Another reason I cannot believe it’s the end of March is because of Game of Thrones. Season 2 premiered last April 2012, and ever since the finale, I have been eagerly awaiting the new season. And, yes, I am currently watching it as I write this blog post! Multi-tasking at its finest ; )

This thai green curry is absolutely fantastic – I saw a recipe for it in last month’s issue of Veg News, and was inspired by it. We had a green curry paste packet which I chose to use instead saving some time in the prep process. I threw in veggies I thought would go well in a thai curry, and even added some fish sauce and rice vinegar to give it an extra kick and boy, does it taste good! Mmmmmmhmmmhmmm.
I’ve never had enoki mushrooms before, and they are so incredibly delicious, I really wish I would have been introduced to them sooner.

The original recipe did not call for shrimp, so if you don’t have any, don’t worry about it! And you can make this vegan by eliminating the fish sauce – it’s not a major ingredient, just a nice addition.

Adapted from the March ’13 issue of VegNews

I have been craving good Chinese food after eating at a particularly bad restaurant in Chinatown. What can I say, it was a great groupon deal, and we were hungry! What should have tipped me off was the fact that the restaurant served sushi as well. Chinese AND Japanese in the same restaurant? I don’t think so…

 That led me on a quest for simple, yet delicious dishes, and this Kung Pao tofu in particular stood out to me. First off, it used tofu and not chicken, which was important (duh!). And second, I didn’t have to fry the tofu, which is a lot healthier. This was my first time cooking tofu, and I didn’t realize how much it had to be pressed…definitely have learned from that mistake! The tofu, even though it was the extra firm variety, had water retained in it, and so came apart rather easily. Since then, I have got the hang of pressing and firming up tofu – for a couple of hours, if possible; Wrap it in a paper towel, between two plates, with a heavy pot on the top – if that doesn’t get the water out, I don’t know what will!

Recipe adapted from Kate From Scratch

Unwinding consists of watching one/two episodes of 30 Rock before bed! I can’t believe how long I have waited to watch…the day of the series finale!! Better late than never, right? Tina Fey is a creative genius. If you haven’t seen an episode of 30 Rock, I definitely recommend you do…they have six seasons on demand on Netflix, and I believe the seventh should be on there relatively shortly. My favorite character has to be Kenneth the page. He’s polite, and extremely optimistic even in the worst case scenarios, and doesn’t mind a menial page job due to his love for show business. The episode that’s currently playing as I post is from Season 5, 100: Parts 1 & 2, where TGS is about to get canceled, but they are given a chance to write their 100th episode, all while having to deal with a gas leak in the building.

“I’ll bring the world’s greatest encyclopedia…my mind.”  - Jack Donaghy 

Speaking of post, my recipe for today is this amazing spinach pecan pesto with whole wheat gnocchi. I’ve made pestos with basil before, and was looking to try something unique and different - this recipe provided me with just that! What’s a pesto without gnocchi? Nothing I tell you! The whole wheat gnocchi was a perfect pairing…mmmmmm.

Upon scouring my foodgawker app (as I usually do), I found this interesting recipe that is originally intended for the slow-cooker. I didn’t have time, or necessarily the desire to wait till TOMORROW to have soup, I decided to adapt the recipe to my time-frame and palate. I think everything tastes better with ginger and garlic, so of-course I had to add it to the recipe.

This dish was such a hit with my family friends, that they keep reminding me to send them the recipe, which is the main reason why I am updating the blog way past my bedtime! Now that I started my internship, I make it a point to go to bed by 10 o’clock just so I am not a zombie in the AM. For those of you that know me personally, know that is indeed a radical change! RIP my 12, 1, 2, or even 3 am bedtime.

Add onions to heated olive oil, and cook until golden brown. Then, add in grated carrots and cook for a couple minutes, stirring until carrots have started to soften

Turn up the heat, and add in mushrooms. Cook until they have started to sweat, and start releasing water, and turn a golden brown.

Add in cream of mushroom soup, and stir to combine. Cook for a minute.

 
Add in beans, stock, water, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low. Cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes till flavors meld together. Salt to taste.

