Start of Vegetarian Summer Series: Mongo Soup and Pesto Pasta & Recap of H-mart Goodies!

The 200-hour yoga teacher training to expand my practice started last weekend. Now I'm not sure if I'll enjoy teaching or even if I'll be any good but I'm excited to learn other aspects of yoga! Part of the experience includes designating at least one day a week to eat vegetarian. This week I made a Filipino soup and pesto with pasta. 

I've been vegetarian before so it won't be a huge stretch but just hoping to inspire/show some of you that vegetarian can be easy and tasty whether you want to try it for yourself to feel light and make a lighter eco-footprint or even if you have a vegetarian guest to impress. So, you can look forward to the blog testing out some (hopefully) quick to make vegetarian dishes over the next 8 weeks. :)

Being gone in AZ/UT during my CSA box pick up last weekend forced me to venture out to the grocery store to get my produce last Friday. And so I finally made it out to the Korean market, H-Mart that opened up in Mira Mesa in Fall 2012. First, if you like Costco "buffet" (aka samples) on the weekends, you will LUUUUURVE H-mart. I went on Friday and almost every row had an apron clad, plastic mouth shield wearing employee offering a sample of something tasty. Vietca told me they had a bee-ute-a-full seafood section and it was indeed clean and fresh smelling. Many of the frozen packages also list the country of origin for the fish and if it's farmed/wild-caught so that was also helpful if you're pulling out your moral compass.

Second scored a bounty for $27 : 

• 2 canary melons (Tweety yellow outside, very sweet, white flesh)
• 1 other yellow melon
• 1 pkg bunapi mushroom
  
  
  
  

• 1 pkg king trumpet mushrooms
• 3.5 lbs of fish (a white fish, listed as a good alternative on Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch)
•  a Red Pepper Paste that does not appear to have wheat 

Uhhhhh what is seed koji? Read below, I'm still not sure.

• Internet research says koji is a mold grown for the fermentation process and can be grown on grains (homegrown.org, soy info center  usually rice or soybeans)---sooooo, you may want to make your own substitute paste (I've googled recipes before but not tested) if you need to be strictly gluten free or soy free. I emailed H mart to see if they can tell me what this brand's koji is grown on, I will update if they respond.
•  a package of soft tofu
• a bag of bok choy and
•  another greens that I didn't write the name of-anyone know what this is?
  

Note to self: they have a big 3lb bag for about $4 of brown rice "powder" which looks like flour to me that's cheaper than buying the 1 lb bags at normal grocery stores. 

 Filipino Mung Bean Soup (mongo)-Veggie Style (makes enough for 4-5 servings)

adapted from Lisa's Kitchen and a video I saw on YouTube (idea for some ingredient variations)

Seems like mongo recipes really vary by what veggies you throw in-get creative!

• 1 cup dried whole mung beans-soaked over night
• 1 tsp Coconut Oil for the onions and Chinese greens and 1 tsp for the bunapi mushroom and fresh garlic cloves
•  1 tbsp garlic powder, and also 2 cloves of fresh garlic (or 6 cloves fresh)
• I added 2 shallots for 1/2 cups chopped
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes or 2 fresh red chiles
• 1 can of tomato sauce (or 2 medium fresh tomatoes)
• juice of 2 limes (4 tablespoons)-used lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
• 4 cups water or veggie stock
• 3 bok choys, very bottom part cut off so leaves separate for washing out dirt (or another leafy green, Lisa called for1/2 lb (225 g) baby spinach leaves)
• stems of 6 Chinese greens (that I didn't get the name of)
• 1 pkg bunapi mushroom, cut apart and washed

1. To a larger soup pot, add the water or veggie stock. Add the soaked mung beans and cover with a lid. Heat on high until boiling, then reduce to medium with the cover on to cook at least 25-35 minutes or until mung beans are soft enough to eat.

2. While the mung beans cook, in a small sauce pan heat on medium 1 tsp of coconut oil for the mushrooms and garlic cloves. Cook them until tender. Remove these into a bowl to stop cooking.

