400-calorie dinners (iv)

Life is uncertain . . . dessert first!

I know I've read a bunch in the blogosphere over the past few years about "sugar addiction" -- what are your thoughts?  I like to believe that I have a much healthier relationship with sugar these days than in years past, but honestly, I don't see myself ever giving up sugar in its entirety.  Treats are just too special a part of my life, and I love to bake!  For example . . . 

John's Valentine's Day present, which he actually finished off before Valentine's Day.  (Whoops.  Next time, I'll know better!  Bake closer to the actual holiday.)  Husband has a weakness for chocolate and peanut butter, and I thought these cookies would be the perfect way to use up some of the Hershey's Kisses that Santa left for me in my Christmas stocking.  (Confession: I really don't much care for chocolate, especially milk chocolate!  Weird, I know.)  Natural peanut butter gave these cookies a rich, crumbly, sandy texture that was . . . incredible.  At 117 calories each, these still fit nicely into my healthy eating plan!

Since the peanut butter-chocolate kiss cookies didn't last that long, I baked another batch of cookies this weekend . . .
















I'm typically not a huge fan of "light" desserts -- I feel like flavor and texture are often sacrificed, and I'd rather eat less of the "real" thing.  However, I tried swapping in a half-cup applesauce for half a cup of butter in my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe, (I did leave one stick of butter in tact,) because I believe oatmeal cookies are best when soft and slightly cakey.  HUGE success.  I also used all whole-wheat pastry flour instead of AP, which I believed also paired well with the applesauce -- whole-grain treats can get a little dry and "wheaty," in my opinion, but the extra moisture from the applesauce is a big help.  At only 86 calories apiece, they certainly don't taste "light" or lacking in anything!

And now, more 400-calorie meals we've enjoyed this past week:

Cream of Wild Rice Soup:

A Minnesota classic, which we served at our wedding just under a year ago, vegetized by doubling the mushrooms and adding a little cubed seitan instead of chicken.  (Does anyone besides me find too much seitan to be overpowering?)  The result is a nutritious, warm, comforting, and filling supper, perfect for a bitter cold evening.  (Of which we've had many this winter!  Sigh.)

Breakfast Burrito:

Fill a whole-wheat tortilla with 2 oz refried beans, 1/2 oz cheese, 4 oz shredded Yukon gold potato (hashbrowned-up using a little olive oil cooking spray in a cast-iron skillet,) one egg over-easy, home-canned salsa, and a little sour cream ... perfect for a weekend brunch or a speedy weeknight supper!

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas:

Ok, so, one "light" food I REALLY don't believe in is reduced-fat cheese.  I mean, c'mon . . . cheese is fat!  What the heck is reduced-fat cheese anyway?  I slightly adapted this recipe, choosing to use 6 oz full-fat Monterey Jack instead of the 8 oz reduced-fat cheese called for.  This meal is relatively quick to prepare, given you're making your own homemade enchilada sauce, and even more delicious leftover.  (Somebody at work is always curious about what I have for lunch!)

Polenta and Roasted Veggies:

I threw this together one evening last week when John was working late, and boy, did he miss out!  (He was able to enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day.)  I decided to roast the veggies instead of pan-sauteeing, which freed up my attention to whip up the polenta.  Although the blue cheese does lend the polenta an unusual, slightly grayish color, this was one heck of a flavorful, colorful, healthy meal!

Stir Fry:

I find that most of the calories in stir-fry actually come from the rice . . . bummer.  Keeping my rice portion down to a 1/2 cup left room on my plate for loads of broccoli and tofu!  I had been wanting to try this recipe for "Chipotle-Orange Broccoli & Tofu" for some time.  It was . . . just okay.  The tofu and broccoli were delicious, but the sauce was nothing special.  Bummer!  I think my biggest complaint was that the citrus flavor wasn't at all present!  You'd think that something with "orange" in the recipe title would be citrusy . . . notsomuch.

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms:

Like artichoke dip?  You will LOVE these.  Seriously, make them tonight!

