My favorite trader.

I have to admit something. I have been buying way too many exotic desserts lately. There's only one person to blame. Joe the Trader.

I got mochi ice cream and forgot how much I love it. And ginger chews. And chocolate chip cookies that are much more crunchy and crispy than the average chocolate chip cookie.

And TJs has only been open for a week... This is a problem.

Last week, I had one of the easiest and best dinners. Courtesy of Joe and this lovely find:

I stuffed whole wheat pitas with the red pepper spread and some homemade jalapeño hummus, along with lots of fresh spinach and broccoli slaw!

I also prepared some pseudo-Indian food. Some rajma and rice:

I made the rajma by first heating some garlic and mustard seeds in oil.

Then, I added a can of kidney beans, and a can of diced tomatoes, along with 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon cumin-coriander powder, salt, and pepper.

I actually preferred this with quinoa rather than brown rice, of course :).

Now excuse me while I waste away watching tv until the work week starts again!

It's here!

I have been waiting for far too long.

It opened two days ago, and when I went today the line to check out went all the way around the store. Apparently everyone else is just as excited about TJs as I am!

I came across some awesome items such as coconut water popsicles and red pepper and eggplant spread. I was too excited about everything to even think about taking pictures. Woops.

So remember how last week I got to see Giada? I was inspired after seeing one of her recipes. Funnily enough, the recipe included chicken. I changed it a little and substituted tofu for the chicken.

Tofu Nuggets

Ingredients:

• 1 block extra firm tofu
• 1/4 cup (scant) corn meal
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Dry and press the tofu. I did a quick manual press using paper towels and some arm strength. Otherwise, the best way to press tofu is to leave it for an hour or more, in between lots f paper towels and with a weight on top. That is, if you don't have a tofu press on hand.

Once pressed, slice the tofu and place in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Then, add the corn meal, rosemary, thyme, and salt/pepper.

Stir gently to cost the tofu well. Then, transfer the coated cubes to a baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Bake at 350*. After 10 minutes, flip the cubes and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the tofu is crispy.

Enjoy dipped in ketchup! Or in a stir fry or salad...get creative!

Star struck.

Guess who I got the pleasure of seeing in person yesterday?

Giada de Laurentiis! From the Food Network!

I didn't actually meet her but I did get about 10 feet away... Close enough, right? I also got to see her do a cooking demonstration and a Q & A session. Overall, a very cool experience.

And I was so inspired by one of her recipes that I tried a Tulika-fied version today, which actually turned out awesomely.

But for today, I have a different recipe to share with you.

This is what I made last weekend and ate for lunch every day last week. It was so good, I did not get sick of it, even by Friday.

Quinoa "Lasagna"

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 jar marinara sauce (or make your own!)
• 1 eggplant
• 1/2 zucchini
• Frozen or fresh spinach and broccoli
• Olive oil
• Shredded mozzarella cheese

Start by roasting the eggplant and zucchini. I chopped these up, and mixed them up with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt, and roasted them in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Cook the quinoa and then set it said. If making marinara sauce, make this and also set it aside. It was out of character for me to use jarred sauce but sometimes it is just much more convenient!

Thaw the spinach and broccoli if using the frozen variety. Then, add these to a large baking dish along with the roasted eggplant and zucchini.

Stir in the quinoa,

Then add the marinara sauce, and finally top with cheese.

Bake at 350* for about 10 minutes.

Top with some crushed red pepper (or sriracha!) and enjoy for five days.

Note: because this dish is made with quinoa rather than pasta, it does not stay together as well as pasta does, but it was quite lasagna-esque in taste!

Weekend... Where did you go?

Don't mind me. I am just mourning the loss of my weekend. I miss last week's 3 day weekend.

Speaking of last weekend, check this out.

Free yoga day! There were hundreds of people ready with their yoga mats outside in this park to do some yoga bright and early last Monday. The class was an hour and a half long, and it was a tough workout with lots and lots of plank and lunges! That, and the fact that the humidity is something like 99% here. Needless to say, the sweat kept coming...

And needless to say, I was ready for a refreshing salad.

I made my own salad dressing by blending Greek yogurt + dill + a couple small slices of cucumber + pinch of salt.

Oh and check this out. I paired this with some baked zucchini sticks! (I used this recipe).

Lovely post-sweat sesh lunch if I say so myself!

Looking for another vegetable to add to your salad rotations?

Try some jicama.

This bowl included jicama, corn, cucumber, cilantro, and tomato. I dressed it with lemon juice and salt/pepper.

And just like most of my salad creations, I mixed in some quinoa.

Have I mentioned I can't get enough quinoa? I think I could eat it for every meal.

Time to go veg on the couch for what's left of the weekend!

Cheezy.

Recipe alert!

It's a long weekend, and after spending the first half of my weekend doing a lot of nothing (which was much deserved, in my opinion), I decided that since I have an extra day, I should take advantage of it and spend some time with my kitchen. And my Ninja.

That sentence was far too long. Run-on sentence, alert?

So today, along with really wanting to make some baked zucchini sticks*, I decided that my goal was to come up with some sort of quinoa casserole. With a delicious sauce.