Adapted from: iFOODreal’s Healthy Crock Pot White Bean Mushroom Soup 

I’m glad that I flew Virgin America because I was able to catch The Mindy Project on Fox via satellite tv. I never realized how funny Mindy Kaling was until I started watching her show…which led me to get her book Is Everyone Hanging Out without me (and other concerns). What’s even better is the fact that she reads her own audiobook…which I highly recommend getting. I couldn’t stop laughing…I found a new friend. Now, to get her to acknowledge this friendship, and we’ll be golden! ; )

Sticking to eating healthy hasn’t been hard, but I do admit I indulge sometimes (with a slice of pizza). I’m surprised at how easy it is to stay on track because the food is so appetizing. I am never tempted to snack on a piece of meat.  : )

I tried kale for the first time last week when I made it two ways: kale chips (YUM!!!) and kale in pasta.

I don’t know why but I was afraid to eat it because I heard that it has a bitter taste to it and that made me apprehensive. So, the first time I purchased some at the grocery store, it went bad in the fridge. Why? Because I kept putting off cooking it and had to throw it out. Sad, I know!! The second time around, however, I was determined to take it out of the bag and prepare it.

There were two bunches, and so I thought to prepare it two ways (how very Chopped contestant of me ; ))

Kale chips seemed to be a very popular option, and so chips it was! When have I ever turned down a piece of crisps?!!!! These are sooo simple to make, done in less than 10 minutes and the results and so healthy for you! You can spice them with whatever you want really, so of course, I had to use freshly squeezed lemon juice over them. Yum, yum, yum. They were a hit! I will be posting the recipe for it next week…stay tuned.

The second bunch I incorporated into a whole wheat spaghetti w/ mushroom tomato sauce, and shrimp. It was soo good, and I definitely couldn’t taste any bitterness.

I cannot believe how good kale is for you. It’s packed with vitamins like Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin C
and minerals such as manganese, copper, potassium, iron. You can incorporate it into smoothies, pasta, salads, kale chips and more. I’m kind of upset that I didn’t try kale sooner, but I will definitely do my best to make up for it!

I am amazed with raw desserts…they are so tasty and have so much depth and flavor without being laden with flour or refined sugars. This chocolate mousse is a favorite of mine and I cannot wait to make it again. It’s super simple, all the prep you have to do is pretty much soaking the cashews overnight. Then pop all the ingredients in a blender and BOOM you got a dessert! Couldn’t be easier…no baking no boiling no nothing really!

The recipe is adapted from The Sweet Life, (you can find the original here) which is an amazing resource for simple vegan food. She also has a couple of raw desserts that I cannot wait to try and indulge in. Having the taste for raw desserts has surprisingly curbed my appetite for desserts rich in refined sugars and flour…which is great for my body! I feel nothing when I try to eat a candy bar…nothing I tell you…never thought that I would see the day.

It’s times like this that I wish I could just teleport (my room) there and be done with it…put no thought into it!! One can dream. So, instead of packing, I am conveniently blogging about it. Definitely not solving my problems.

Why am I moving to DC for 10 weeks? Well, because I got an internship, silly. Why else?!
I am extremely excited at the prospect of moving to DC and interning at a non-profit.

The first time I visited DC was last summer, and I fell in love with it. I love, love, love big cities just because I was raised in one, and I’m used to the lifestyle. I enjoy the quicker pace of life, and if I’m not busy all the time doing something, quite frankly I get bored and rather depressed. Being able to get on the metro and go wherever is something I am most looking forward to. There’s so much to do in DC, I don’t think I am ever going to get bored – museums, events, markets, shopping. Oh, and the internship is going to keep me pretty busy. I look forward to the challenge.

I should really get back to packing and cleaning up the mess that is also called my room!

We had a bag of leftover corn tortillas sitting on the counter from the delicious veg fajitas I made last weekend. I needed to do something with them before they went bad, and settled on these black bean and cheese quesadillas.  I was inspired to make them after having an Amy’s frozen Black Bean Enchilada meal. It was so good, you couldn’t really tell there wasn’t meat in it, and I thought this would translate well into a quesadilla.

I’ve been trying to use carrots in every dish I make because I have a huuuuge bag of carrots in the fridge and don’t want them to go bad. All the dishes I’ve been cooking have carrots: smoothies, stews, soups, fried rice. You name it, probably has carrots in it. Adding chopped carrots that I processed in the food processor were a great addition and added a certain, subtle sweetness to the quesadilla.

