Taco Salad: My Comfort Food

When I was in college, my roommate and I would cure our Sunday morning hangovers by going to El Maguey's, a nearby Mexican chain restaurant, for their Sunday specials.  I ordered Taco Salad every time "with beans instead of meat, no sour cream, cheese sauce on the side, and a side plate of extra lettuce."  I'm not picky at all, obviously.

Now that I don't have the waistline or the metabolism that I had in college, I like making a healthier version at home.  I asked for, and received, taco salad baking pans, for my birthday, and they look something like these.  I left those pans in Houston, but when I got back to Boston I realized that the pans are unnecessary.  You can turn a bowl upside down, spray it with a little Pam, put the tortilla over it, and then bake it for 8 to 10 minutes at 375°.

While the shell is baking, I prepare my ingredients, which always include iceberg lettuce and black beans (Bush's black beans are my favorite).  Other ingredients I use, in different combinations, are: avocado; cheese; tomatoes; pico de gallo; cilantro; and sautéed mushrooms, onions, or peppers.

Even though the taco salad bowl makes a very pretty presentation, my favorite part is destroying it and mixing everything up.  It always ends up looking like this:

If I run out of tortillas, or I'm just not in the mood for one, I sometimes make the salad with brown rice instead of the tortilla.  Lettuce and brown rice is actually a delicious combination that I fell in love with at a small cafe in Buenos Aires.  There really are not enough salads out there that have rice in them.

Vegan Spinach-Shiitake Sushi Risotto

Tonight I had planned to make a barley and spinach side dish from a Whole Foods recipe, but found dead worms in the barley that had been sitting in my pantry for who-knows-how-long. I should have figured. Gross.

I had already started sautéing an onion in a big pot, so I threw in some minced garlic and checked out my fridge and pantry to see what I could do with what I'd started. My first thought was risotto, but I didn't have any Arborio rice. I did have sushi rice though- so why not?  I also had the spinach I was planning to use for the barley dish, some vegetable broth, and a bag of frozen, sliced shiitakes. (I found a 10-ounce bag at Whole Foods for $3.39!)  I used these items to make my "risotto", then added in some Daiya "cheese" that I recently discovered at Whole Foods. (By the way, have I mentioned I love Whole Foods?)

The result was fantastic.  The texture was creamy, and there really was not much of a difference between this sushi risotto and more traditional risotto.  In fact, I think I'll probably use sushi rice for risotto from now on.  Using it instead of Arborio rice would keep me from overstocking my pantry (a problem I'm currently battling), and sushi rice is usually easier for me to find at a bargain.

Another awesome thing about this risotto: It's BRIGHT green!  Dad and I should have made this for St. Patrick's Day!

Vegan Spinach-Shiitake Sushi Risotto

• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 1 cup sushi rice

• 2 cups frozen, sliced shiitake mushrooms

• 1 cup packed spinach

• 1 cup water

• 2-3 cups (?) vegetable broth (I didn't measure and usually don't, I just go by when the risotto is the consistency I want)

• 1/2 cup Daiya dairy-free cheese

In a large saucepan, heat 1 1/2 tbs olive oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and onion and sauté until the onion is translucent.  Add the sushi rice and toss it in the olive oil.  Add enough vegetable broth to cover the rice and stir occasionally, letting the rice absorb the broth.  Measure the shiitakes, chop up any large slices, and add them to the rice.  Blend the spinach and water, then add it to the rice.  Stir slowly while letting the rice absorb the the spinach-water.  Once that has been absorbed, add more vegetable broth until the rice is cooked and creamy.  Stir in 1/2 cup Daiya "cheese" and chow down!

Pistachio-Crusted Tofu with Shredded Brussels Sprouts

This recipe arose from a big bag of pistachios and a craving for Brussels sprouts. Don't be put off by the monochromatic picture; it looks better in person and could easily be accompanied by other colorful sides (mashed sweet potatoes, maybe?) if you're concerned about presentation. I served mine with some brown rice I had on hand. The tofu is crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, and the shredded Brussels Sprouts are a tangy accompaniment. If you don't want to use nutritional yeast, I'm sure that bread crumbs would work. In place of the champagne vinegar, you could also try white wine or a bit of lemon juice.

