Rice Noodle Bowls and Warm Cherry Quinoa

J and I have been testing out a lot of recipes lately - vegan and non-vegan. I came across Eat, Run, Live's recipe for almost-vegan rice noodle bowls with crispy tofu and decided to take a stab at it. We ended up making a bunch of modifications and actually transformed it into a new dish.

Rice Noodle Bowls with Dry-Fried Tofu
Serves 4

1/4 summer yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 head of red cabbage, chopped
1/2 package of rice noodles
1 package of firm tofu, drained/dried
1-2 green onions, sliced thinly
Vegetable stock

Sauce:
3 Tbsp Braggs
1 Tbsp vegan oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sriracha sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp freshly grated ginger

Boil water, add rice noodles and remove from heat. Allow the noodles to sit for 5-10 minutes then rinse in cold water and set aside.

In a skillet, saute veggies in a little veg stock (or oil if you don't care about the fat content). Add the sauce to the vegetables and cook a little while longer. Don't over cook - the veggies should still be a little crisp.

Chop the tofu into triangles or cubes, whichever you prefer. Heat a DRY skillet on high and add tofu once it's hot. Press on tofu and allow moisture to sizzle out. turn when the tofu is the desired color and repeat on all sides.

Assemble: Put some rice noodles in the bottom of a bowl. Top with veggies, tofu, a little vegetable stock, and green onion.


This afternoon, my stomach was grumbling and we didn't have anything quick to snack on. So I decided to try out a recipe I'd been curious about for a while that's been floating around on Pinterest - warm quinoa with cherries. I like the recipe but don't have the exact ingredients in my kitchen so I played around and here's what I came up with!

Warm Coconut-Citrus Cherry Quinoa
Serves 1

1/2 - 1 cup of cooked mixed quinoa (or whatever kind you have)
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup almond milk
2 Tbsp orange juice

Combine all ingredients; heat in the microwave if you want it hotter. Could eat this as dessert, breakfast, or snack - super yummy, nutritious, and filling!

Have I told you lately....

...how much I LOVE Alec Baldwin and HATE circuses?

Alec Baldwin is seriously THE MAN. He's attractive (and might I say, aging very well), a great actor (who doesn't love 30 Rock?), the new narrator of the US version of Frozen Planet (yay! no more Oprah!), an animal rights activist, and vegan, to boot. Recently, Peta released a video with Mr. Baldwin highlighting the horrors of circuses - mainly those related to elephants. See for yourself...

The sad part is - I can post this as much as I want, but the people who need to see it, will not watch it. And that bums me out. Recently, the circus (otherwise known as animal-cruelty-with-audience-participation) came to my town of Portland, Maine and I had the urge to get out there and protest. I didn't in the end, because honestly, I know that it won't change people's minds. It won't get them to suddenly see the light or understand why it's such a deplorable source of entertainment (it pains me to call it entertainment). I don't know how we can get families with screaming two-year-olds and expendable income to stop putting up blinders and educate themselves. I think our energy is better spent trying to change laws and trying to get this country to outlaw circuses that use animals all together.