Dinner: Cauliflower Steak and Fried Rice

Have you heard of cauliflower steaks?  Me neither until last week.  I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest.  The Serious Eats website is my new favorite place for recipes.

This meal was really simple and really good.  J has been supportive through my dietary changes.  And despite the dense brick-like biscuits and bland test meals, he tastes everything out of the kitchen.  Tonight, he demolished his plate.

My Extra Ingredients

1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 onion, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
2 t Sriracha instead of chile paste
toasted sesame seeds

My Way to Cook It
1. Cook cauliflower as noted.  Chop broken florets and set aside.
2. Mix garlic, ginger and onion together in a bowl.
3. Sautee half of the above mixture and chopped florets with the Brussels sprouts.  Cook the other half with the rice.
4. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Real Food: Raw Salad and Roasted Green Beans

I got up this morning to hydrate and eat before going out for my 7 miler.  One year ago I was training for my first half marathon and now I'm doing it again.  A lot has changed:

• My endurance is better
• My legs don't feel like lead all the time
• I have new running shoes
• I'm not eating meat, fish, or eggs
• I'm eating little to no dairy

My dietary changes came within the last three weeks.  I'm thinking a more plant-based diet will alleviate my eczema.  Today's breakfast was partially raw, mostly green, and all delicious.

Vegetable Breakfast

1. Raw "Detox Salad" from Oh She Glows.  I added half a fennel bulb to the food processor when making it.  I found the recipe on Pinterest.  Thanks, Jennifer!
2. Roasted green beans with shallots from The Kind Life.  I added some sesame seeds.
3. Mmm sauce from Peas and Thank You. I didn't have dried oregano so I used dried basil.  It is true that you could put it on anything because it is THAT good.

Gluten-Free Veggie Burger

I regularly crave the Houston's veggie burger.  There is no substitute.  No other comes close.  It's a sweet and savory red patty that's mostly rice and beans.  For at least 3 years I've combed copycat recipes.  Some have chopped beets and others just have beet juice.  Then I found this NY Times article.  It was a lighthouse in the middle of a sea of wannabe burgers.  A Hillstone chef confesses that the veggie burger contains prunes.  Prunes, people.  My favorite burger has prunes!  I put my super search skills to work and found this recipe.

My burger was pretty close to perfect.  I think the ratios of the glaze (not included below) is a little off.  And the patty fell apart while cooking because I forgot the black bean juice.  Despite the minor shortcomings, this gluten-free vegan burger is all kinds of delicious.  I wrapped mine up in big lettuce leaves with onion, tomato and scallions.

My Wannabe Houston's Veggie Burger
(Adapted from here)
¾ cup yellow onion, minced
1 ½ cups brown rice
½ cup quick oats, ground
6 oz prunes, minced
3 ½ cups black beans
4 oz beets, minced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 T Hungarian paprika

1. Mix all ingredients together
2. Refrigerate for 30 minutes
3. Heat vegetable oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat. Cook patties until firmed up and warmed through.

Green Things for Breakfast

Since returning from Puerto Rico last week, I've been incorporating green foods into every meal. Raw vegetables are hard to come by in San Juan restaurants. You can have anything beige, starchy, on bread, or deep fried. Mofongo. Tostada con queso. Bacalaitos. Every meal was yummy but they really did a number on my digestive system.

huevos, jamon, and tostada from Kasalta, San Juan

This morning I repurposed leftover Pozole vegetable fajitas (not on the menu but you can ask for them) for breakfast. Then I added some baby bok choy. Gluten-free and vegan!



Vegetable Fajitas

• corn tortilla
• sauteed onion, zucchini, bell peppers
• brown rice (my addition)
• tomatoes
• guacamole
• scallions (my addition)

Bok Choy

1) half the bok choy
2) steam until tender
3) drizzle with olive oil and tamari

Winter Salad with Acorn Squash

I haven't been craving soups with this unseasonably warm weather.  My default "healthy" meal is salad so I made this one from seasonal foods a few weeks ago.

• apples
• roasted acorn squash with shallots
• sauteed mushrooms with thyme
  
• goat cheese
• pine nuts

Mix all of the goodies together with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for something delicious.