What I Prepped 06.06.2017

Phew! Summer time has finally arrived here in Taiwan. It is effing HOT. I’ve been eating a lot of watermelon lately, especially at night. I used to be a chronic “ice cream after dinner” person, but watermelon – specifically, watermelon out of the fridge – helps to give me that cool feeling which is really nice in the summer heat.

Anyway, on to what you’re really here for… I feel like my cooking has been kind of uninspired lately. I don’t really have time to plan what I’m cooking ahead of time, so I just go to the market, pick some stuff up, and throw it together. But hey, that’s life.

Lunch

Tastier than it looks!

• Coleslaw mix (homemade) with Post Punk Kitchen’s Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing 

  

  Dressing before….

  

  Dressing after!! YUM.

  • I know… it’s a weird combination. I bought a giant cabbage because they were cheap, and I didn’t want to make coleslaw, so I gave this a whirl. The salad dressing is delicious, but it wasn’t liquid-y enough to coat the cabbage, so I added some extra lemon juice. I thought it was good, but if you’re not a cabbage fan, use some other leafy green instead!
  • If you’re not vegan, you can make the salad dressing my subbing 1/2 cup mayonnaise in place of the 1/2 cup soaked cashews. You might also use 1/2 cup of yogurt, but I’d double up on the olive oil so you still get the flavor from fat. Don’t worry – olive oil is good for you!

• Tofu Soyrizo from Yup… It’s Vegan!

  • This is super good if you’re into really “spiced” stuff. If you don’t like big, in-your-face flavors, skip it, but I love it.
  • The recipe calls for TVP, or texturized vegetable protein. Pssht! I don’t know what this is, and I have never seen this in Taiwan. So, I used some medium-firm tofu, crumbled it up, and cooked it up with all the other ingredients from the recipe (omit the vegetable broth).
  • I don’t necessarily recommend this with my weird caesar coleslaw concoction, but it would be very good over a bed of lettuce, or on a wrap (like a burrito). Just keep in mind the flavors are really strong.

• Roasted Squash

• 

  So pretty!

  According to this website, it’s called Taiwan Honey Squash. It’s cheap and abundant here. Taiwanese people call it pumpkin. It tastes like the super popular Japanese Kabocha to me.

• I tossed the squash in a little olive oil, then seasoned with salt, pepper and a touch of cinnamon before roasting in my toaster oven.

Dinner

I call this the blue plate special.. haha!

• Ultimate Vegan Lentil Loaf from Oh She Glows

  • 

    Pre-baked lentil loaf… look at all those veggies!

    This was good, the grated apples and raisins gave it some sweetness.

  • Since I’m not vegan and I don’t have flax seeds lying around, I substituted eggs to serve as a binder.
  • Make it more kid-friendly by adding extra ketchup on top!

• Green Beans and Mashed Potatoes

  • Green beans – I boiled them for about 3 minutes (until they turned bright green), then put them in an ice bath. The next day, I sauteed them in some coconut oil and garlic, with lots of salt and pepper. Simple.
  • Mashed potatoes – nothing special here. Just boiled and mashed up with some milk and salt and pepper. The lentil loaf and green beans were enough for me, so I didn’t really have a lot of mashed potatoes with my dinner.

Well, that’s it for me. Hope you’re having a wonderful start to your summer. Comment below and let me know if there are any recipes you think I should try!