Happy Insides

As reformed vegetarians there are certain dishes that you can get either vegetarian or not, but you liked them so much in the vegetarian state that you feel like there is no need to eat them with meat in them.  Kung Pao Tofu is one of those dishes.  We realize that they make Kung Pao with beef, chicken and seafood as well as with tofu, but we just really like it with tofu and just don't see the point of adding meat.  Sure meat can be tasty, but tofu really can be as well.  Plus tofu is a LOT cheaper than ethical meat. 

Kung Pao Tofu
Adapted from Jaime Cooks
Makes 4 Servings
1 c. brown rice
1 12 oz. package Extra Firm Tofu, well drained and diced
3 T. sesame oil, divided
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. water
4 T. low sodium soy sauce
2 t. corn starch
1 t. sucanat
1 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 t. fresh ginger, minced
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1 c. snow peas
1/8 c. roasted unsalted peanuts

1) Bring 2 c. water to a boil and add rice.  Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 45 minutes until rice is tender.  When done fluff with a fork before serving.

2) Meanwhile heat a wok or a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 2 T. of the sesame oil.  Add the tofu to the pan and cook turing occasionally until tofu begins to brown, about 5 minutes.  Remove tofu from the wok and set aside. 

3) Add the onion to the pan and let saute about 4 minutes until the onions begin to soften.  Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Add the tofu back to the pan. 

4) Combine water with the soy sauce, corn starch, sucanat, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Add this mixture to the pan and bring it to a boil.  Add the red bell pepper and the snow peas and toss to coat with the sauce in the pan.  Let the vegetable cook for about 2-3 minutes until they are beginning to be tender, but still crisp.  Toss in the peanuts and serve over brown rice. 

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Recently both of us have gotten into clean eating.  Clean eating is a pretty simple concept.  You eat "real" natural food ingredients in a minimally processed state and you eat several (5-6) well balanced meals everyday.  On top of all this you reduce the amount of saturated fat and sugar in your diet.  It can be difficult to tackle some of the changes initially, but in our opinion it is well worth it.  It leaves you feeling energized and properly nourished. 

To begin researching clean eating Cassie read the book The Eat Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno.  It is a really quick read and she highly recommends the book to anyone interested in eating more healthfully.  The book also has about 30 or so recipes included in it in the back.  This is where we found the recipe for the noodle bowl.  To be honest the recipe was a little poorly conceived ( for example called for way too small of a pot and we had to move the meal to a bigger pot twice), but in the end we felt like it was a good starting point for the dish and I think we ironed out most of the kinks in the recipe below. 

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We have been seeing a ton of recipes for various types of lettuce wraps lately. We decided to give it a go and see if we could come up with a good recipe of our own. What resulted was a spicy and sweet meal that was definitely a crowd pleaser...or at least a Jason and Cassie pleaser. Both of us were very happy with how the meal turned out and certainly plan to make it again. You cook the chicken ahead of time in the crock pot making this meal not only really tasty, but also very simple.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Makes 4 servings
1-1.5 lbs. skinless chicken thighs (bone-in)
2 c. low sodium stock
3 T. low sodium soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
1 t. dried ginger
1 t. cumin
1/8 t. cayenne
1 t. sucanat
1 T. canola oil
1 c. mushrooms diced
1 c. green bell peppers diced
1/2 c. carrots diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 c. cooked brown rice
1 T. all natural peanut butter
2 T. Siracha
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. low sodium soy sauce
8-12 large romaine lettuce leaves cleaned and dried

1) in the morning ahead of time put the first 8 ingredients into the crock pot and let cook on low for 8 hours. Chicken should be moist and will shred easily. Remove the bones and shred the chicken.

2) heat canola oil in a medium pan and saute the mushrooms, bell pepper, carrots and garlic until tender.

3) Meanwhile whisk together the peanut butter, Siracha, rice vinegar and soy sauce.

4) Add the rice and chicken to the pan with the vegetables and mix well. Add the sauce and heat for a minute.

5) Serve the chicken and rice mixture on a plate with 2-3 lettuce leaves per person.

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This meal was a quick and easy way to finish off our lazy Sunday. Everything about it was tasty, from the chicken broth (which we didn't make from scratch this time, but used some good organic stock out of a carton), to the egg and chicken combination. We've never been able to successfully make egg drop soup. After following this recipe and having it turn out we realized that it's good to have more egg white than egg yoke and to not mix it together fully. This is another great recipe from Eating Well that Cassie found online. We've only just discovered this goldmine of delicious recipes, so bear with us as the next few posts may also come from them. We promise to post some of our own recipes or ones from other sources soon.

Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl
from Eating Well April/May 2005
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/japanese_chicken_scallion_rice_bowl.html

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