And, Quiche:

I typically cut my quiche into six slices; eight slices makes for more sensible portions for me these days.  (If you still want to enjoy a heartier portion while keeping an eye on your calorie intake, I'd recommend a crustless version -- pastry is kind of a calorie-bomb, unfortunately.)  This meal was a cinch to prepare, thanks to a homemade pie crust stashed away in the freezer and some pre-roasted sweet potatoes.  John loves quiche 'cause he loves eggs, and will take care of these leftovers before I can blink an eye most weeks.

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Off to make a pizza!  :)

millet polenta!

Way back in December, a recipe for Millet-Cheddar Polenta with Roasted Vegetables from Fine Cooking caught my eye . . . I really don't eat much millet, but am always looking to diversify my diet, and I LOVE polenta (and cheese, obviously!) so I thought this recipe would definitely be worth a try.

Our foul weather today dictated something warm, creamy, and comforting for dinner -- and this recipe fit the bill perfectly!

As ever, I can't follow a recipe exactly as written, so I made the following changes:
~ I used a totally different combination of veggies, (wanted to use up some things I had on had, plus also wanted more color in the meal,) and tossed them with a simple combination of olive oil, salt, pepper, and plenty of minced garlic
~ I cut the amount of butter in the polenta down to two tablespoons; the polenta still seemed extremely rich to me, and I'd probably cut down to just a single tablespoon in the future
~ I found the polenta's texture benefited greatly from a few minutes beating from the stick blender -- more creamy, less lumpy :)

Now, I don't think I'll make millet polenta every single time in the future, but this was a definite winner! I'm happy to find another way to enjoy a grain that doesn't get much attention in my kitchen, for sure!

What are some ways you enjoy millet?

simple, hearty, healthy

We had a simple, hearty, healthy dinner last night:

Homemade veggie Italian links, sauteed with garlic, chard, and a can of diced tomatoes, all over creamy, delicious polenta! This was loosely based on a recipe from Real Simple, but it really was so simple, who needs a recipe anyway? :)

Off to take the cat to the vet for his yearly -- happy weekend, all!

eats and treats

Hope you have been having a wonderful weekend! Dan and I really took it easy this weekend -- mostly hung out at home, did a little laundry, had a picnic and a hike at Lake Maria state park, etc. I spent plenty of time in the kitchen, of course!

Dinner last night was both speedy and delightful:

"Black-Eyed Peas with Spinach," from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, over cheesy grits, with a few slices of heirloom tomato on the side. Simple, nourishing, and fantastic! I added a few dashes of smoked paprika to the beans, which I didn't really detect in the finished dish, but it couldn't have hurt, right? The cheese grits were easy and amazing, and the sliced tomato added a fresh, bright note to the meal. Best part? I think this entire meal was on the table in less than 30 minutes! Wahoo!

I've REALLY been loving my Moosewood cookbooks lately. Example #2:

"Banana Cupcakes," from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers, topped with chocolate cream cheese frosting. Oh yum! I had some leftover cream cheese frosting from the pumpkin muffins I made last weekend, and decided to melt a little semi-sweet chocolate and whip it into the leftovers -- ta-da! Amazing!!!!! Dan and I split one of these this afternoon, and they are GREAT. Dan mentioned the frosting tastes a little like chocolate pudding, and I loved the sweet, dense, comforting banana cupcake. I think the only thing that could possibly make this treat better would be the addition of peanut butter in some form . . . hmm . . . time to experiment! :)

Since you can't have cupcakes for breakfast, (well, technically you can, but you know,) I felt compelled to make a breakfast treat as well:

Now, we usually have granola, toast, or PBJ for breakfast, but every once in a while, it's lovely to look forward to a little pastry something first thing in the morning! AB in Five bake-a-long to the rescue! Crystal, Victoria, and I have been talking about starting the brioche dough, and I decided to take the plunge this weekend. Now, know this -- I will probably bake my way through the dough, and then wait a year while I work on losing all the weight that I will inevitably gain! (The dough recipe, which yields 4 to 5 pounds of dough, enough for 4 to 5 projects, calls for 3 sticks of butter and EIGHT eggs. Gasp!) Oh, but how delicious these "Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls" are! Buttery, soft, light, with a wonderful, crisp-chewy caramel topping. Jeff and Zoe, how dare you make caramel rolls so EASY!

Thankfully, the dough freezes well, so I have appropriately-portioned chunks waiting patiently for us to detox from all of the saturated fat. :)

Sunday night is a great time for pizza!

