Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Kind of fell off the map there, eh? I kind of went on a break from my regular life while on winter break, and that included the blog. Break was amazingly wonderful, and admittedly, I did very little in terms of fun and new and creative cooking. Instead, I got lots of sleep, read several books, put in time at the gym daily, put in even more time at the dog park, got together with friends. You know, the fun things that can't be your priority when you have work.

Even though it's the second week of January, I'm eating black-eyed pea salad in the hopes that it will bring belated luck. I really like black-eyed peas but rarely eat them, for whatever reason. This salad has a tangy dressing, but I (think) I like it. And I really like eating it out of a mason jar. Not only is it super cute, but it makes packing my lunch for 2-3 days at a time much easier. I'm all about saving time, so making a big salad like this and serving it over several jars at once saves time, but more importantly, reduces the number of times I ask myself, "What the hell am I going to eat for lunch?" Maybe these little lucky legumes are rubbing off already...

What Does a Vegan Eat? Lunch Edition

I bring you the second post of the "What Does a Vegan Eat?" series. Lunch can be tricky sometimes. During the work week, it has to be portable, delicious, and just the right amount of filling without being too heavy or likely to induce a food coma. Nap time follows lunch time, but unfortunately for me, nap time is only permitted for students.

During the cooler months, soup makes a great lunch. So easy, yummy, filling, warm, comforting! I love soup; I make at least one a week during winter.

Black Bean & Corn Soup
Source: 1000 Vegan Recipes

Roasted Butternut Squash and Cauliflower Soup*
Source: Fat Free Vegan

Corn Chowder
Source: The Conscious Cook

Pureed Spicy Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew with Chickpeas*
Source: Eat, Drink, and be Vegan

Wraps are great for weekends.

Pinwheel Wraps*
Source: Peas and Thank You

Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin-Mustard Tofu*
Source: Appetite for Reduction

Salads are perfect one-dish meals to take to work.

Black Bean-Avocado Salad
Source: Oh She Glows

Edamame-Pinepple-Cashew Quinoa*

What are some of your favorite lunches?

*A recipe for this meal is available in the original post.

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chickpeas

This recipe comes from Angela at Oh She Glows. I love the recipes Angela creates because the meals are packed with all the good things I need to keep me going on my busy marathon days. You know, the days when I wake up at 5:30, get to work by 7, spend the next 8 hours chasing after 4 year olds, and then sit in class for three hours and finally arrive home around 7:30? Yeah, those days.

This particular recipe was really interesting. The sweet potato and cinnamon are distinctly fall flavors (at least in my mind), and the coconut oil and sea salt really amp up the flavor. I'd never think to pair sweet potatoes with coconut oil, but in this recipe, they work!

Cinnamon Spice Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, divided

Directions: Preheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick liner. Peel and chop sweet potato. In a large bowl, add the cooked chickpeas, uncooked sweet potato, cinnamon, salt, and 1/2 tbsp coconut oil. Mix well. Spread onto prepared baking sheet and place in the oven at 425F for 36-40 minutes. Remove from oven and place into a large bowl. Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp coconut oil and stir well to coat. Add additional sea salt if preferred. Serves 1-2.

Pinwheels & Broccoli Salad

Today's lunch is brought to you by none other than Peas and Thank You. Raise your hand if you're surprised. I made a pinwheel wrap (a spinach, apple, fakin' bacon) with broccoli salad. They were both so. Amazing.

My only complaint is that the dressing for the broccoli salad was super runny. Maybe it was because I didn't use dried cherries, because I can't figure out why else it was so soupy. It was still yummy. 

I was able to find an online version of the pinwheel recipea, lucky you!

Ingredients
6 slices tempeh bacon (i.e., Lightlife Fakinʼ Bacon)
4 La Hacienda de Peas Tortillas (p. 102) or store-bought whole wheat variety
1⁄3 cup non-dairy (i.e., Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese) or organic cream cheese
1 thinly sliced organic apple, any variety
1 cup fresh organic spinach leaves

Directions
Cook bacon according to package directions. Lay out tortillas and spread each with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream cheese.
Layer 1 1⁄2 bacon slices, apple and spinach in each tortilla and roll tightly.
Cut into thirds and serve, securing with toothpicks, if necessary.

