Eating healthy/ Feeling fabulous part 2- Asian noodles in peanut sauce

Here we go again! This time I made some amazing noodles in peanut sauce that really blew me away. The great thing about this meal is that you can really substitute a lot of the ingredients to cater to your taste palate. You can play around with which veggies you end up using. You can also use shrimp, tofu, or chicken to replace the seitan. Just make sure you add what you like. My one advice is to make sure that you don't make the peanut butter sauce too thick. You need to be able to use this sauce to coat all the veggies and pasta with flavor and if the sauce is too thick you wont be able to do that. Add more water and tamari if you need to thin it out. Thanks again to Juliana Brafa for giving me this recipe.

8 ounces spelt soba noodles (or any other pasta)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 carrots, cut into half moons

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 bunch bok choy, chopped

8 ounces seitan, chopped

1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter

3 tablespoons tamari

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 clove of garlic, pressed or crushed and finely chopped

pinch red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 scallions, sliced

Procedure:

1. Boil Pasta according to package directions.

2. While pasta is boiling, sautee carrots and onions in olive oil until softened. Add pepper, bok choy and seitan. Cook until all vegetables are soft. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl combine all of the remaining ingredients, except scallions, and whisk until well combined.

4. Combine drained pasta, sauteed vegetables, and peanut sauce. Garnish with scallions.

5. Serve warm or cold.

Eating healthy/ Feeling fabulous pt.1- Tofu "egg" salad

The Park Slope food Coop has teamed up with The Natural Gourmet Institute in a class designed to make healthy meals in a hurry. Thank you Luisa for bringing me to this amazing workshop. The event was led by health counselor Juliana Brafa. I know many people don't think healthy food can be tasty (I was one of these people), but in the last 2 years I have learned a lot about the unknown. Tofu can taste like anything you want, veggies are delicious, and you don't need to diet like a madman if you eat things that your body can process and breakdown. I liked this class because it gave me great ideas on how to incorporate healthy foods into my current diet, meaning it is not exclusive. I will be sharing some of the recipes given that day so you can try them at home. I just made this Tofu "egg" salad last night and not only was it easy, but I wanted to eat the entire thing when I was done. Honest, just try it. You will be making a new batch in no time.

Tofu "egg" salad
1 pound firm tofu- roughly mashed

2 tbs chopped parsley

2 tbs mayo or vegan mayo

2 tbs sweet relish1 tbs olive oil

4 teaspoons prepared Dijon mustard

1-2 scallion finely chopped

1 clove of crushed garlic

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Procedure: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir and mix until you get the consistency you like from the Tofu. The more you stir, the less chunky the salad will be.

See how easy this was? It will last you about 3 days if you put it in the fridge. One day you can have it with toast for breakfast, another day you can have it on crackers before your dinner or as a snack, and another day you can make a banging sandwich to take to work ;-)
Stay tuned, I'll be posting more as I make the rest of the recipes.