Sesame-Ginger Spinach Rice Bowl

Another easy meal-in-a-bowl which took almost no time at all and holds up so well as leftovers! I am really into these "throw it all in and mix" type meals because they have everything you need nutritionally and taste fantastic.

Sesame-Ginger Spinach Rice Bowl

Ingredients:
-6 cups baby spinach
-1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
-1/2 package of smoked tofu, cubed (optional)
-1/2 a large cucumber, diced with skin on
-2-3 large scallions, sliced
-1 avocado, diced
-handful mushrooms, sliced
-2 tsp black (or regular) sesame seeds (optional)

Dressing:
-2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp ginger powder
-1 tbsp. sake
-1 1/2 tbsp. rice vinegar
-1 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
-1-3 tsp. Sriracha or sambal olek chili (optional, to taste)

Method:
Cook rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, put spinach, beans, tofu, cucumber, scallions, avocado and mushrooms in a large bowl.

Put all dressing ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake until emulsified. When the rice is ready, add into the large bowl, pour dressing all over and stir to combine. Serve and top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Meal in a Bowl: Easiest "Salad" Ever

There are literally NO STORES open in most German cities on Sundays, except some gas stations. So when you (i.e. me) forget to plan what you are eating on Sunday in advance, you (i.e. me) are SOL. I happened to have some random ingredients around and ended up throwing this "salad" together and it was amazing. I will definitely make it again.

Baby Spinach-Quinoa Bowl
(Yields about 4 large servings)

Ingredients:
-1 cup uncooked quinoa
-6 cups baby spinach
-1/2 white onion, chopped
-handful of mushrooms, sliced
-2 tsp. lemon zest
-smoked tofu, cubed (I used 1/2 a package)

Dressing:
-6 tbsp. olive oil
-2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
-2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. cumin
-1 clove garlic (mashed into a paste, or finely chopped)

Method:
First boil 2 cups of water and then add quinoa, lower heat, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Throw chopped onion, spinach, mushrooms, and tofu into a very large bowl.

Put all dressing ingredients into a jar and shake til emulsified. Then pour the dressing over the spinach salad.

When the quinoa is done, make sure it has fully absorbed the water and fluff with the lemon zest. The steam coming off of it now should smell heavenly. Fold the quinoa into the spinach salad and mix completely. Now everything should have a very light coat of the garlic-lemon dressing.

Serve with fresh pepper and a breadstick!

Greek Lemon-Tahini Quinoa Salad

This is a really filling “salad” that is different from the usual green salad.  It also holds up well in the fridge for a couple of days so it’s good as leftovers.

Greek Lemon-Tahini Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

Finished product

-1 cup uncooked quinoa

-1/2 cucumber, diced small

-1 small red onion, sliced very thinly

-1 ½ cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

-2 scallions, sliced thinly

-1 red bell pepper, diced small

-1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

-6 cups baby spinach or baby field greens of your choice

-1/2 cup pickled Italian hot peppers, halved and stems discarded (optional)

Ingredients for dressing:

-1/3 cup tahini

-2 cloves garlic

-2/3 cup water

-3 tbsp. lemon juice

-4 tbsp. ground flax seed

-1 tbsp. miso paste

-1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

Method:

In a saucepan, boil 2 cups of water with 1 tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. fresh black pepper. Once boiling, add quinoa, stir, and turn heat down to medium.  Cook for about 15-17 minutes, until quinoa has absorbed all of the water and is cooked through.

Meanwhile, chop all the veggies and throw together in a large bowl.  In a blender or food processor, process the dressing ingredients until very smooth.  Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.

Veggies mixed in bowl before sauce, greens and tahini

Once quinoa is done cooking, combine with the veggies and fluff.  Then pour dressing on the whole thing and mix well.  Enjoy!  Can be served at room temperature or chilled.

The Most Filling "Salad" Out There

This "salad" is less of a salad in the traditional sense and more like a huge pile of filling things that taste amazing together, with some greens tucked in there somewhere.  Make a big batch because it keeps in the fridge for a couple days.

