What I've Been Eating Lately

Hi, long time no talk! Hope you're hungry.
I document most of what I'm cooking/eating on my secondary Instagram (@ahnrebeccajanis). I thought it'd be nice to transfer some of that information to my blog to write more extensively on what I'm eating and how I'm making certain dishes! Side note, I'm not the best at photographing dishes, bear with me. 

Peanut Chili Sauce Salad 

I start off with chopping up a whole head of romaine and thinly slicing a quarter of a medium sized red onion. After washing those off, I left those to mingle together in the fridge to stay crispy and cold before serving. Next, I took some left over chick peas and sweet corn (around half a can of each) and cooked them up with a little olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, and green onion. I let the corn get some char on them before leaving it in the fridge to chill. During that whole process I keep a cup of quinoa cooking up to be done just in time for assembly. After mixing all the separate ingredients together, I whipped up a quick peanut chili sauce by mixing together sesame oil, soy sauce, a little bit of ginger, chili sauce, sriracha, sugar, and peanut butter distilled in hot water. With everything I made I tossed it all together but ended up eating 1/3 of everything (everything else made great leftovers!) 

Whole Foods Pizza

I've recently harvested a terrible addiction to Whole Foods. While the beautiful array of their hot and cold foods are tempting, I always find myself gravitating towards their pizza section. With Whole Foods being Whole Foods, they always have amazing vegan options, which is always a plus for me! A large slice of pizza is $3.50 which is surprisingly very affordable, especially for the size and how considering how much it fills you up. I usually grab a slice of pizza and throw together a small side salad to complete my meal.

Tofu Scramble 

Before going veg I loved eggs. I would probably have at least one egg a day either for breakfast or on top of any dish. But since transitioning over, eggs are surprisingly something I never crave. But one thing I did miss was having a hearty breakfast and eggs used to be a big contributor to that. But thanks to the vegan gods (a.k.a. Hot for Food) I found a great tofu scramble recipe (find it here!) that has let me wanting seconds and thirds every time I whip it up. I love topping my tofu scramble with some cilantro and any sauces like ketchup and sriracha, with a side of toast with Trader Joe's cream cheese (Also delicious! Tastes milder than normal cream cheese and the texture is spot on.) 

Soba Noodle Salad

While I love finding new vegan junk food to eat, when I'm cooking at home I keep things pretty clean. I've never felt obligated to eat clean but instead I get pretty intense cravings for cold crunchy vegetables. For this salad I start off with making one serving of soba noodles and leave them in the fridge to cool while I prep the rest of my ingredients. This salad can honestly consist of anything you'd like. I usually use sugar snap pears, broccoli, green onion, green beans, avocado, green onions, fuji apples (trust me, it's delicious), and whatever else I have in the fridge. For this salad in particular, I boil then blanch my veggies to keep them cold and crispy. To top it all off I use a similar dressing from the chili peanut sauce salad but add more peanut butter to bring in more clean fats to the dish.

Acai Bowls

While the weather in Southern California has been freezing (below 60 is cold ok) I still enjoy the occasional acai bowl. While I understand the acai is the main focus, the real star are the toppings. I always pack on extra granola and bananas, they give the bowl a great balance of nuttiness and creaminess which pair well with the sharpness of the acai. Servings at any acai bowl spot are huge! These technically count as a whole meal.

Soon Du Bu (순두부)

I've found that making traditional Korean food veg is the easiest thing at home, but at local Korean restaurants it took me a few tries to get the gist on how to order correctly. At this particular restaurant (Cho Dang in Torrance, CA), they have the option to make their mushroom soup vegetarian (which means they use a water base instead of a fish base) I honestly don't taste the difference between the two which is a plus! This particular restaurant has a great array of side dishes to pair with the soon du bu and hits the spot on any chilly day.

Here are more fun foods I've eaten in the past couple weeks. Now that I've hit a year of trying my best to follow a plant based diet, cooking and eating out has grown to be such a pleasure in my life. At the start, I feared that my dietary limitations would restrict me from eating certain foods or going to certain places, but I've learned that there are options everywhere and I can always make it work. And if not, it's not the end of the world. Being able to eat this way is a privilege in my life that I never take for granted. It's crazy to remember how incredible it is that I live in a place and time where food is evolving and improving, especially in the vegan scene. Whenever I look back at photos I've snapped of dishes I've made or places I've eaten out, it reminds me of how delicious a plant based lifestyle/diet is and how much of a positive impact it's made in my life.

(Left to Right) 'Sage Bistro' vegan desserts, 'True Food Kitchen' butternut squash pizza with almond ricotta, Gardein "crab cakes" with lemon pepper broccoli and quinoa, 'Veggie Grill' "fish" tacos, homemade pasta, soy meat banh mi, home made puff pastries, homemade tacos, burrito bowl, array of dishes from 'By Chloe', 'Yellow Fever' Californian bowl, 'Pressed Juicery' vanilla frozen "yogurt" All vegan. All delicious! 

Thanks for reading. I'll be back soon, been in a blogging mood lately. Till next time!