Artisan Bread "Olive Oil Dough," topped with organic pizza sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses. The front slice also has red onion, green pepper, mushroom, green olive, oregano, and chili flakes. The back slice has roasted red peppers, dried tomatoes, spinach, artichoke hearts, and oregano. Side of green salad with apple, fennel, walnuts, bleu cheese, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. A GREAT way to end the weekend, if you ask me!

The kitchen is still a mess, so I'm off. G'night!

lots of leaves

We've really been getting our "leaves" this week -- lots of greens and salads so far!

Dinner last night:

One of the "Eggplant and Tomato Gratins," from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, over broiled polenta, with a side of swiss chard. Amazing.

Dinner tonight:

"Penne with Asparagus and Lemon Cream Sauce," from The Essential Eating Well Cookbook, with a side salad. This was a really really easy, really fast, really delicious recipe. Score!

Have you been getting your leaves lately? :)

delicious dinners

Monday night:

Spinach Lasagna with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce, from The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook. I was pleasantly surprised by the filling richness of this dish, being from a "healthy" cookbook and all, plus the portion size was just right! Yum. Next time, I need to work on finding whole-wheat lasagna noodles. (I think my co-op has them in bulk . . . !!)

Tuesday night:

"Brooklyn Pad Thai," round 2, from Vegan with a Vengeance. I've been pulling that cookbook out more and more lately . . . I forget how fantastic many of those recipes are! You'll see more from V-WAV this weekend. :)

Thursday night:

Cannellini Beans with Wilted Greens, again, from The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook. Served this one over a quick, homemade soft polenta. Polenta falls into the same category as couscous, in my book -- quick, simple, tasty foods that I tend to forget about! :)

As you can see, I've really been trying to amp up our veggie and lean protein servings lately, to counteract all of the holiday junk food that we've both been around lately. :) Also, I was so proud of Dan yesterday -- he was tempted to go out and get himself a sandwich or burrito or something after work, but instead he came home and made himself a spinach and cheese omelette! Yay Dan!

In other news, we had a holiday baking contest at work yesterday, and I WON! Woo! 8 extra hours of PTO for me! Wahoo! My sea salt caramels were the winning entry -- everyone kept joking about how they were going to pull their fillings and other assorted dental work out, but it didn't stop anyone from eating one! :)

I'm very excited to tackle my cookie-baking this weekend, and I also have several more delicious meals on our agenda. Until then!

loads of food

Sorry for the delay . . . I had three nights in a row of busy-ness this week, which means not a lot of cooking. :) Here are some meals from this past week, in no particular order:

A simple polenta dish, topped with black beans and spinach, and queso fresco:

An old Cooking Light recipe, I believe, and a winner! The only changes I would make would be to double the polenta and triple the topping -- we polished off the entire recipe in one sitting! We ate some of the polenta with the topping for dinner, then each had a bowl of the polenta with maple syrup and milk for dessert. :) Yum!

Curried tofu with roased sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts, and couscous:

Very yummy, and very easy to make ahead. I prepped all of the veggies and marinaded the tofu over the weekend, so all I had to do when I got home from work was throw everything in the oven/skillet!

French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme:

A recipe I got off the PPK originally, (but I think the recipe may have found its way into VCON,) totally easy and totally delicious. This time, I threw all of the ingredients into my Crock Pot and let it cook away while working on other things last Sunday -- best lentil soup to date, in my opinion!

Cranberry-Orange Sour Cream Coffee Cake:

Thought we needed a fun breakfast treat this week, and this has fit the bill. I followed the basic sour cream coffee cake recipe from Betty Crocker, omiting the cinnamon streusel layer and instead adding orange juice (in place of some of the sour cream,) orange zest, and a 2-cup bag of fresh cranberries. Delicious holiday flavors!

And last but not least, Tuscan Poached Eggs with Parmesan:

A VERY easy meal, and when you add sides of greens and homemade Artisan Bread, extremely nutritious, too! We really don't eat eggs all that often, (I don't really care for them,) but this is one recipe that I LOVE!