Pistachio-Crusted Tofu
Makes 1 serving

• 1/4 cup pistachios, ground or chopped
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/4 package (2 ounces) extra-firm tofu, patted dry and cut into 2 slabs
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 400°. Mix the pistachios and nutritional yeast on a plate. Coat each piece of tofu with the honey mustard (you probably won't need all of it- just enough for the coating to stick). Coat the tofu in the pistachio and nutritional yeast mixture. Place the tofu on a nonstick baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, turning once.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts
Makes 1 serving

• 1 cup shredded Brussels sprouts (about 5 medium)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp champagne vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the shredded Brussels sprouts in the olive oil. Test a piece of the base of a cabbage, and once the sprouts are cooked through, turn off the heat and toss the sprouts in the champagne vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fig, Blue Cheese, and Pistachio Salad Wrap

I don't think I had ever made a salad wrap before this week, but I've been making them every day for lunch recently. They can be put together so quickly, and are easy for me to take to campus when I don't have time to go home for lunch. Since my last post, I've come up with a better way to make the wrap, and that is to wrap it up in aluminum foil as I roll it. It allows me to transport the wrap without the salad falling out of one end since I like to keep one end open (which lets me put more salad in it). As I eat the wrap I peel the foil off in layers, and the wrap stays together beautifully.

This morning, right before I made the day's salad wrap, I told my roommate that I was developing an obsession with them, and her response was: "Eww!" But I explained that these are fancy salad wraps, not the Caesar-soaked lettuce wrapped in a tortilla that you'd find at one of our law school lunches. (That is, before the economy tanked and we stopped getting free food) She had to agree that lavash bread wrapped around spring greens, dried figs, blue cheese, and pistachios is an entirely different species of wrap.

If you have a Trader Joe's in your area, that would be a great place to get the main ingredients for your dish. They sell everything except the vinaigrette, and at great prices. If you don't want blue cheese, I think goat cheese and fresh mint would be a great substitution.

Fig, Blue Cheese, and Pistachio Salad Wrap
Makes 1 wrap

• 1 lavash bread
• a couple handfuls of spring greens
• 5 dried black mission figs, sliced
• 3 tbsp dry roasted pistachios
• 3 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tbsp Champagne-Shallot Vinaigrette

Mix it. Wrap it. Eat it.

Exotic Salad Wrap with Champagne-Shallot Vinaigrette

This salad wrap and dressing was inspired by the Mixto Exotica Salad at Julia's Bistro in Houston, Texas. The Mixto Exotica is a bed of greens with mango, papaya, pineapple, diced red pepper, plantain chips, and a Tahitian vanilla-shallot vinaigrette. Even though I'm not a big fan of fruit, this was the best salad I've ever had. I made my own version of the vinaigrette which I first used on a salad of mixed greens, roasted beets, goat cheese, and mint. This time I went with a salad wrap that is a lot closer to the spirit of the Mixto Exotica.

Since I'm usually only cooking for myself and this dressing does take more effort than just mixing up some vinegar and oil, I make a batch and then freeze it. It is completely worth the little bit of effort required to make this light, sweet, unique dressing. I hope you'll give it a try!

Champagne-Shallot Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup

• 6 medium shallots, diced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup champagne vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Dice the shallots and sauté them in 1 tbsp olive oil. Blend the shallots and the rest of the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Exotic Salad Wrap
Makes 1 wrap

• 1 piece lavash bread
• a couple handfuls of spring greens mix
• 1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
• 1 ounce plantain chips
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 2 tbsp Champagne-Shallot Vinaigrette

Mix the salad ingredients (everything except the lavash bread) with the dressing. Lay the lavash bread with the longest side running from left to right on a flat surface and top it with the salad mixture, leaving about two inches uncovered around the bottom and the right side. Roll up the lavash bread from left to right.

Seitan with Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Kalamata Olives

I love when I can make a quick, flavorful meal with only a few ingredients. A lot of these ingredients are left over from the pastry-topped portabellos that I made a few nights ago. The kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatoes really stand out in this dish.

Seitan with Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Kalamata Olives
Makes 1 serving

• 1 tbsp Earth Balance margarine
• 4 ounces (1/2 package) seitan, broken into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup packed baby spinach, rinsed and drained but not dried
• 5 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in hot water until softened, then finely chopped
• 2 tbsp kalamata olive tapenade

Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add all of the ingredients and cover. Stir occasionally, until the spinach is wilted.

Nutrition Facts: 339 calories, 20.5 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 974.3 mg sodium, 15.6 g carbohydrates, 24.5 g protein

Pastry-Topped Portabellos

I made Pastry-Wrapped Portabellos from 1,000 Vegan Recipes for Thanksgiving, and Boyfriend LOVED them. I didn't have a rolling pin in Houston, so the pastry wrapping was pretty thick. Too thick for me, but just fine for Boyfriend. When I decided to make my own version of the portobellos last night, I had the same problem. No rolling pin, and no time to go buy one. That's why this dish is called "Pastry-Topped Portabellos". I thought one layer of pastry dough would be a better pastry-to-portabello ratio. Plus, this method is much faster and easier.