Grain and Veggie Salad Bowl

Ingredients:

-1 cup green lentils

-1 cup brown rice OR wheatberries

-1 tbsp. olive oil

-1/2 red onion, chopped

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-1 red bell pepper, chopped

-1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

-1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

-3 cups fresh baby spinach

-1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

-salt and pepper

-1 lemon, zested - 1/2 of it cut into wedges and set the other half aside

-sunflower seeds

-your favorite salad dressing (something lemony works great here)

Method:

Cook lentils and rice/wheatberries according to package directions. Drain well and set aside.

In a big skillet or wok over low-medium heat, heat olive oil and saute the chopped onion and minced garlic for 5 minutes. Then add bell peppers and tomatoes and saute for another 7 or 8 minutes.

Stir in the spinach and saute until tender. The stir in the lentils and rice/wheatberries, squeeze the 1/2 lemon you set aside over the whole thing, and simmer for another 2-3 minutes until everything is warm. Remove from heat and stir in minced parsley.

Sprinkle with sunflower seeds, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with dressing of choice and a sprinkle of lemon zest and lemon wedges for garnish.

Curried "Chicken" Salad with Grapes and Cashews

This "chicken" salad is made with smoked tofu, vegan mayo, and all my favorite chicken salad ingredients.  You can eat it on top of a green salad or inside a pita or whole wheat wrap.  
(I was asked to start uploading some photos so here is my first try... sorry if they don't look so great!)

Curried "Chicken" Salad

Ingredients:
-1 package firm smoked tofu
-3/4 cup vegan mayo OR plain soy yogurt
-juice of 2 limes
-1/3 cup chopped cilantro
-2 tsp. curry powder
-2 scallions, thinly sliced
-2 ribs celery, finely diced
-1/2 cup grapes, halved if they are large
-1/3 cup cashews
-cracked pepper, to taste

Method:

Cut the tofu into small cubes.  Bring 6 cups of water to a boil, add 1 tsp. salt, and turn off the heat.  Lower the tofu into the water and let sit for 2 minutes.  Strain the tofu into a colander, then rinse under cool water.  Shake off the excess moisture and spread out the cubes onto paper towels to dry.

Combine all remaining ingredients.  Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more lime or pepper if needed.  Add the tofu and gently toss.  Chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.  The flavors will get even better the next day for leftovers!  

Spicy (or not) Asian Bean Salad

This one is great to bring to parties, as a side dish, as an easy lunch, or underneath a piece of fish (or in our case, halved, marinated eggplant).  Super easy and it's the reason my pantry shelf is about to crack under the weight of my many cans of beans.

As Spicy As You Like Asian Bean Salad

Ingredients:
-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
-1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
-1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
-4 scallions, chopped
-1/2 cucumber, peeled or unpeeled (your preference), sliced thin
-1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes (optional)
-1 tbsp. sesame oil
-1 clove minced garlic
-1 tbsp. miso paste
-3 tbsp. soy sauce
-1 tbsp. rice vinegar
-1 tbsp. sake
-1 tsp. sugar
-1 tsp ginger powder or 1 tsp. minced or grated fresh ginger
-anywhere from 1 tsp to 1 1/2 tbsp. Sriracha or sambal oelek

Method:

Put the drained and rinsed beans, cucumber, scallions, and tomatoes in a big bowl and mix.

Put the sauce ingredients (oil, garlic, miso, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake, sugar, ginger, and hot sauce into a jar with a top, and shake vigorously until all combined and sugar dissolved.  Or put them in a bowl and whisk.

Pour sauce over bean salad and mix.  Serve!

Asian Chop Chop Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing

This one is great because you can make the salad portion and keep it in the fridge for a few days as long as you don't pour the dressing over the whole thing.  I add the dressing to each individual serving right before I eat.  You can also make this a lot spicier if you like that!

Asian Chop Chop Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing

Ingredients for salad:

-1/4 head of red cabbage, chopped roughly into inch cubes

-1 red bell pepper, chopped roughly and seeded

-3 cups lettuce of your choice, chopped roughly

-2 carrots, peeled and chopped into inch long pieces

-big handful of green beans, ends cut off

-1 cup cherry tomatoes

-4 scallions, chopped into 2 inch pieces OR 1 small red onion, roughly chopped

-peanuts to sprinkle on top (optional)

Ingredients for dressing:

-2 tbsp. sesame oil

-2 garlic cloves

-1/4 cup natural peanut butter

-1 tbsp (about 1 inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled

-3 tbsp fresh lime juice

-2 tbsp soy sauce

-2 tsp brown sugar

-1 tbsp (or more) of Sriracha or sambal oelek if you like it a bit spicy

-2 tsp water, to thin out.