Not pictured was a batch of Black Bean and Chipotle Soup, from Moosewood. The soup turned out just okay, (I was really disappointed -- I've made this soup in the past and LOVED it!), and photographed horribly. I think this is one bean soup recipe that doesn't translate well to the Crock Pot. (That, or I added too much water, and should stir the OJ in at the end next time!) Oh well! Hasn't stopped us from eating leftovers for lunches this week. :)

What kinds of recipes/foods serve you well during very busy weeks?

a few meals, groceries!

It's been a busy week, but I have a few tasty meals stored up on the camera to show!

Poached eggs, hashbrowns, and a banana:


Apples and maple syrup over broiled polenta:


Grilled cheese and tomato soup:


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And, I FINALLY made it to the grocery store yesterday! Wee!



BULK:
organic walnuts
local slivered almonds
locally roasted, organic, fair-trade coffee
local, organic rolled oats
organic dried cranberries
dried blueberries

CHEESE:
local, organic medium cheddar

FROZEN:
Rising Moon organic artichoke and olive ravioli

PACKAGED GROCERY:
tomato paste
organic low-sodium tamari
organic creamy tomato soup
Seventh Generation TP

PRODUCE:
local, hydroponic romaine
organic cucumber
organic banana
organic avocadoes (88 cents each!!)
organic lemons
organic artichokes
organic asparagus
organic eggplant
jalapeno
local, hydroponic tomatoes
local alfalfa sprouts
organic dAnjou pears

REFRIGERATED GROCERY:
organic whole-wheat tortillas
Naked Juice "Green Machine" smoothie

Almost a third of my purchase was local this week! Woo!

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Meal plan for the weekend:
Friday night: grilled cheese and tomato soup (see above)
Saturday lunch: egg salad sandwiches, green salads or fruit
Saturday dinner: ravioli, asparagus and/or artichokes

I also picked up many ingredients to make fantastic sandwiches, homemade refried beans, and big salads for work this week. YUM.

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I'm off to the Farmer's Market with Courtney (and possibly Ashley) this morning, and then we're headed to the Goodwill and Half-Priced books to make the big purge! I'm excited to get all of these bags out of my living room. :)

happenings in my kitchen

I did manage to squeak out a little cooking yesterday, in-between a trip to the Farmer's Market, some yoga, getting Dan's hair cut, picking up Dan's new glasses, etc. When you only have one weekend day off a week, you have to make it count, right?

I made, in my opinion, a very visually-appealing batch of granola for Dan to take home for his breakfasts this week:

Sweetened with locally-harvested maple syrup, and chock-full of almonds, sunflower seeds, dried apples, dried blueberries, and dried cranberries, I think this might be one of my tastiest batches yet!

Dinner:

I ignored recipes this time, and made a simple saute of onion, garlic, chard, mushrooms, and chickpeas, seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, za'atar, and plenty of freshly-ground black pepper. A delicious puddle of polenta hiding underneath, and a sprinkle of feta on top. Yum.

You know, polenta is another one of those foods, like couscous, that I have a tendency to forget about. Love them, but hardly ever make them. Hm. Curious.

Treats:

Cupcakes! I swear to you, the Moosewood Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe is the best cake I've ever had. Tender, moist, and TONS of rich chocolate flavor. (It's also the most ridiculously easy thing I think I've ever thrown together.) I topped the cupcakes with vegan almond buttercream, and Dan was in charge of the sprinkles. :)

a mini-meal, and other good food

BRUNCH:

Standard Sunday brunch around here, (poached eggs, greens, hashbrowns,) with a minneola on the side. Coffee and vitamin, too.

TREAT:

I also had a couple of cookies at a lecture Dan and I went to this afternoon.

MINI-MEAL:

Leftover egg noodles from last night, with shredded parmesan, and a banana on the side. Very beige, but very good. I had the last Medjool date, too.

DINNER:

"Instant Tamale Pie" from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, with a side salad of romaine, sliced tomato, and sliced avocado. I made up a pretty delicious creamy chipotle-lime salad dressing, too!

TREAT:
Rice pudding. It was delicious, but my camera refused to cooperate -- all of the pictures I took were horribly blurry. Regardless, the pudding was made with short-grain brown rice, almond milk, a bunch of spices, coconut, sugar, and raisins.

SNACK:
Half a dozen dried apricots.