3. Add 1 tsp coconut oil to cook over medium heat the chopped shallots and Chinese greens. Cook until browned. Then add to mung bean pot.

4. Add  the tomato sauce, garlic powder, lime juice, salt and stir into the mung bean pot. Add your bok choy and cover again for 3-5 minutes until the bok choy is crisp tender.Add the mushrooms and ladle into bowls for serving. Add red pepper flakes to taste.

 Dairy free Pesto-using mystery Chinese green leaves and walnuts- 2 servings

 

Sorry for the ugly plastic bowl, it's my lunch at work!

adapted from "The 15 Minute Single Gourmet by Paulette Mitchell"

 4 tbsp walnut pieces

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 cup of chopped greens

2 t bsp nutritional yeast

4 tsp fresh minced basil or 1 tsp dried

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/2 box of quinoa/corn pasta

1/2 cup dried (not oil packed) sundried tomato pieces

1. Prepare pasta as the package directs.

2.  While waiting for the pasta to cook, if you like, toast the walnut pieces (200 degrees in toaster oven for 2-3 minutes or can try doing in a frying pan).

3. Add first 7 ingredients to a blender or food processor. Add water by tbsp if mixture is too thick.

4. Serve pasta with pesto and top with sundried tomato.

What is the biggest thing you would like to ask for right now?

New set up for the blog? + Refreshing Southwestern Vegan Salad Recipe from the Road

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHAAAANGES! 

I just learned on May 31st that it's time to pack up and move to another rental in July! That means purging, start saving money to pay for overlapping rent/the new deposit/first and/or last month's rent (GOOD GRAVY Dave reminded me we could be paying up to 3 months worth of rent. Ouch, this hurts with the furloughs coming), and stop buying so much foodstuff (less to move). Here I was feeling a little bored with life the last few months, but excited/nervous to start the time-intensive yoga teacher training this month and an eager beaver to start planning my annual reunion with the Glasses Girls. But now those aren't the only things that will occupy my summer. So, I will apologize in advance if I don't end up meeting my goal to go to the Indian market this month. I will plan to go once I settle in-I do have my grocery list made up. Maybe Indian food theme dinner party with a few friends could be my motivation!

It also makes me think I should try to work through more recipes in my paper cookbooks (and that's not any books from bloggers)-I tend to rely on the internet since blogs and cooking/homemaking websites are so plentiful. With the anniversary of the blog coming up in August, it may just be my new theme for the 12 months of year 2 to do a certain # of recipes from each book each month. (another dinner theme party, make a dish from a paper cookbook!) 

I recently returned from a 6 day Southwest National Parks vacation with my high school chum, Lisa. We started in LA and drove to AZ and UT. We were wondering what defines a road trip, is it # of places you stop or # of days? Merriam Webster says an extended vacation using a vehicle...while Urban Dictionary expands with the most popular definition includes going cross country in a van using drugs and alcohol. Hm, so is extended just mean longer than a long (3 day weekend?)...not sure what we should call it (Scenic vacation?) but we had a blast soaking in the beauty and still learning new things about each other after 14 years of friendship.

Most days we ate out (happily the parks and surrounding businesses must get enough people requiring/preferring gluten free), but one night at Lake Powell Motel (formerly Bashful Bob's) in Page, AZ included a kitchenette.  They even have a BBQ grill (which we did not use.)

We were just warned not to cook curry or fish indoors. The owner worried I might have felt picked on with my last name and those food exclusions...but I know how much those smell. I told him he should add "stinky tofu" to that list as that would linger also, but then inquired "are there Asian markets around here?" His reply was no.

Decided that we were up for cooking something simple that could double for dinner and would be portable for lunch when we were out and about. We needed to use ingredients that we wouldn't have to necessarily keep ice cold since the cooler would just sit in the car all day while we were exploring Lake Powell and then Bryce Canyon until we could get to the next lodging (which might not have a fridge). I did bring some versatile supplies from home (indicated below) knowing we had a kitchenette.