Method:

Put each ingredient into the food processor SEPARATELY and pulse 2-4 times until chopped to your satisfaction.

Pour into bowl, fold all chopped veggies together.

Method for dressing:

Put garlic cloves and ginger into food processor to mince finely. Add all other dressing ingredients to food processor and process until well combined and smooth. Put in jar/container with top.

I serve out salad and have each person spoon their desired amount of dressing on top and mix on their own plates... this way the whole salad doesn't get too soggy and people can decide how dressing-y they want it.

The Most Amazing Smoked Tofu Dish You'll Ever Eat

I found this recipe on Food.com and made some slight changes which have resulted in everyone I ever serve it to (vegetarian or not) demanding the recipe.  You can find the original here:
http://www.food.com/recipe/avocado-with-tofu-183673

And I have included my changes in the version below.

Avocado-Smoked Tofu Asian Salad

Ingredients:
-1 package smoked firm or extra firm tofu
-1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
-1 avocado, cut into 1 inch chunks
-2-3 dried chili peppers
-1/4 cup sesame oil
-1/8 cup rice vinegar
-1/8 cup sugar
-1/4 cup soy sauce or Tamari
-2 cups giant Israeli couscous (or rice, or your favorite grain)

Method:

Put the first 3 ingredients in a big serving bowl. 

Shake vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce in a jar until the sugar dissolves completely (might be a few minutes.  I let it rest, then shake, then rest, then shake, etc while I do other things around the kitchen.)

Pour the mixture over the avocado/tofu/tomato salad and stire gently.

Using a small saucepan, heat the seame oil over medium-high heat and put the chilies in.  Keep them in there until they start to smoke, maybe 10-15 minutes.  Turn off heat, use tongs to discard chilies, and pour oil over the salad.  Stir to mix up a bit, and serve over your grain of choice.

Middle Eastern Chickpea and Rice Salad

This is another bean/grain based salad that we love - we eat a lot of "one dish meals" in our house because they always have great flavors, and at our house of course there's no "main dish" of meat, to be served with veggies or grains on the side.  This dish is one of our favorites!

This recipe is from VegWeb.com, by Kim Lutz.
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4564&catId=11

Middle Eastern Chickpea and Rice Salad
Serves 10

What You Need:

-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
-Peel of 1 lemon, cut into strips
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-1 minced garlic clove
-2 red peppers, cut into wide strips
-3-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
-1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
-24 cherry tomatoes, halved
-1 cup pitted kalamata olives
-1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded, and diced
-2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
-1/4 cup finely diced red onion

What You Do:

Preheat broiler. In a bowl, combine lemon juice, lemon peel, olive oil, and garlic. Set aside.

Place red peppers on baking sheet and broil until skin bubbles and starts to turn black. Remove peppers from broiler and place in a covered bowl for 5 minutes. Remove outer skin, and dice peppers.

In a large bowl, combine rice, beans, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, parsley, onion, and peppers and toss with lemon juice dressing.

Chef’s Tip: Depending on your preference, you can include the lemon peel in the salad or discard.

Mango Red Pepper Quinoa Salad

This light salad, great for a side dish or light entree, was inspired by great looking mangoes at the local produce market, me buying way too many, and then desperately trying to figure out what to do with them before they rotted on our countertop.  (The other recipe they were used for is Mango Fried Rice - coming soon.)  This was GREAT and really flavorful.  Good at room temperature or cold as leftovers.

Mango Red Pepper Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
-1 mango, peeled and diced small
-1 red pepper, seeded and diced very small
-1 cup chopped scallions
-1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
-2 tbsp. grapeseed oil
-1/4 tsp. salt
-2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled (or bulgur or couscous if you prefer)
-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

I made the quinoa in advance and just put it in tupperware in the fridge.  I think this salad would also be good with couscous or bulgur if you prefer those grains to quinoa.

Combine the mango, red pepper, scallions, and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated. Fold in the black beans.

You can serve immediately or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to meld.