Tofu and Green Beans

What to do....what to do. I am really feeling less and less creative about making meals lately. I am not sure why with the abundance of summer around us. I hummed and hawed over what to make for dinner tonight and came up with this dish. It was actually quite delicious and not too spicy. I pressed some extra firm tofu for about an hour then fried it in a little bit of olive oil until brown on all sides. I then sauteed an onion and garlic, added some curry spices, veggie stock and soy milk. On the side I steamed some green and yellow beans. Once the mixture came to a boil I added the tofu back in with the green beans. Mixed it all up and served it over brown rice. I crumbled some pistachios over mine for a treat.

Now what am I going to make tomorrow...

Gnocchi and Sauce

I am completely addicted to gnocchi. This use to be another food that I hated up until a few years ago. I will confess that I attempted to make this once myself. It turned out pretty decent but boy was it a pain in the @ss to make! The counter gets stuck with flour and potato residue and you really have to be committed to making a billion batches at a time if you want to make it...just my opinion. Tonight I opted to buy it premade. I served it with some fresh tomato sauce and garlic bread on the side. Perfect comfort food.

Beets, Beans and BBQ Skewers

I have to say I am proud of myself with this beet dish. Now, a few years ago I never would have touched beets no matter how they were cooked. When I was young I remember my mom making beet dishes and hating even the smell of them. Now I love them!

This recipe was inspired by Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables. When I was in Portland, Oregon in 2006 I saw the documentary made on Farmer John and actually got to meet him which was amazing. He talks about generation of farming and CSA's. It really is a great documentary. Well he sold a book which I absolutely love. It is divided by seasons (which means nothing here in Winnipeg!!) but each vegetable has a page dedicated to it about storage, flavour companions etc plus amazing recipes. This beet recipe was tweeked a little from his original one.

Beets in a Creamy Sauce
6 med beets
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup veggie stock
1/4 cup soy milk (or almond/rice)
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped

Cut the tops and bottoms off of the beets and scrub them clean. Place them in a glass dish with half cup of water and cover with lid or foil. Place in oven at 425 for about an hour (you can also roast garlic in the oven at the same time for another use). When you can pierce them easily with a fork they are done! Take them out and let them cool a bit before running them under cold water. Their skins will easily come off. Slice beets in half and then in quarters. All of this can be done ahead of time.

In a pan sautee the onions in evoo, add flour and cook for 2 minutes, add stock, soy milk and dijon mustard and stir to combine. Let thicken for 1 minute then add the cut up beets. Let simmer over low heat for 10 minutes until the beets are warm again!

On the side I reheated some rice and onions with local green beans and Gardein BBQ Skewers. I had a coupon to try them for free and they were actually pretty decent. I found them filling and only actually ate one of them.

Fresh Garden Sandwiches

A trip to Crampton's Market and a visit from my parents yielded me some nice local veggies. I got an eggplant, tomato, red pepper, zucchini, cucumber and red onion. I sliced everything up and roasted it, added some fresh red pepper hummus, sliced up some fresh ciabatta bread and came up with the following creation:

Cold Pasta Salad with Lemon-Dill Dressing

Tonight we had a cold pasta salad. I cut up some cucumbers from a friend's garden, local carrots, baby onions and celery. I used Eden Organics pasta shells, cooked up some chickpeas from scratch and added some of Crampton's Lemon-Dill sauce. This is the perfect summer salad. Plus we have tons of leftovers so I won't have to worry about lunch for the next few days.