Stir fry with peppers

We made a tasty stir fry tonight!

Prep:
-Press 1 block tofu for 1 hour, then cut into cubes or triangles
-Chop 1 carrot into sticks
-Chop 1 red bell pepper and 2 hatch chilis into 1/4" slices
-Slice 2 shallots
-Mince 3 cloves garlic
-Cut 3 thin slices from a ginger root
-Slice a few green onions and set aside until end
-Start medium grained rice in rice cooker

Stir fry:
-Dry fry tofu at medium-high heat in a non-stick pan until most sides of the tofu are light brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
-Add oil to pan, heat, and add carrots, ginger, and shallots. Cook until carrots are just browning.
-Add garlic and peppers, cook until just brown.
-Add tofu back in, heat up.
-Add just enough stir fry sauce to cover the veggies and tofu (we used House of Tsang Szechuan Spicy). Cook for a few minutes, stirring often.
-Remove from heat and add green onions and sesame seeds.

Recipe roundup, August 2015

It's been a while since I've updated this blog, but I've still been cooking! Because food is more expensive in DC/Virginia, we've been eating at home a lot, and also trying to eat more cheaply.

Firstly, I've been making a lot of smoothies and overnight oats for breakfast. Made a delicious smoothie today with frozen peach, banana, and ginger; milk and yogurt; and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Lunches have been a lot of lentil and chickpea dishes. In no particular order:

Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew with Ginger

• I had sort-of made this before, but this time I actually followed the recipe and it turned out great!). Served with brown rice.

Curried Lentils

• Made with garam masala instead of curry powder.

Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Lemony Tahini Dressing

• The tahini and olive oil whip up into a mayo-like dressing! Great with pita.

Make-ahead lunch foods

After becoming a married lady, I realized that leftovers get used a lot more quickly in my house. In the past I would just eat leftovers for lunch, but now I have to consciously add "lunch foods" to my grocery list. I'm trying something new now, which is to make ahead several lunches to pack. So far I've done lentils and rice and that worked pretty well, because there is very little prep involved.

This week I made a dish based on something I pinned to my Pinterest board. It's a breakfast/lunch bowl with quinoa, veggies, an egg, and a miso-mustard dressing. Instead of following the recipe, I doubled the dressing recipe and made some barley, French lentils, sautéed greens, and hard-boiled eggs. I then kept the dressing on the side until eating. Here's the recipe for the dressing, via I am a food blog.

Miso Mustard Dressing (4 servings)

• 2 TABLESPOONs WHITE MISO
• 2 TABLESPOONs DIJON OR WHOLE GRAIN
• 4 TABLESPOONS NEUTRAL OIL
• 4 TEASPOONS SESAME OIL
• SQUEEZE OF LEMON
• PEPPER TO TASTE
• I added a splash of red wine vinegar