These ingredients are a pretty classic combo, so you could do a lot with any leftover ingredients. I think I'm going to make a pasta with them.

Pastry-Topped Portabellos
Makes 2 servings

• 2 large portabello mushroom caps
• olive oil
• 1/2 cup packed baby spinach leaves
• 7 sun-dried tomato halves (not packed in oil)
• 2 tbsp kalamata olive tapenade
• 2 tbsp goat cheese
• Frozen pastry sheets (you won't need a full package or even a full sheet)

Thaw the frozen pastry sheets for 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl of very hot water to soften.

Remove the stems from the portabellos and set aside. Scrape out the gills with a spoon and discard. Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat, add a splash of olive oil, and add the portabellos, stem-side up. Cook the portabellos, adding more oil if necessary, turning once. When they have softened and cooked through, lay them stem-side down on a paper towel to cool and dry.

Finely chop the portabello stems. Rinse the baby spinach but do not dry. Add the portabello stems and spinach to the same pan, and sauté until the spinach is wilted and the stems are cooked. Remove from heat.

Remove the tomatoes from the water and chop finely. Mix together with the portabello stems, spinach, tapenade, and goat cheese.

Place the portabello caps stem-side up on a nonstick baking sheet. Fill each one with half of the filling. Cut squares from the pastry-sheet that are just big enough to cover the tops of the portabellos. Press them on top of the stuff portabellos and cut two slits in the top. Put the topped portabellos in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Eat them soon after they come out of the oven, but do give them a little time to cool.

Peanutty Tempeh Lettuce Wraps

I often make lettuce wraps with tofu, water chestnuts, cremini mushrooms, carrots, and a TON of soy sauce. They're absolutely delicious, but incredibly high in sodium. Today, I decided to mix things up a bit and make my lettuce wraps with tempeh (since I had 5 packages of it in the fridge), different veggies, and a lower sodium sauce. I have an insatiable salt tooth, so I think these would have been better with more soy sauce, but I was pretty pleased with the result nonetheless.

Peanutty Tempeh Lettuce Wraps
Makes 2 servings

• 2 tsp peanut oil
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 package tempeh, cut into bite sized pieces*
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 6 tbsp light coconut milk
• 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 head iceberg lettuce

Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet and sauté the mushrooms, peppers, and tempeh for 4 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mix together the peanut butter, coconut milk, and soy sauce, making a creamy sauce. Add the sauce to the pan and turn off the heat once the sauce is absorbed.

Chop the bottom of the stem off the head of lettuce- doing so makes it easier to remove big leaves for wrapping. For me, this makes about 4 lettuce wraps- 2 per person.

* Depending on your tempeh, you might want to boil or steam it first, but I don't think it's necessary for my Trader Joe's brand tempeh.

Tofu Kale Bowl

I make this ALL THE TIME. Simple and quick to put together. Sometimes I use more soy sauce and no mirin. Of course, there are plenty of ways to change this dish, but I just keep coming back to making it this way for its simplicity.

Tofu Kale Bowl
Makes 1 serving

• 2 tsp peanut oil, divided
• Half an 8-ounce package extra-firm tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 bunch kale
• 1 serving cooked brown rice
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce or tamari

Pan-fry the tofu with one teaspoon of the peanut oil in a non-stick pan. Once the tofu has a golden crust, add the rest of the peanut oil and the remaining ingredients. When the kale has wilted, the dish is ready to serve.

Smoky Tofu, Wilted Chard, and Chai Quinoa

A lot of my meals follow the basic pattern of greens, grain, and protein, but this was my first time cooking with chard. It definitely won't be the last time, because this meal was easy and delicious! This recipe may look like a lot of work, but very little active time is required.

I used ground cloves to flavor the tofu because I wanted it to taste smoky, but changing the spices on the tofu could take this dish in a different direction. Bryant Terry's Rosemary-Roasted Tofu Cubes from Vegan Soul Kitchen would work great.

Smoky Tofu, Wilted Chard, and Chai Quinoa
Makes 2 servings

• One 8-ounce package of extra-firm tofu
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup brewed chai
• 1 bunch chard (I used red)
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance margarine


1. Preheat the oven to 375°.

2. Cut the tofu into 8 slabs and pat the slabs dry with a paper towel.

3. Mix the olive oil and ground cloves together in a small bowl. Dip each slab of tofu in the mixture, making sure to coat each side.