EXERCISE:
25 minutes of yoga, and a 20-minute walk with Dan.

Until tomorrow.

VCON-athon, part I

I've been cooking like a madwoman lately!

Lunch last Sunday:

Green Onion Egg Drop Soup on the left, and fried rice on the right. (We had leftover rice from dinner out a day or two earlier.) The rice was excellent, but the soup was just okay -- I probably wouldn't make it again.

Yet MORE cobbler:

Straight rhubarb this time. YUUUM. I will be sad when rhubarb season is over for the year. :(

Dinner Thursday night:

Tempeh fajitas! I sliced a package of three-grain tempeh into sixteen slices, and marinaded it for a couple hours along with thickly sliced red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and half a red onion, in the following:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder
zest and juice of two small limes
3 cloves garlic, crushed (no need to peel or chop)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
After their soak, I pan-fried the tempeh and veg in a hot cast-iron skillet, and served them in homemade flour tortillas, (recipe from the Joy of Cooking), garnished with Chile-Chocolate Mole, (from VCON,) sliced avocado, and mixed baby greens.

P.S. I used a new kind of flour in the tortillas. My co-op carries all-purpose flour in bulk, but also something called "white flour," which is milled from wheat that has had the bran removed, but not the germ, so it has a better nutritional profile. This may be my new all-purpose flour from now on! It sure made heavenly tortillas.

I've been missing prepared breakfast cereals with my whole "five or less" rule, so I decided to try a new granola recipe:

I've been kind of displeased with homemade granola in the past, but this recipe did not disappoint! This is the best homemade granola I've ever made, the simplest recipe by far, and the closest-tasting to "commercial" granolas, in my opinion. (But without all that extra yukky stuff, of course.) I loosely based it on a recipe for Apricot-Almond Granola from Cooking Light, but with several modifications. Here's my version:
1. Combine in a mixing bowl: 2 cups quick oats, 1 cup puffed brown rice cereal, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots, and 1/3 cup golden raisins.
2. Melt 1/2 cup agave nectar and 1/3 cup Earth Balance together. Pour over oat mixture and combine well.
3. Spread the granola in a greased 9X13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees Farenheight for fifteen minutes. Stir, and bake an additional 10 minutes. Allow the granola to cool in the pan before stirring again. Transfer to an airtight container for storage.

And here, finally, is the VCON-athon:

Sauteed chard, Shredded Parsnip and Beet Salad in Pineapple Vinaigrette (from VCON,) Broccoli Polenta (from VCON,) and Louisiana Crowder Peas from the Farmer's Market last weekend. Both the salad and polenta are incredible -- make them NOW, if you haven't already!

Here's the (vegetized) recipe for the peas, if you can get your hands on some:
1. Rinse 1 lb. peas, and place in a pot. Cover with water and soak for 30 minutes.
2. Drain the peas and return to the pot. Add 8 cups of water, 1 canned chipotle in adobo, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, and 4 tablespoons Earth Balance. Bring the peas to a boil, then allow to boil for two minutes. Then lower the heat, cover partially, and allow to simmer for one hour.
3. Saute 1 large onion, chopped, in a small amount of oil. Add to the peas with 2 teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon mixed dried herbs, (I used Fines Herbes,) a bunch of freshly-ground pepper, and 1 clove garlic, peeled. Continue to simmer the peas for 30 minutes, or until soft.

And, I finally, finally, broke out the ice cream maker:

Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Cream from Cooking Light. This is an unusual sorbet-ice cream hybrid, and is addictive and delicious! Sweet, tart, creamy, and refreshing, it sort of reminded both of us of lemon cheesecake. My only complaint is the yield of the recipe -- it made so much, I had to freeze it in two batches! I'll just cut the recipe in half next time.

Stay tuned, because I have more cooking planned for the remainder of the weekend!

Tasty Delicious pt. II

First, thank you to everyone for your encouraging comments regarding my last post. I'm sure I've written about this quote from Helen Keller before, but it is always worth repeating:

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

Enough on this topic for now . . .

. . . because I need to move on to Tasty Delicious pt. II!

