recipe #13 - Roasted Red Pepper, Red Lentil, Zucchini and White Bean Soup

It's officially soup season! I cannot believe I haven't posted my most basic soup recipe. This is a take off on Canadian Living's Quick Vegan Potato Lentil Soup. I made that soup or variations on it last winter at least ten times.

Ingredients

-1 tbsp sunflower oil
-1 tsp thyme
-1/4 tsp cumin
-1 or 2 pinches of cayenne pepper (I usually do 2, I like spicy)
-1 pinch of red pepper flakes
-1 onion; chopped
-4 gloves garlic; sliced into thinly (I really like garlic)
-1 zucchini; chopped finely
-2 mushrooms; chopped
-2 roasted red peppers (I cheated, I used bottled)
-1 cup of red lentils
-1 box of stock (I generally use vegetable)

1. Add sunflower oil to large pot, saute onions, zucchini, mushrooms, red peppers and red lentils.
2. Stir frequently for five minutes, add in garlic, spices, beans and stock.
3. Bring to a boil and than turn down stove and simmer for 20 minutes or so.

Dinner!

*I had some wonderful leftover Art-is-In Dynamite Potato, Caramelized Onion & Fresh Dill bread that I toasted. If you haven't been to Art-is-In do yourself a favour and go now!

recipe #12 - Spicy Sesame Tofu

Living in Chinatown has definitely made me a) a better cook and b) a lazier cook who sometimes just wants to order cheap take out in. 

This recipe is both quick and fulfilling for that Chinese food take out craving. It is loosely adapted from here.

Ingredients:

1 block of tofu
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sriracha (i only eyeballed this as i did it, so it may have been more, depends on how spicy you like it)
1 head broccoli cut into small pieces (i included the stems as well)

Most of my ingredients - i had already chopped up the broccoli

1. Chop up broccoli, add to pot and steam it

2. Put tofu between 2 sets of paper towel to get all the water out - this took about five minutes

3. Mix all the sauces together while the tofu is drying

4. Once tofu is dry cut up in small pieces and cover with sesame seeds.

5. Add half the sauce and tofu in a hot pan. Cook each side between 4-6 minutes.

6. Once cooked place tofu on top of broccoli and pour the remaining sauce on top.

Dinner!

*I cheated a bit with some ramen noodles, however i did split them between dinner and lunch for the next day*

birthday party 2011

If you know me in real life you know I love a theme birthday.  This year is no exception.  I've chosen the theme of the circus. I will be posting ideas and recipes in the upcoming months.  Now I realize that the circus theme may be a weird one for someone who is turning 29.  However, hear me out, I found these adorable decorations, masks and popcorn bags at Micheals in the summer.  Thus, the idea was born from there.  

I've already decided to make three different kinds of cupcakes that are all based on snacks found at the circus, cotton candy, candy apple and caramel apple.

i also really want to make these. I'm thinking the dollarstore is my next logical step to finding the right animals to spraypaint gold.

cheers for now