My Own Private Idaho (Kitchen)

A week back and finally getting into the swing of things. Honestly I'm so happy to be able to cook our own food again. (And trust me, I never thought I would say that.) And just happy to be back in my own kitchen with familiar ingredients. I don't think we saw a carrot more than once on our trip and here I think we eat them every day.

Sunday of Labor Day weekend we made spicy red lentil dip with rice and broccoli, carrots, and onions sauted.



Monday was marinated tempeh with kale and carrots in an almond butter sauce. Served with brown rice. Note: the almond butter sauce makes everything taste better and is so easy to make! It's simply almond butter, miso, water, soy sauce, and a tiny bit of sweetener like honey or brown rice syrup. (More almond butter than miso and everything else to taste.) Mix it up with a little water until it's the consistency you want and you are good to go.



Tuesday night was a blended broccoli carrot soup with rice and lentils. Wednesday: a stir fry of baby bok choy and carrots served with tempeh and soba noodles.



Thursday night was taco noche, my favorite night. Corn tortillas with spicy pinto beans, blanched kale, shredded zucchini and avocado. My latest desire is for a tortilla press so that I can make my own tortillas. So good and so simple.



Friday night was a new favorite from Veganomicon, Broccoli Polenta. You add broccoli as you cook the polenta and then set it up in a pan. Ideally (if one has time for these kinds of things) you then cut pieces out and pan fry or broil them. That night I did not have time for it. Still delicious. I also made the famous broiled tofu. The tofu was weird that day though, way too soft, so the pieces kind of fell apart before they even got in the broiler.



Saturday I got clever with the leftovers. Polenta with broiled zucchini and carrots and a spicy bean dish on the side.



Sunday was stew with barley, lentils, carrots, and broccoli. Monday I made corn bread with onions and jalapenos to go with the stew. I've never made corn bread before (never even really liked it before) but I thought this one was pretty good. Plus it was so much fun to cook it in the cast iron pan. I wish our bigger cast iron pan didn't have a wooden handle. I just love putting them in the oven after using them on the stove.