Peanut-Tamarind Sweet Potato Curry (from Vegetarian Times):

This was supposed to be a simple curry of sweet potatoes and a rich, complex sauce, but since the one sweet potato I had purchased for the curry had begun to, um, decompose at parts, (damn heat!), I decided to supplement with cooked chickpeas and green peas. (P.S. A first for using tamarind paste in my kitchen! Yum.)

Deep-Dish Polenta Pizza (from Real Simple):

This recipe originally called for radicchio as one of the toppings; alas, the Wedge did not have any the last time I went shopping. I subbed thin ribbons of local, organic, dinosaur kale . . . with delicious results! This really reminds me nothing of pizza, but it's tasty delicious, nonetheless. (The "pizza" also includes diced, smoked mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes.)

Custard Pie (from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, using a prepared, wholegrain, frozen crust):

Custard pie is food of my early childhood. My dad used to make custard pies, (also sour-cream raisin pies) for my great-grandma for family holiday get-togethers. I wanted to bake on Sunday night, but didn't have much in the house to work with. (I also wasn't feelin' anything chocolatey . . . imagine!) Frozen piecrust, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg . . . I had all of those things, though! I learned my lesson with custard pies, however -- don't use a prepared crust in a disposeable, aluminum pie plate. Why? Because when you pull the pie out of the oven, the hot custard is wobbly and bendy . . . and the pie will bend in half, fall out of your hands, and hit the floor! Fortunately, the pie hit the floor face-up, so it is still edible, although majorly mangled. (This piece pictured above was the only one left photogenic, in the end!) Sometimes, you just have to laugh at yourself. :)

A Really Big Salad:

It's disgustingly hot and humid right now . . . what can I say? (I also can't seem to get enough greens lately . . . maybe my iron's low, or they're just in season and look irresistable? I bought two big bunches of local spinach, one big head of local red lettuce, and one big bunch of local dinosaur kale the last time I went grocery shopping. Munch, munch, munch.)

Enchilada Lasagna:

This recipe started as Corn, Black Bean, and Zucchini Enchiladas (from Cooking Light,) but in the end, I decided I was going to layer everything in a baking dish, instead of trying to roll up enchiladas. (I have had whomper issues with tortillas cracking and splitting when trying to make enchiladas in the past.) Verdict? FABULOUS!!! I made a whole 9X13 pan's worth, but split the recipe into two 9-inch pans, so I have some now, and some in the freezer for later.

And, thus ends Tasty Delicious -- at least until the heat and humidity go down. Leftovers and salads for the next week or so!

P.S. I finished "Hope's Edge" today . . . very, very good. I would like to purchase a copy someday, because many of the recipes in the book look absolutely irresistable. One more to add to the list!

a very disjointed post:

I have been wanting to tell you all about my most recent addition to my kitchen arsenal, but I keep forgetting! So, here it is:

My grandma and grandpa sent me $10 in a letter not too long ago, and with my discount, I was able to buy a mortar and pestle for only a couple bucks out of my own pocket! I have been wanting one of these for ages -- handy for smashing up spices and ginger when making chai, pulverizing garlic cloves, and cracking cardamom pods when making Indian food. I've only used it once so far, but I can't tell you how much easier crushing spices was this time 'round! (I used to use my meat mallet to crush them on a cutting board . . . allspice bits flew everywhere!) Perhaps I can now finally give away my meat mallet -- I have found it handy for crushing garlic cloves, but not much else, since I quit eating meat a year and a half ago!

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When Dan and I have sushi for dinner, there usually isn't much talking, because Dan likes to use so much wasabi in his soy sauce that it makes him cough and have watery eyes. (I enjoy a hefty but moderate amount of wasabi -- enough that I can feel it up in my nose, but not beyond that.) I just thought you'd like to see how much wasabi Dan enjoys with his sushi:

Super-Wasabi-Man decided that this wasn't quite enough for him after he mixed it in and took his first bite, so he actually added a bit more. (His soy sauce usually ends up a creamy brown color from so much wasabi!)

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How's THAT for a vegan lunchbox!

Red pepper nori roll, edamame, and pickled ginger, with soy and wasabi for dipping.

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I love polenta. SO much. My favorite method of polenta enjoyment is simple: a little pat of Earth Balance and a little drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Yummy.

That's all for today! I promise to post pictures of sushi making sometime this weekend.