I tried this recipe with both corn and flour tortillas, and prefer it with flour tortillas. Corn tortillas make them more crunchy when fried. To make this even healthier, you can bake the quesadillas at 400F for about 5-6 minutes making sure the cheese has melted before pulling them out.

I made my own taco seasoning the last time I made fajitas, and it is so good and flavorful that I will never buy a taco seasoning packet ever again. There are no preservatives, just authentic Mexican spices to add intense flavor to these quesadillas. I’ve attached my recipe below – the spiciness can be adjusted by adding more/less chili powder.

A: There wasn’t mushroom.

-insert awkward silence/laughter here- Yup, I know, that was a mushroom joke, but you gotta admit it was pretty funny. Okay, kind of funny. Just laugh!

I love mushrooms, and if it was my party, no one would ever tell that joke. Mushrooms are always welcome on my plate. It’s kind of weird that I love to eat a fungus so much…but what’s not to love? They’re like the ‘meat’ of the veggie world and can be used in a variety of dishes and cuisines. If you don’t want to have a meat burger, you can always sub it with a portobello mushroom burger and still be pleasantly satisfied.

Stuffed mushrooms are delicious and one of my favorite appetizers to make. Whenever I’m at BJ’s restaurant, I always have to have that as my appetizer…they’re just so satisfying. Meaty, lemony, flavorful and perfectly spiced. In the past, the stuffed mushrooms I would make utilized cream cheese as the major ingredient, which, while delicious, is not something I choose to use now. I was looking online for an alternative recipe that didn’t contain cheese, or meat but was still delicious, and it proved to be somewhat of a challenge. So, I decided to come up with one on my own!

 If I do say so myself, this recipe is fantastic. It’s a lovely vegan spin on stuffed mushrooms without using any vegan cheese, or meat! I made this last night, and had to run to the store this morning to get some more mushrooms because it was so good. (I’m drooling as I type this waiting for the oven timer to go off)

I always have stuffing leftover, which you can spread on a slice of baguette, or better yet, eat on its own. Yum.

This would make a great, low-calorie, healthy appetizer at any upcoming Superbowl parties you may have!

I have successfully followed my cleanse, and have to note that it ended yesterday. I cannot begin to tell you how much better I feel…I have stopped craving sugary desserts, which is an amazing, amazing feat. I’d rather have some fruit, or a raw dessert as opposed to a processed candy bar. It’s crazy how my body has changed and adapted…I’ve lost 10lbs so far on the cleanse, and I feel the difference in my energy!

I think I will be sticking to the healthy eating even after the 21 days, and be more aware of the foods I put into my body. I am a huge fan of cooking from scratch whenever possible as opposed to frozen meals, and have never been a huge fan of chicken or red meat, so I won’t lose sleep not eating it anymore : )

A great source of protein to incorporate into a meatless diet would be chickpeas. With a delicious, nutty taste and smooth texture, they are also a great source of fiber, antioxidants like flavonoids, and manganese. In short, you really can’t go wrong eating them. I use them in curries, salads, as a snack, and in my all-time favorite dip: hummus.

The lemon tree in the yard is in season, which can only mean one thing: LEMONS!! I have an obsession with lemons and freshly squeezed lemon juice in my food. Actually, an obsession would be putting it mildly…I put it in my water, my smoothies, and my food, and sometimes I go to bed with it lemons next to me. Okay, the last part was a joke…sorta?! ; ) So, freshly squeezed lemon in my hummus is a no-brainer.

I love hummus, and having lived in the Middle East, hummus is a staple dish in an Arabic meal. So, there is no question about making homemade hummus as opposed to buying it at the store, because, frankly, the store-bought versions do not compare. Trust me, I have tasted some of the worst hummus’ out there, but some people love it. No no no no no! I feel that good quality hummus in America is sometimes rare to find, and making it at home is the way to go. That way you can control what you put into it…if you want to keep it simple, or if you want to jazz it up, like I have done.

 Ready…Set..Process

This recipe is a twist on regular hummus…there is a subtle taste of an avocado, without overpowering the original flavor of the hummus. The lemon and garlic just push it over the top. You can certainly experiment with this recipe, this is just the basics…if you want to spice it up, you can add some cayenne to it, more pepper…what ever you want. The possibilities are truly endless!