What I Ate Wednesday #60 – Dinner Special

I kind of suck at meal planning. I just never know what I want to eat, but I do know that I don’t want to eat the same dish for more than two days in a row. I have no problems eating sandwiches for breakfast and salad for lunch any day, but when it comes to dinner I want a little more variety. So I’m currently putting together a collection of my favorite dishes to choose from every night.

The dishes, that I want to add to my go-to list, have to be plant-based, balanced (containing complex carbs, protein, and vegetables), and prepared in under 30 minutes. And they need to be delicious, of course.

Here are a few dishes that have earned a spot on my list already.

Vegan jjigae = vegetable stew with tofu

I’d call that a classic kitchen sink dish. Just chop up all the leftover vegetables in your fridge, throw them into a pot, add a spicy miso broth and tofu, and serve it all with rice. This dish is usually made with meat and a lot of red pepper paste, but I adjust it to my taste, and make a separate pot for my husband.

Bibimbap = a bowl of rice with various toppings

This is my husband’s favorite dish at the moment. I like to use brown rice instead of white, and prepare several different toppings in advance, like pan-fried tofu, black soy beans, roasted vegetables, etc.

Carrot lentil soup (from the book More Peas, Thank You)

Blended vegetables soups are awesome! I always make a big batch and store the leftover servings in my fridge of freezer. Adding beans or lentils to the soup before blending provides an extra dose of protein.

Whole grain pasta with tomato sauce

Friday night is pasta night. That decision was made quite a while ago. I usually make a batch of vegetable-laden tomato sauce, but sometimes I go for a creamy white sauce instead. Americans call that ‘alfredo’, right? Nutritional yeast is a great substitute for grated Parmesan cheese, if you want to go that way.

Roasted asparagus and sweet potato

My favorite way of preparing vegetables is roasting them in the oven. This method works well for sweet or white potatoes, broccoli, carrots, squash, asparagus, bell peppers, etc. I like to pair them with a simple dip made of soy yogurt, mustard, honey, dried herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. And ketchup. Always.

This list is far from complete, of course.

What dishes are on your list of favorite quick dinners?

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Strange But Good – Turkish Coffee

Confession: I love coffee and have about two cups per day, but I don’t own any kind of coffee maker and I haven’t been to a coffee shop in ages. What?!

I usually get my coffee fix in the form of instant espresso, which is incredibly convenient and surprisingly delicious. But whenever I feel fancy, I brew a cup or two of Turkish coffee. This special kind of drink is not only available in Turkey, but also in many other countries along the Eastern Mediterranean coast, ranging from Croatia to Egypt.

My husband has been a fan of Turkish coffee for a very long time, and I fell in love with it during our last trip to Croatia and Bosnia two years ago. When we returned from that trip, I immediately jumped into the next Turkish grocery store (thankfully, there are quite a few around here), and bought everything I needed to make Turkish coffee at home, which is just a small boiling pot with a long handle and a can of ground coffee.

The term Turkish coffee refers to the method of preparation, not a special kind of coffee bean. The beans are roasted as usual and then ground to a very fine powder, finer than for any other way of preparation. To make the coffee you simply fill the pot with cold water and heat it on the stove. When the water is hot, but not boiling, stir in the coffee powder and as much sugar as you like. Those coffee pots come in different sizes, mine holds three servings, and you usually need one teaspoon of coffee powder per serving. Bring the mixture to a boil again, but watch out, it might boil over. Don’t stir the coffee at this point, as the foam on top is considered the best part of it. Remove the coffee from the heat and let it cool down a little. You can reheat the pot one or two more times. Be sure that the coffee doesn’t boil too long, because that will result in an unpleasant burnt taste.

Pour the Turkish coffee into small cups, espresso cups or shot glasses will do, and serve immediately. This kind of coffee is not filtered, so you need to wait a little to let the coffee grounds sink to the bottom of the cup or glass. But don’t wait too long, as Turkish coffee is best when it’s really hot.

This drink is traditionally served throughout the day, from before breakfast to after dinner.

I love the mild, smooth taste of Turkish coffee, but I also love that it’s relatively easy to prepare, and you don’t need any fancy, expensive equipment. The #strangebutgood part is the fact that you don’t filter the coffee, so a thick layer of sludgy grounds is left behind at the bottom of the cup.

Have you ever tried Turkish/Greek/Arabian coffee?

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What I Ate Wednesday #59 – Asparagus Party

May is full of public holidays, which is just awesome. I love sleeping in! The weather is still nasty and cold, but I’m still hopeful that it will warm up soon.