4. Bake the tofu for 30 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.

5. While the tofu is baking, rinse the quinoa then put it in a pot with the chai. Bring the chai to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat. Simmer until the quinoa is cooked.

6. Wash the chard, then separate the stems from the chard leaves and chop the stems. Begin sauteeing the stems in the Earth Balance while you chop the chard leaves. Add the chard leaves and sautee until they are wilted.

7. Plate the quinoa, chard, and tofu, and serve.

Noochy Vegan Polenta with Mustard Greens Mix

I'm in Houston right now visiting my boyfriend. Houston has this WONDERFUL grocery store called Central Market. It's similar to Whole Foods, except that the produce and bulk grains and spices section is on steroids. The produce section has ingredients I can never find anywhere else- like black truffles, for example. The spice section is my favorite section, though, because it saves me so much money. I'll get a little baggie of a spice for 50 cents instead of paying $5 for a bottle! Whenever I'm in town, I stock up on the spices I need (and some I don't need) back in Boston. This trip I got marjoram, turmeric, sumac (which I've never used before), ground and whole cloves, allspice, star anise, and onion powder- all for a couple of dollars.

But enough about my love for Central Market. On to the food! Even though CM usually has EVERYTHING in the produce section, it was out of kale. I decided to buy curly mustard greens instead. I'd never used them before, but they looked like kale, so why not? I decided to pair them with red pepper, onions, and sweet yellow corn, served with polenta. Although I'm not vegan, I've been trying to cook vegan at home. Normally I add tons of Parmesan to my polenta, but since I'm avoiding cheese, I tried something a little different, and I think it worked out great! So, here are my two newest recipes- enjoy!

Noochy Vegan Polenta
Makes 1 serving

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 tbsp Earth Balance margarine
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small pot and slowly add in the cornmeal, mixing it to avoid clumps. Once the cornmeal has absorbed the water, turn off the heat and mix in the margarine and nutritional yeast. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the polenta cools, it will harden a bit and keep its shape. But, if you're like me, you can eat it while it's hot and enjoy the soft gooeyness!

Mustard Greens Mix
Makes 4 servings

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into inch-long strips
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 large bunch mustard greens, stems removed and leaves chopped
• 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium high heat and add the pepper, onion, corn, cayenne, and cumin (you could definitely up the spices for more of a kick, but I like the lightly spiced flavor). Cover the pan until the peppers are cooked. Add the mustard greens a handful or two at a time and mix them into the peppers, onions, and corn, allowing them to wilt. Salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Panko-Crusted Tofu with Sauteed Kale

I'm sitting in my con law class right now, paying no attention to my professor. I'm in the back of the room eating my lunch. What a perfect time to start blogging!

The other day I cooked (and ate) kale for the first time. I made Braised Seitan with Brussels Sprouts, Kale, and Sun-dried Tomatoes from my favorite cookbook, Veganomicon. I had no idea how much kale I needed, so I bought two bunches, which was much more than necessary. Since I had so much left over, I made Kale and Sun-dried Tomato Hummus from the Vegan Yum Yum blog. DELICIOUS- and such a guilt-free way to eat hummus!

But after these two dishes, I still had leftover kale. I decided to experiment and created what might be one of my new favorite meals: Panko-Crusted Marinated Tofu with Sauteed Kale. Here's the recipe. I recommend serving it with rice or noodles. Otherwise, the marinade will be too strong for the kale. If not serving with the rice or noodles, saute the kale with vegetable broth and just a splash of the soy sauce and ginger instead.


Panko-Crusted Marinated Tofu with Sauteed Kale

Makes 2 servings
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• Half package of extra-firm tofu
• 1/4 cup soymilk
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 small head of kale

Cut half of a block of tofu into four equal slices. You might want to cut each slice in half into triangles either before or after you marinate them.  Mix together the soy sauce, vegetable broth, and ginger. Place the tofu in a plastic bag and pour the mixture into the bag. Let sit to marinate for at least an hour in the refridgerator. 

When ready to fry the tofu, take the tofu out of the bag and reserve the marinade. Pat the tofu dry to remove excess liquid.  Mix together the soymilk and cornstarch in a bowl and allow the cornstarch to dissolve. Using one hand, dip a piece of tofu in the soymilk mixture. Using the other hand, cover the tofu in the panko breadcrumbs.  Pan-fry each piece of tofu in the peanut oil until both sides of each piece are a dark golden brown. 

Place the tofu on a paper towel while you break the kale into pieces, discarding the thick stalks.  Add the kale and marinade to the pan, cover the pan, and remove from heat once the kale has wilted.  Serve the tofu over the kale with a side of rice or noodles.