vegetarian recipe - Sriracha Stirfry

I have a dish I have been making with more and more frequency lately - mostly because I can make a fairly large amount at one time, and because Tom and I both really like it.  Additionally the others who have had it say it's really good as well.  Add to that the leftovers are great and easy to heat n eat.

And yes,  that's tofu!  but honestly it's good!

















Ingredients

1 block of medium firm to firm tofu - cut in to large cubes and set to drain in a colander

1/2 k of green beans, cut in half

2 large carrots, cut in lengths similar to green bean halves, julienned

1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced

2 + tablespoons of course chopped garlic

1 poblano, seeded, halved lengthways and sliced

salt to taste

2  tblsps toasted sesame seeds

2 tblsps oliveoil

Sriracha sauce to taste

So the first thing I do is cut the tofu in to cubes and set in the colander to drain.   I then clean and prep the veggies

 in a large heavy pan I heat the olive oil till quite hot then toss in the tofu to toast the outsides- this helps to improve the texture, but I've also crumbled the tofu and added without frying, this helps cut down on the fat. 

after the tofu is browned, I transfer it to another plate and saute the veggies.  

We like crunchy so just till the colors start to turn.  

Once the veggies are done I toss back in the tofu, the sesame seeds, and the salt, then just toss it all together, taste, and serve.  

for a full meal presentation I serve this with either brown rice or quinoa.

recipe - calabaza frita

I have a stand by dish that is almost always found in my fridge.  This is such a fabulous and versatile dish that I can't not have it around -AND it's REALLY good!

Calabaza Frita - 

I use the green local scalloped edge squash, we (my Family) always called them patty pan squash, Tom's family called them elephant toes, I imagine your family had some other name for them - The green ones are used locally with great frequency, and in lots of dishes.   I love the texture and the slight sweetness of the squash, plus they hold up and don't turn to mush.

I use an equal amount of tomato and patty pan squash,  half the amount of onion, and at least one if not more cloves of garlic.  For the squash I tend to scoop out the seeds and pith from the centers and remove the tip n tail. Then just chop all the ingredients to similar size and start cooking over a low heat. I also add salt and pepper to taste as well as either habanero or jalapeno to taste. If I have cilantro I'll throw that in too.  I let this all simmer till cooked down and well mixed.

This is FABULOUS as a taco/burrito filling, I've stuffed zucchini with it, I've added rice to it and served as a casserole so it's good as a dinner dish, great mixed with pasta, run it through the blender or food processor for a chip dip, or if you just give it a good chop it's a lovely chunky dip.   I tell you the possibilities for this dish are endless.  Shoot, warm some stock, shred a bit of chicken and toss in a scoop of this and you have a fabulous soup, just top with a bit of fresh cilantro and some sour orange, or lime juice,  YUM!!!!
You also frequently find this served as a botana in bars, cocktelerias, and some restaurants.

This photo is of what is currently in my fridge.

Veg Friendly blog

I am a child of the 60/70's.  Hippie days, long hair, barefoot, jeans, make love not war, respect mother earth, peace, love, be one with your universe.....

As a young couple of the era Tom and I tried to be close to nature, and as self sustainable and with minimal negative impact on the earths resources as possible.

When we moved to Colorado in 1976, we gave up smoking (well we gave up smoking cigarettes), it was quite a bit later that I gave up on pot.  We gardened, we canned, preserved, or froze all our own food.  I made all our breads, tortillas, pitas, etc.  We raised and butchered our own chickens and rabbits.  Got eggs from our chickens.  Got goats milk from a friends farm if we did the milking, I made our cheese from the goats milk.  Grew and dried our own herbs.  I even sold herbal vinegars and oils at farmers markets.  I made Tom's shirts and my wrap around shirts and halter tops.

At some point the raising and butchering was more than my conscience could deal with and I went vegetarian.  Which then moved me to being able to cater in both vegetarian and vegan fare.  The Vegan was by far the most sought after,  I was one of very few that could cater in Vegan in Colorado Springs, at that time!.

As time went on, and as we bagan to travel it became somewhat troublesome to find things I could eat, I also happen to be lactose intolerant.   I always found it humorous when I would tell  servers that I didn't eat meat or dairy and they'd say, No worries, we have chicken.  Or they tell me that something I ordered was a bad choice because it either had eggs or mayonaise, because we all know that those things are dairy????

Anyway,  the more we travelled, the more often I compromised,  a bit of pork in a sauce,  pork fat in the beans, or ham or bacon in the beans,  pick the meat off the nachos, etc.  Once home I'd revert to my old ways.  But it happened more and more as we travelled more and more.  Then there were the office environment jobs  -  Slowly I just found myself compromising more and more.  Then it got to be where I ate animal but with great infrequency, then I was eating fish and seafood with some regularity, then when I wanted to lose weight it was chicken and veggies, to many carbs in beans...

So now I am a meat eater, a carnivore.  I don't like it - don't get me wrong, I enjoy meat sometimes, in fact sometimes I crave it.  It's my head, and my body that don't like it.  I can't get my head around and feel comfortable with the animals commitment to my ability to both eat it and wear it!  And I know my body reacts differently after I have had meat; tired, sluggish...


Nancy over in Mazatlan recently wrote a lovely post about her being a vegetarian, and offered up a number of her personal  resources.

So I was thinking about starting a Blog for Veg friendly recipes and resources - a bunch of us could have access, be partners on it!  It would be great for us here in Mexico where some of the resources and conveniences we were accustomed to are not available.  It would be recipes with stuff local, stuff available.

What do you think?   Anyone interested!? 

 You don't have to be vegetarian to enjoy a veg meal. 

 I frequently prepare vegetarian meals for my meat eating friends, so far no complaints, well at least after the meal - there have been a few comments prior.