Packing/Shopping list for Summer Southwest Vegan Salad (4 servings-2 servings of pasta version and 2 servings of quinoa version):

1 small can of chopped olives (one that looks like it is 1/4 cup big)
1/2 cup of quinoa (I brought from home) and half a box of quinoa/corn pasta (Ancient Harvest brand is good)
1/2 cup of sundried tomato (brought from home, if you buy they should keep without refrigeration though)
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast (brought from home, keeps without refrigeration)
2/3 package of fajita mix (used Fresh and Easy brand)
2 ears of fresh corn (one cereal bowl piled high, we didn't have measuring cups)
3 small squash (was one cereal bowl piled high)
1 can of cannelini beans

 

Making the salads-we had two small pots and two mixing bowls. We used the lid and slotted spoon to drain since we had no colanders. Used a can opener (important to make sure you have!)

1. Get at least two small pots of water boiling. One for the veggies and one for the quinoa or pasta (whichever you want to eat first)

2. Shuck the corn and cut off the kernels. A serrated steak knife worked for us.

3. Rinse and cut the squash into bite-sized circles or half-circles if the squash is larger.

4. When water is boiling add the corn-cook about 5-6 minutes for crisp tender. And add your pasta to the other pot-cook according to directions (pasta was 7-10 minutes).  Drain when cooked to desired doneness and put half the corn and all your pasta in a large mixing bowl. Reserve other half of corn for the quinoa salad in another mixing bowl.

5. Start boiling water in  your now empty pots. Add the squash and cook 4-5 minutes for crisp tender. To your other pot, add the quinoa. Again drain when they are cooked to desired level (quinoa is normally 10 minutes). Add the half squash to the first mixing bowl and half to the second. Reserve the rest for your quinoa salad.

6. Mix in 1/3 package of the fajita mix and half of the nutritional yeast, olives, beans and sundried tomatoes to the pasta mixture. Toss in the bowl. Then serve warm or cooled (gluten free pastas usually have the best texture warm)

7. After you're nice and full from that, mix the remaining half of the ingredients with the quinoa to make your meal for tomorrow.

Sorry, hope that's not too convoluted.

Being out in National Parks meant a hike each day!

1st Hike at Grand Canyon: 6 miles Bright Angel to the 3 Mi. Rest house

2nd Hike at Grand Canyon: 3.6 miles of South Kaibab to Cedar Breaks

3rd Hike at Bryce: 3.5 miles of Queen's Garden + Navajo Loop

4th Hike at Zion: 3 hours of The Narrows

 Sometimes we didn't have time to eat with all the hours logged driving or it was just too dang roasting (between 85-107F during our hikes). We kept it light and ate these snacks throughout the day and one big meal each day.

Favorite Trail Snacks:

• Tuna pouches to avoid carrying a can opener (bring a disposable/re-usable plastic spoon from Yogurtland to scoop...or get messy)
• For you vegetarians, Sunwarrior Protein powder (pre-measured in baggies) to mix with juice or gatorade.
• Crunch Master brand-multi-seed gluten free rice based crackers (does contain soy and will break if not on top of your pack or in a rigid container). They have a $1 coupon right now on their website. Very tasty.
• Apples
• Fruit "leathers" (found a 48 pack of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and apricot at Costco
• Popcorn made with coconut oil (and using Nordic Brand microwavable popper from Amazon, fit perfectly in tiny motel microwaves..another snack to keep on top of your pack to avoid excessive crumbs...but watch out for the squirrels-one reached in my bag when I turned to apply sunscreen and started to drag the snack away)
• Sprouts grocery: bulk bin trail mix with coconut, papaya, figs and other fruits
• Baby carrots
• Candied Ginger in case of stomach irritation
• powdered Gatorade to mix in with the water bottles
• Avocado halves and a spoon to scoop it out with (put in a plastic container so it won't get smushed)
• Gu or other gel energy to get you up out of the canyon-we had strawberry banana flavor

Anything you want to see regularly if I change how I do this blog? Has a vacation given you inspiration for a meal?   (we also watched an episode of Diners and Drive-ins and one place featured this stuffed pepper with chicken cooked in red wine with apples, pears, shallots, cranberries and served with a cream-nut sauce---looked fab and unique...and fit with the southwest theme of our trip).