What I love the most about spring is the return of local produce. Especially tomatoes and cucumbers are so gross during the winter months. Those Spanish or African greenhouse vegetables are just no good, sorry. But now my favorite plant foods are finally delicious and affordable again. I even found local strawberries this week! *happy dance*

Without a doubt, the star of German spring vegetables is asparagus, especially the white variety. Its season is very short, lasting only from early May to late June this year, so the people around here have been hoarding the precious white spears like crazy. I personally prefer green asparagus, but decided to give the white ones another chance, because my husband loves them. Well, I’m still not a fan. They are just too stringy and a little bland.

Asparagus is traditionally served with Hollandaise sauce, which is basically just egg yolk and butter. I decided to use this cheesy cauliflower sauce instead, to lighten things up. It was quite good, but very different from the original, of course.

This is a classic clean-out-the-fridge meal. I found some button mushrooms that were already starting to get mushy, so I fried them up, and put them on a pile of brown rice. I also added a scoop of black soy beans and chopped green onions. Oh the randomness!

I’ve also enjoyed a lot of smoothies lately. Most of the time, I add frozen kale and cocoa powder, which results in a very ugly brown color. I swear it tastes better than it looks. Usually.

Any tips on how to make a green/brown smoothie look more appealing?

What is your favorite spring vegetable or fruit?

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What I Ate Wednesday #58 – Labor Day & Cinco De Mayo

No, there’s nothing wrong with my calendar. German Labor Day (Tag der Arbeit) is on May 1st, and it’s a public holiday. I took a few more days off to enjoy an extra long weekend. Yay!

Most of my meals were quite boring, as I’ve been feeling a little uninspired about my cooking lately. But there were a few ‘highlights’ that I want to share with you today.

Keeping it simple on a lazy morning. Finally, local tomatoes and cucumbers are back! And they are delicious! I get way too excited about produce, I know.

Confession: When I was a little girl, I loved ground meat on my pizza. Yes, I was a strange kid. I’m still strange, but that’s a story for another day. So when I saw Laura’s recipe for vegan bacon bits, I thought that they would be great on my Mexican style pizza. And they were indeed!

Scrambled tofu is my second favorite breakfast dish, after my savory sandwiches, of course. I hardly ever use a whole block of tofu at once, so I often have a leftover chunk in my fridge. (Note: Tofu can be stored in a tub of water in your fridge for 2-3 days.) Perfect for a single serving of scrambled tofu! Obviously, I’m the only person in my family who like to eat that dish. My version of scrambled tofu is based on a recipe from the book Peas and Thank You.

Actually, we don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo around here, especially not in my European/Asian household. But I was in the mood for chili sin carne, and it was as good as I had hoped. Even my husband ate some of it. Success! I don’t really have a recipe for that dish, I just toss chopped onions, garlic, and bell peppers into a pot, add kidney beans, sweet corn, canned tomatoes, and a squirt of barbecue ketchup, and season to taste. That’s it!

Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo last weekend? Or something else?

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Foodie Penpals – March & April 2013

Oh yeah, I’m still doing that Foodie Penpals thing. I just couldn’t find the time to write about my recent boxes. Ehem.

Enough excuses, let’s begin!

My Foodie Penpals box for March was a little late. Not a big surprise, though, as it came all the way from Turkey! The non-Europeans among you may not know that Turkey is not (yet) part of the EU, so customs regulations are very strict! According to my penpal Vildan, he even had to send a second box because the first one got lost! But eventually, the box arrived save and sound at my place!

Inside the box I found:

• a bag of Turkish coffee (my husband and I love it!)
• a sachet of hot chocolate mix (haven’t tried that one yet)
• chocolate filled wafers (gone in a flash)
• a huge box of Turkish Delight, a famous confection based on a gel of starch and sugar
• a beautiful card from Vildan’s home town Amasya

My husband immediately claimed the Turkish Delight for himself. He loves that stuff. But he did let me try a few. Those sugary cubes are definitely something different. They were flavored with rosewater and pistachios and quite delicious, but extremely sweet and very chewy. It took me at least one minute to eat one small cube.