Not just any sauce, but I was thinking of a "cheeze" sauce. If you haven't heard of this term, it's basically a non-dairy version of cheese.

I've made a version once before with butternut squash, but haven't made it with cashews. Today was the day!

Quinoa Casserole with Cashew Cheeze Sauce

Ingredients:

For the casserole:

• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• Frozen cauliflower and broccoli
• 1-2 teaspoons olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 cup raw cashews
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 heaping teaspoons nutritional yeast
• ~1/2 cup water (may need more depending on desired consistency)
• Salt
• Handful of parsley
• Oregano

Optional: chili powder or jalapeño for a slight kick

First,  cook the quinoa and the frozen vegetables, and set these aside.

Combine cashews and water in a food processor and blend.

Add the olive oil, lemon juice,and nutritional yeast. Blend until smooth. Then add the parsley, salt, and oregano.

Blend, and add more water if necessary. The result should have a sauce-like consistency.

Prepare a baking pan by spraying or spreading a bit of olive oil on the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the quinoa and vegetables to the pan.

Add the sauce to the quinoa mixture. I mixed it in since I am a fan of uniformity.

Here is where you could get creative and add some breadcrumbs, more seasonings, cheese, etc. I went with the basics.

Note: I added some water to this to avoid the casserole becoming too dry in the oven.

Bake at 350* for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

*The zucchini sticks unfortunately did not happen. But that's what tomorrow is for!

Rut.

I am not going to lie to you.

The reason I haven't been posting recipes for this long (it has been far too long) is because I've been in a recipe rut. Really. I used to spontaneously pick up ingredients at the store, come home, and make a masterpiece out of them.

These days? I am all about the quinoa, lentils/beans, greens, and quesadillas. You think I am kidding, don't you?

I am really, really not kidding. I will never get sick of the stovetop whole wheat tortilla+shredded cheese quesadilla with side of guac/salsa/raw veggies/cooked veggies/whatever else I happen to make into a side. It works quite well, I think.

As for the quinoa obsession, I have been piling it onto various salads as of late.

(Spinach + a corn salsa + black beans + avocado + quinoa with taco seasoning + hatch chili salsa! + cheese). Who said salad had to be boring? If you are curious about the corn salsa, I combined 3/4 a bag of frozen corn, pickled jalapeños, cilantro, juice of 2 limes, and salt. This was my lunch every day last week, and I looked forward to it every time.

Last week, I attempted to make a sweet potato and broccoli hash. It took about 2 minutes to make. Livin' large.

I cooked 2 sweet potatoes in the microwave, cut them into cubes, and sautéed them with a bag of frozen broccoli in olive oil. I seasoned this lightly with salt and pepper. I set some aside for the next day or two. For the satiety factor, I added an egg on top. And cheese, of course.

These days, since I spend the majority of time away from home, I pack lots of healthy snacks with me. I've learned that raw veggies are my best friends (carrots, snap peas, bell peppers, etc) as well as fruit.

I sometimes mix my fruit with Greek yogurt... just for fun. And it's a lot healthier than buying fruit-flavored yogurt.

And to make fruit even more interesting...

Microwave it! I chopped up a green apple, sprinkled some cinnamon on it, microwaved it, and then added a nice spoonful of Smart Balance. A guilt-free dessert!

As for my recipe rut, it ended today. AND I dusted off the old juicer today with a refreshing combination of celery, cucumber, beet, and lemon juice. (No picture, unfortunately, because I chugged that glass too quickly. In my defense, it was right after Zumba! And I was thirsty).

Fit finds.

I am switching up my usual foodie posts to focus on some fitness-related items I have recently purchased.

First up: shoes. You may remember the post in which I discussed my Vibrams. They lasted me about 8 months, and recently, I was experiencing a strange discomfort in my toe. I attributed this to my Vibrams wearing out since I used them 4-5 times per week for pretty intense workouts.

While I am a huge fan of the Vibrams, I am not a fan of the lack of sock wearing. I really do believe that my knee problems have been cured by wearing minimalist shoes. I did some research and found Merrells. These are also minimalist shoes but in the form of a traditional shoe...aka one can wear socks with them. :)

I must say that the color is probably half of the reason I love those shoes so much! But in all seriousness, these shoes are comfortable and so far have been very good to both my knees and feet for running, Zumba, kickboxing, boot camp - you name it.

Next: stability ball.

I read articles about how sitting/inactivity is a terrible disease. And yet, the majority of us are forced to sit for long periods of time every day. I am one of those people, and I am very aware that not even my one hour workouts will reverse the all day sitting problem. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and get a stability ball.

And now when I come home, I will be sitting on this rather than on the couch. And of course, maybe I will eventually incorporate some stability ball exercises into my day, too!

Lastly: foam roller.

I am obsessed with this foam roller and I only bought it yesterday. It's like having a personal masseuse! But it is also so very painful, especially for quads and IT band for me. I am hoping that the more I roll, the less painful it will get. Apparently, one can do other exercises with the foam roller such as abs, etc. But for now I am concentrating on the rolling.

Any fitness finds you have found recently? Fill me in -- I might just feature it on the next fit finds post!