Spinach, Tofu, Avocado Salad with Sesame Soy Dressing

 

This is a little Bonnie invention.

 There are no real measurements for the salad part, just add ingredients as they look good.

Baby Spinach Leaves, finely sliced

Cucumber, finely diced

Cilantro (Fresh Coriander Leaves), finely chopped

Snow Pea Sprouts, finely chopped

Toasted cashews, roughly chopped

Spring Onions, finely diced

Avocado, chopped small

Silken tofu, small pieces

Dressing:

2 tablespoons mirin

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon honey

Make the dressing by mixing all ingredients.  I do it in a small mason jar so that I can heat the mixture a bit in the microwave to help the honey mix in.  Also, it's then easy to pop the lid on to save the leftovers.

Make the salad by combining all ingredients as indicated above.  Originally I was going to chop the tofu but when I tipped it out of it's box, it basically crumbled so I just scooped up pieces of the crumble and added it to the salad.

I made a variation for lunch a few days later.  It was yummy.  I didn't have any tofu and I forgot the cashews.  I added finely diced fuji apple and toasted sesame seeds.  Everything else was the same.

Pumpkin (Tofu) Cookies

We've been trying to watch what we eat in our home the past couple months so when Starbucks brought out their "Holiday" pastries and beverages last week I was pretty sad. I've been craving one of their pumpkin scones for awhile. Normally I would just get one with my coffee and then be good for the rest of the season. Well...not this year. So when I ran into this "Fat-free Pumpkin Cookie recipe" I got pretty excited. Well not too excited but thrilled enough to give them a try. And they satisfied my sweet tooth for the moment. If you are feeling healthy and generally just want to try something different this might be right up your alley...if not just head over to Starbucks and pick up a 400+ calorie pumpkin scone...and have a bite for me.


I found the recipe here on FatFree Vegan Kitchen. And I took her recommendation to exchange half the tofu with margarine to make the cookies a little lighter...and tastier.

I want to try her Yellow Split-Pea Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Kale next.

Spinach and Tofu Lasagna

I'm not convinced that Italians would put tofu in their lasagna and therefore cannot vouch for the authenticity of the Italian-ness of this recipe. I can vouch for it's deliciousity and at the very least will claim it to be some sort of Italian-Asian fusion and therefore close enough to post as Italian.

The inspiration for the recipe came out of a cookbook on my mother's shelf many many years ago. I do not remember the name of it and have made so many adaptions over the years that I think by now it is pretty much my own ...

Here's how I make it ...

1 (big) jar of Pasta Sauce - I like Bertolli Five Brothers Oven Roasted Garlic and Onion !!
8 ounces lasagna noodles
10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach ... thawed and drained

Mix the following to make the tofu/cheese mixture.
1 cup tofu
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Mozzarella cheese, grated - to put on top

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Assemble ingredients in a 9x13 baking dish in the following order. Small amount of pasta sauce, noodles, 1/3 of the spinach, 1/3 of the tofu/cheese mixture, pasta sauce. Repeat. And repeat again ! Finish with sauce and then top with moz cheese. Bake for about 40 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Grace's breakfast

Today I would like to invite you my breakfast table.
In Korea, meal is same word as 'rice'.

Actually, there are two different words to call rice: 'Bob' is cooked rice ,which is steamed rice.
Another is 'Ssal', which is uncooked as a grain.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be called 'Bob'.

Of course, Jun and Grace normally have 'Bob' three times a day with 'Bob' in Korea.
Since we live in Australia, at least one meal we try to have as we used to eat in Korea.

Saturday Breaky - I did four side dishes and Korean Miso soup.
Side dishes - Steamed Egg with fish sauce.
Fried Tofu
Steamed Broccoli with chilly sour sauce.
Nori(Seaweed, there are at least 10 different seaweeds, Korean and Japanese eat)


Side dishes are important. A bowl of rice always goes with savory dishes.
Odd number is preferable so 3,5,7,9 side dishes are served in traditional serving.

Soup helps digesting a bowl of rice.
Children easily put their rice in the soup eat with spoon.

I did mushroom , potato, Chilly Miso soup.
I will post it later how to cook.