Super spicy Matar Tofu

This delicious and quick dinner comes together in less than 30 minutes.
Frozen tofu was thawed and dry fried in my cast iron and set aside. The veggies/sauce were onions, garlic, ginger, yellow squash, tomatoes, lime juice and siracha.
The pic is a re-post.. but the dinner tonight was delicious and very spicy and inspired by a Raw dish I made today for work. The Raw dish was a butternut squash and cauliflower curry with peas, sun dried tomatoes and a cashew creamy sauce. It was delicious...

I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately.. Please, check out my work blog. I update it almost everyday (and will be updating it daily as soon as I figure out how to work it into the schedule)..

My creativity is used mostly for work anyway... even when the kids are here we are eating a pot of soup or simple meals.

It's actually shocking to see how little cooking I do at home now.

http://bluemoonexeter.blogspot.com/

Simple Low Fat Cauliflower Cheese Soup

It's soup season again and I am so excited! Anyone who has read me for any length of time knows that soup is one of my all time comfort foods.
Not wanting to go to the store today, I came up with this fabulous creamy low fat/calorie soup..

Cauliflower Cheese Soup
1 large head cauliflower, broken up into florets
enough water to cover by 2 inches
2 t chipotle powder
1 small veggie bouillon cube or 1/2 large one (or one whole one if it is low sodium)
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1/4 t curry powder or turmeric
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1 t umeboshi vinegar
2 T smart balance light spread
tons of black pepper
salt to taste

Method:
In a medium to large sauce pan, add the cauliflower, water, chipotle powder, bouillon, garlic, curry and onion powder. Cover and bring to a boil until the cauliflower is soft. Transfer to a blender and add the yeast and vinegar. Blend until smooth (or use a hand blender) and add the smart balance, pepper and salt to taste. Top with more pepper and fresh herbs if desired.

This is a very simple soup, so play around with your favorite spices.

It made 6 cups and the entire recipe had only 400 calories.

If wanted an even better soup, roast the cauliflower first with whole garlic cloves and onion.. Spray with cooking spray and toss with the chipotle powder, salt/pepper and bake in a single layer at 400 for 20 minutes.. then proceed with the same method.

Work Stuff

Seitan 'Corned Beef' Reuben Panini... Homemade seitan 'beef' along with a vegenaise dressing, sauerkraut and optional swiss cheese.... special created for work.

Today, I created an amazing Raw Lemon Infused Cheesecake with a Chia Blueberry topping...

YUMO!

I am soooo behind on this blog.... life and work has gotten in the way... Fortunately, I have created my work blog. .. so you can check in with me over there! It will probably take me a couple of weeks to really get it going so you see a daily update, but I plan on updating our daily specials, soups and any news from the Cafe. Keep in mind please that I do not work in a vegan restaurant, so there will be dairy filled and sometimes chicken in the speicals... I do the vegan cooking... but we do have a head chef who does non-vegetarian foods. He is very talented and also creates vegan salads and soups .. his Escarole Tofu soup is to die for!

Weigh In and food pics

Delicious and VERY spicy, this chili hit the spot. I have 3 portions in the freezer. For some reason, I seem to be needing to eat a lot of spice lately. If it's not actively making me sweat or burning me, I am not enjoying it. hmmmmm.....
This chili contained sun dried tomatoes, TVP, quinoa, spinach, corn, habaneros, cilantro, lime juice, onions/garlic/spices and fresh tomatoes. I topped it with some avocado..
Lightly steamed broccoli with nutritional yeast/walnut/miso topping. I ate the whole pan for dinner. Simple is best sometimes. This could be made raw easily in the dehydrator.. as is, the broccoli was so lightly steamed and then just tossed in a hot cast iron to get a char on the outside... the topping was raw.
Speaking of raw, I used chia seeds to make the breakfast pudding. I soaked them in water with stevia and cinnamon, then topped it off with blueberries, coconut and walnuts. 2 T of seeds made around 1/3 cup and it filled me up for breakfast. I'm into these chia seeds... which is surprising cuz the texture is kind of strange and usually something like that would bother me, but these don't at all.

...so my Sept. weigh in was disappointing. I stayed the same... (and actually I gained 5lbs and lost it)... after the raw challenge I had some trouble remembering that eating is for fuel and health, not for comfort!

I am not giving up! I'm in it for the long haul!!