. slivered almonds
1 Tbs. neutral oil
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. five spice powder
1-2 Tbs. honey
salt to taste

Heat oil over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add almonds and stir occasionally to keep from burning. When they start to smell (but before they start to brown), add the ginger and five spice powder. Stir well, and cook until almonds just start to brown and the mixture is very aromatic. Add honey, and stir for a few minutes to glaze evenly. Let cool on a plate.

Beans and Rice

This is what I ate for lunch: black beans with garlic and lime, spanish rice, jack cheese, and cilantro. Tasty and healthy!

Black Beans with Garlic and Lime

1 can black beans
1 can roasted green chilies
3 Tbs. olive oil
7-8 cloves garlic
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 lime
pepper

Heat olive oil in a medium size frying pan over medium heat. Chop garlic (not too finely). Add to olive oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is getting browned. Add lime zest and green chilies. Cook for a few minutes, stirring once or so. Add the beans (I drained out about half of the liquid) and some pepper. Cook over medium to medium-high heat. The beans should simmer. When the mixture starts to thicken, they are done. Turn off heat, squeeze 1/2 lime and mix in. Serve with cilantro!

Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast burritos. Yes. It was actually lunchtime, but that is just fine with me! To make them, I started with spanish rice. Then I scrambled some eggs (3 for BB and me, beaten with 2 Tbs water, and cooked half omelet and half scrambled style). I layered the following on a whole wheat tortilla heated over the gas flame: spanish rice, scrambled eggs, shredded monterey jack cheese, diced bell pepper, sliced scallions, cilantro, sliced avocado, sour cream and salsa (I like salsa autentica from Trader Joes).








Of course, I always make burritos too big for the tortilla:

I have included the my recipe for spanish rice, which is pretty awesome if I do say so myself! Even BB, who normally things rice is bland and boring, thought it was amazing!

Spanish Rice

1 small to medium onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 Tbs oil (I use a mix of canola and olive)
1 c. brown basmati rice
1 c. vegetable stock (I use homemade)
1 can diced tomatoes (this time, I used fire roasted)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, and saute for a few minutes. Don't stir too much, let them start to color a bit. Add the bell pepper and carrots and saute a few minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add the rice, and stir to evenly coat with the oil. Let the rice brown. Stir often so that the rice doesn't burn - the rice should be light brown all over. This may take up to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend most of the diced tomatoes and the broth together. Save approximately 1/4 cup of diced tomatoes. When the rice is sufficiently brown, add salt and pepper to taste, the blended tomato/broth mixture, and the reserved diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until done, approximately 40 minutes.

Cherry Blossom Fesitval

Well, we finally made it to DC! Yep ... that's me in front of the Washington Monument:
BB and me under the cherry trees:
Don't we look so happy? Here are our shadows:
The monument and the sky through the trees:

Some blossom shots:

















There were a lot of people there (my brilliant idea to go on Easter Sunday). We also went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The exhibit on human evolution was very cool.

So far, in 2010, I have gone to see the cherry blossoms, made 1 pair of socks, and started a garden. There is still a lot to do!

Dining Al Fresco

Today, BB and I ate dinner outside! It was so nice. We ate garlicky greens and beans (mustard and collard greens from the garden cooked in olive oil and lots of garlic):
Home made foccacia (a recipe from The Greens cookbook). I used part whole wheat. The 0lives are for BB - I only put it on part, because I don't like green olives. This is the most successful foccacia I have ever made! I made a dipping oil to go with it (lemon pepper, oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, chile flakes topped with good olive oil):
All of this was eaten with pickled vegetables that BB made a week or so ago (carrots, cauliflower, celery, and broccoli) in the backyard, which looked beautiful after all the yard work that I did today!And, of course, I did not forget the dessert - chocolate banana cream pie! Well, we had some milk that was going bad, and what better way to use a lot of milk than to make pudding? I made a graham cracker crumb crust, sliced two bananas, and topped with chocolate pudding (flavored with a splash of rum):