49 cent dinner

yep...that's right, this dinner only cost 49 cents. plus we had two lunches leftover so i'd say it's a bargain. all i bought was a head of lettuce for this big money side salad.

the rest was leftovers we needed to use plus some staples. i love cooking this way, opening up the fridge and using whatever is on it's last legs. it makes me feel like i'm on the tv show chopped (that's the one where they get the basket of mystery ingredients, right?). well my basket contained onion, blanched broccoli, tomato, shallot, two little baby red potatoes and green bell pepper. add to that a couple staples like tofu and brown basmati rice and you have yourself a delicious rice bowl entree and side salad.

the tomato and green pepper went into the salad.

i mixed up a little red miso paste and water to stir into the cooked rice for more flavor.
the tofu got dredged in a cajun spice mixture that i made a long time ago for something (it's paprika, cayenne, salt and......other things) and pan fried.
the blanched broccoli just got a little time in the pan to heat through.
i thinly sliced the potatoes and pan fried them as well until browned and a little crispy.
all of this topped the rice and was finished off with a crispy carmelized onion/shallot mixture.

and i must say it was the best tasting 49 cent dinner i've ever had.

-d

buddha bowl

this yummy rice bowl comes from refresh, a cookbook from a vegetarian restaurant in toronto that looks quite fantastic. it's a gorgeous book filled with bright photos that will make you want to make every single recipe. we decided to break it in for a simple weeknight dinner.

the dish is made up of marinated tofu, cucumber, tomato, cilanto and bean sprouts (assuming yours don't smell funky like ours and actually make it into the bowl) piled atop brown basmati rice and drizzled, or drenched, in peanut sauce. speaking of the peanut sauce i bet there is one part of the recipe that's going to make you look twice, say "what!?!?" well yes, there is in fact one and a half CUPS of peanut butter in there. that's nearly a whole jar. needless to say if you make the whole recipe you will have a ton of sauce so cut it in half if you wish. however, it will keep in the fridge for a week and may i suggest using the extra to make lettuce wraps? i loved the flavor of the sauce, it was really lemony which gave it a lighter, i'm-not-eating-an-entire-jar-of-peanut-butter feel and complimented the peanut butter very nicely.

one thing i liked about this recipe is that all the vegetables and the tofu are raw so the only thing to cook is the rice. to make this whole creation here's what you do.

first, start your rice and mix up this marinade. cut up a block of tofu into bite sized pieces and let them marinate for an hour.

tofu marinade
ingredients:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup tamari/soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil (i used canola)

next make your peanut sauce. whisk everything together in a bowl then heat over low heat until warm. we used less water than the 2 cups listed so add a cup to start and then thin it out to your desired consistency.

peanut sauce
ingredients:
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 cups natural smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup lemon juice
5 tablespoons tamari/soy sauce
2 tablespoons paprika
2 cups vegetable stock or water
cayenne pepper to taste

when everything is ready scoop some rice into a bowl and top with tofu. cover in peanut sauce and top with cilantro, sliced cucumber and a tomato (half moon shapes are nice), bean sprouts and a lemon wedge.

-d