Nutrition Information per Serving
115 calories, 6 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 330 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein

Black Bean Avocado Salad

The first week of school has come to a close, and I made it out alive. This week was not without its fair share of first day tears and temper tantrums, but it went pretty well! We've got an interesting group of pre-kindergarteners, but I'm really looking forward to this year... and I already want to adopt three of our eight kids.

Back to work means lunches need to be quick, easy, and portable. I always pack my lunch, because a) it saves money but b) school lunches are never vegan. This week I made a black bean/avocado salad, and it was perfect! I'm not a huge fan of avocado, especially by itself, but I'm really trying to like it because it boasts loads of health benefits (the vitamins, minerals, and good fats found in avocados promote eye health, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of heart disease and a variety of cancers). In this salad, it was pretty good, and it left me feeling full without feeling heavy or too full. Definitely a good choice for lunch at work!

I'm off to Southern MD for the holiday weekend. My priority this weekend is sleeping in. I love summer, and I'd be lying if I said summer wasn't part of the appeal of becoming a teacher. Summers off, however, make you forget to appreciate weekends and sleeping in! After sleeping in and NOT waking up to an alarm, I have a cook-out tomorrow and I'm going to see the Blue Angels on Sunday. What are you doing for Labor Day weekend? However you celebrate, I hope you are surrounded by good people and good food, are safe and have fun!

The face of someone happy to see the weekend.

Veggie and Hummus Pizza

This concoction was largely inspired by a post over at This is Vegan.

I decided to buy sun-dried tomato and basil hummus because I love sun-dried tomato and basil, so I thought this would be a nice change of pace for my lunches, which include hummus and raw veggies several days a week. The hummus itself was okay, but it really didn't go with baby carrots or celery. As in not at all.

To avoid wasting it, I decided to make some veggie pizzas. These were really simple to put together, and made a great light lunch. You could also easily cut these into smaller bites and serve as a finger food. This poor excuse of a recipe can easily be modified to suit your tastes.

You'll need:
- a pizza crust
- hummus
- veggies (I used cucumber, green pepper, and onions)

1. Cook pizza crust per its directions. Cool completely.
2. Spread humus over crust. Add veggies.

Yeah, I'm a culinary genius.

Lettuce Wraps with Hoison-Mustard Tofu

Tofu and I haven't always had the best relationship. In fact, I can't imagine a worse beginning to a relationship: I ended up in the ER about a half hour after our first rendezvous. The doctors deemed it a "bad case" of food poisoning, and while I'm not sure that was truly the problem or that the tofu was the culprit, I've since laid the blame with tofu. Since then, tofu has been begging for my forgiveness in the form of otherwise delicious sounding recipes, and I've continually given it the cold shoulder.

Until last week. I figured I'd persecuted tofu long enough, and god damn, it's in a lot of recipes. I searched a variety of sources looking for the ideal reintroduction, and found this recipe for lettuce wraps with hoison-mustard tofu from Appetite for Reduction. Given my recent discovery of hoison sauce, I picked this because I love its spicy-sweet flavor. And that's exactly what this dish is - sweet and spicy! The red pepper flakes add to the heat, but the cool crunch of the lettuce nicely complements the fire.


These were so insanely easy to make, and honestly, the tofu wasn't that bad. I'm still not convinced tofu and I will ever move beyond acquaintances, but this was a good first step. I was able to find an online version of the recipe!

Ingredients:

Tofu

• 1 (14 ounce) package extra firm tofu, 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce

Sauce

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or 1/2 tsp if you want more spice)
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard

To serve

• 12 lettuce leaves (iceberg makes a nice pocket for the filling)

Directions:

1
Tofu: Heat a cast iron or heavy bottomed nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray with a little non stick cooking spray and add the tofu. "Dry fry" for about 10 minutes carefully flipping about halfway through. Add the soy sauce and toss to coat.

2
Sauce: Heat another pan over medium heat. Add the sesame oil and saute the red bell pepper, onion, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes for about 10 minutes.

3
Once the veggies are soft and browned add the mirin and let cook for 3 minutes.

4
Add the hoison & mustard and cook for another minute.

5
Assemble: Add the tofu to the sauce and toss to coat. Spoon mixture into lettuce leaves and serve immediately. Enjoy!