My next parcel came from England again, sent to me by the very kind Emma. It was filled to the brim with so many amazing things:

• several different nakd bars (raw, vegan, and amazing)
• a flapjack/granola bar (buttery and sweet)
• a bag of sweet and salty popcorn (for the undecided, I guess)
• a tube of umami paste (bold flavor, great with pasta)
• a box of tea cakes (husband and I inhaled those)
• a handful of green candy (tangy and sweet)
• a giant pack of English tea (80 bags!)
• a lovely card of Big Ben (food for my travel bug *sigh*)

The nakd bars vanished first. Oh my goodness, they are so flipping good! I liked the berry flavor the most, and the ginger bread one was mighty spicy. The tea cakes were amazing, too. Chocolate covered marshmallows with a cookie bottom. I have no words.

I’ve received so much tea in my last few boxes that I’ll have enough for the rest of the year. At least. Thankfully, my husband also likes tea, so I can share with him.

Thanks again, Vildan and Emma, for your lovely parcels!

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What I Ate Wednesday #57 – More Peas, Thank You

Most of my meals have been very random and boring, lately. Thankfully, I recently received a new cookbook, More Peas, Thank You by Sarah Matheny, also know as Mama Pea on her blog Peas and Thank You. This is her second book, and as I already own and love the first one, I simply had to get the new book as soon as possible.

So far, I’ve only tried a few of the recipes, but there are many more that look incredibly tasty.

My love for blended soups is still burning strong, and this red lentil soup was exactly what I needed on a particularly chilly night. Lentils, carrots, and onions can be found in my kitchen any given day, but it was that splash of orange juice that took this soup from good to amazing.

Among the first recipes I wanted to try was this simple quinoa tabouleh. I always have some quinoa, tomatoes, cucumbers, and frozen herbs in my kitchen, so I didn’t even have to go shopping for this one. I packed one serving for lunch, adding chickpeas, pine nuts, and, after taking the picture, some chopped romaine lettuce. Delicious!

Next up was my slightly modified version of chickpea melts. I haven’t found a vegan mayo that I really like, so I usually replace it with soy yogurt. I added a little tahini, mustard, pickle brine, and spices to the sauce, and the taste came pretty close to traditional mayonnaise. I also omitted the cheese, for the same reason. Despite my modifications, it was still a tasty, quick, and light pre-Zumba dinner.

I love roasting sweet potatoes in my oven, and coating them in a mix of coconut oil and curry powder is just a brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of that?! Those taters were so good that I went back for seconds and wolfed down an entire sweet potato all by myself. What can I say, I love carbs. I also had some scrambled tofu, to get some protein in.

Speaking of carbs, there is also dessert section in the book. Of course there is. It was quite hard to decide which recipe I should try first, but I finally settled on these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I only had a small piece of vegan butter left, so I also added about a tablespoon of peanut butter. Oh my peas! That tiny hint of peanut flavor was incredible, but I’m sure the original recipe would be equally delicious.

Needless to say, I’m already totally in love with this book, and I’m going to try many more recipes from it.

What’s your favorite cookbook?

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What I Ate Wednesday #56 – Almost Asian

During the past few years, my eating habits have changed in more than one way. Not only have I switched to a more plant-based diet, I’ve also been eating more Asian or Asian inspired dishes than ever. I totally blame that on my Korean husband.

The only meal that will always be typically German is breakfast. My love for bread is probably hardwired in my genetic code. You may wonder what Asians traditionally eat for breakfast. Well, the same things they’d eat for lunch and dinner, like rice, soups, stews, pickled vegetables, etc. That’s not my thing, though.

Last Saturday night I was too lazy to make dinner (happens to all of us, right?), so I we decided to go to our favorite local sushi restaurant. Their miso soup is the best I have had so far! It’s filled to the brim with sea weed, mushrooms, and tofu, not too salty, and quite filling.

They also offer lots of fish-free sushi variations. I wasn’t very hungry, so I only ordered two of my favorite rolls, one with cucumber, and the other one with avocado. And one inari sushi, that’s a pocket of fried, seasoned tofu filled with rice.  So freaking delicious!

Of course, I frequently make Asian meals at home, too, not only because my husband asks for them. One of my favorite Korean dishes is bibimbap. This is basically just a bowl of steamed rice, topped with all kinds of different raw or cooked vegetables and proteins. What I love about this dish is that it’s so incredibly versatile. You can add anything you like, and even make it vegan by using tofu instead of meat, fish, and eggs.

There is also a variation of this dish, called dolsot bibimbap. First, you heat up a stone pot, then you add sesame oil and cooked rice, and later all of your toppings. The rice gets a little crispy on the bottom of the pot, which adds another layer of awesomeness, in my opinion.

Leftover bibimbap can also be eaten cold. I enjoyed this one during Monday’s lunch break.

What are your favorite rice bowl toppings?

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